Sonja Boshoff

Hildegard Sonja Boshoff is a South African politician who has served as a permanent delegate to the National Council of Provinces from Mpumalanga twice, from 2013 to 2014 and again since 2019. She served as a member of the National Assembly from 2014 to 2019. Boshoff is a member of the Democratic Alliance.

Sonja Boshoff
MP
Permanent Delegate to the National Council of Provinces from Mpumalanga
Assumed office
23 May 2019
In office
4 December 2013 – 6 May 2014
Member of the National Assembly of South Africa
In office
21 May 2014 – 7 May 2019
Personal details
NationalitySouth African
Political partyDemocratic Alliance
SpouseJaap
Children1
Alma materUniversity of South Africa
ProfessionPolitician

Education

Boshoff earned a degree in Public Administration and Management from the University of South Africa.[1]

Political career

Boshoff was elected to the Thaba Chweu Local Municipality council in the 2006 municipal elections as a DA councillor.[2] She served as chief whip of the DA caucus and as constituency chair during her time on the council. From 2007 to 2013, she served as provincial coordinator of the Democratic Alliance Women's Network. Boshoff was elected deputy provincial chairperson of the DA at the party's 2011 provincial congress.[2]

Parliamentary career

In December 2013, Boshoff became the DA member of the Mpumalanga provincial delegation to the National Council of Provinces, the upper house of the South African parliament, following Velly Manzini's expulsion from the DA for starting a new political party.[3][4] Boshoff stood in the 2014 national and provincial elections as a DA parliamentary candidate for the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, and was elected as the DA retained its position as official opposition to the governing African National Congress.[5] After her swearing-in, she was appointed an alternate member of the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education.[1]

In 2015, Boshoff was elected deputy DA provincial leader to newly elected provincial leader James Masango.[6] She served in the position until the 2018 provincial congress when Trudie Grove-Morgan was elected to succeed her.[7]

In 2017, Boshoff expressed serious concern over the amount of the disabled children waiting to be placed in special schools. She was sceptical over the Department of Basic Education's estimate of 11,000 learners waiting to be placed, saying that the previous figure was over 300,000.[8] In January 2019, Boshoff welcomed the South African Council for Educators' decision to make it a requirement for teachers applying for registration to provide a valid police clearance certificate, and called for current teachers to be subjected to a similar process.[9]

Boshoff was ranked low on the DA's candidate lists for the 2019 general election, therefore she was not re-elected to the National Assembly at the election.[1] After the election, Boshoff was selected to return to the NCOP as the party retained its one seat in the provincial delegation.[10]

Personal life

Bosoff is married to Jaap. They have one son.[6]

References
  1. "Hildegard Sonja Boshoff". People's Assembly. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  2. Import, Pongrass (2013-12-25). "Sonja appointed at NCOP". Lowvelder. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  3. "Province sends new member to National Council". Lowvelder. 2013-12-04. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  4. "DA sacks MP for starting a new party - the Real Democratic Party". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  5. "ANC sends MECs to parliament". Lowvelder. 2014-05-13. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  6. Import, Pongrass (2015-03-20). "Democratic Alliance chooses its new provincial deputy leader". Lowvelder. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  7. "DA Mpumalanga elects new Provincial Leadership". Mpumalanga. 2018-03-04. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  8. Levy, Moira (2017-07-12). "Children with disabilities grow old waiting for schools". GroundUp News. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  9. "All teachers should be required to have a police clearance certificate to register - DA". News24. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  10. "Hansard | NCOP: Unrevised hansard | PMG". pmg.org.za. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
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