David Maynier


David John Maynier is a South African politician who is currently serving as the Western Cape Provincial Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities. A member of the Democratic Alliance, he serves as a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament. He previously served as Shadow Minister of Finance, Shadow Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, and a Member of Parliament.

Background

Maynier matriculated from Grey High School in Port Elizabeth, and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Cape Town and a master's degree in Public Administration and Management from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. He is a former submarine officer and navy diver in the South African Navy.
Maynier joined the Democratic Alliance as a researcher in 1999 and quickly rose to the position of Director of Research. In August 2000 he became Chief of Staff to party leader Tony Leon - a position he served until June 2004, when he became Assistant to the Chairperson of the Federal Executive. In February 2005 he was again promoted to Director of Fundraising, and he was awarded the party's 'Top Fundraiser of the Year' award at the 2007 Federal Congress, after modernising and professionalising the party's fundraising system. In 2008, he was appointed the DA's Deputy CEO with special responsibility for the Western Cape, the province where the DA has its strongest support base in South Africa. In 2009 he was the party's Campaign Manager in the Western Cape for the 2009 general election. The party won 51.3% of the vote in the province—up significantly from 27% in 2004. The result allowed Helen Zille to become Premier of the Western Cape, and saw the DA take control of the provincial legislature in an alliance with the Independent Democrats.

Member of Parliament

After managing the DA's successful Western Cape electoral campaign, Maynier became a Member of Parliament, after appearing eleventh on the party's Western Cape national list. Following the election he was appointed Shadow Minister of Defence and Military Veterans. In his maiden speech to Parliament, Maynier issued a damning critique of the National Defence Force's state of combat readiness—telling Defence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu:
On 2 August 2009, Maynier announced that a crisis in South Africa's National Conventional Arms Control Committee had resulted in weapons deals being conducted between South African firms and rogue states like North Korea, Iran and Libya. This included the committee authorising the sale of radar detectors for use on North Korean submarines, and aviator G-suits to Iran.
On 27 March 2013 Maynier led the thrust for a parliamentary inquiry into the SANDF's intervention in the Central African Republic coup.
In 2015, Maynier was appointed Shadow Minister of Finance by the new DA leader Mmusi Maimane.
In March 2019, the Democratic Alliance revealed their election lists for the 2019 elections. Maynier was announced as a candidate for the Western Cape Provincial Parliament. He left Parliament on 7 May 2019.

Western Cape provincial government (2019-present)

Tenure

On 22 May 2019, Maynier was sworn in as a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament. The following day, 23 May 2019, he was named the new Provincial Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities.
On 09 December 2019, Maynier announced the establishment of a task team to address congestion issues at the Port of Cape Town container terminal.

COVID-19 response

On 11 March 2020, the Western Cape Premier, Alan Winde announced that he had established the Western Cape government's Joint Operations Centre in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The JOC consisted of number of workstreams, one of which was focused on mitigating the impact of Coronavirus on the provincial economy. This "Economic Workstream" operated transversally across levels of government and, while primarily co-ordinated by the Western Cape Department of Economic Development and Tourism, also included representatives from the Western Cape Department of Agriculture, the City of Cape Town and Wesgro.
On 19 March 2020, Maynier announced the Economic Workstream's strategic response to supporting businesses through the Coronavirus crisis which included engagements with business and industry, and together with Wesgro, the City of Cape Town and industry partners, the activation of the official “Covid-19 Content Centre for Business”, a virtual centre consisting of sector specialists and communications experts, set up to develop reliable content to assist industry and manage daily queries and business concerns.
Following the announcement on the 25 March 2020 by the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma of the nation-wide lockdown regulations for South Africa, Maynier announced that the Western Cape Provincial Cabinet had approved a proposal by the Provincial Treasury to unlock emergency funding for the Coronavirus response, in terms of section 25 of the Public Finance Management Act.
This proposal allowed for under-spending on the compensation of employees in the Departments of Health, Social Development and Local Government from the 2019/20 year, to be retained and re-prioritised towards addressing the Coronavirus crisis. In other departments, the under-spending would be consolidated and redirected where most required. The proposal also allowed for R208 million in funding, set aside for unforeseen and unavoidable expenditure, to be used for the Coronavirus response. These funds would be used primarily for health, logistics and food supply.
Maynier also announced that Provincial Treasury had received notice of the allocation of R53.2 million by National Treasury to the Western Cape Department of Health for the purpose of responding to the Coronavirus pandemic.
On 06 April 2020, Maynier announced that the Department of Economic Development and Tourism had made available a large number of free digital skills training courses online through the I-CAN Learn platform, and he encouraged anyone interested in learning new digital skills during the nation-wide lockdown to visit the I-CAN Learn website.
The following day, Maynier announced the launch of the JUMP for entrepreneurs smartphone app by the Department of Economic Development and Tourism. Previously just a mobile website, the JUMP app for entrepreneurs was developed to assist existing and potential business owners in the Western Cape to get all the resources they need to start, scale and grow their companies. In its new iteration, the smartphone app also included a FundingAssist feature which gives business owners looking for funding, the opportunity to assess their unique business finance needs, receive recommendations on the appropriate funders and products available, and assist them with their funding readiness and application process.
On the 25 April 2020, Maynier welcomed the announcement by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa of the South African government's new Covid-19 Risk-Adjusted Strategy as an opportunity to "breathe new life into the economy in the Western Cape", and committed to working with national government and with business to ensure the economy could open safely during the Coronavirus pandemic.
During the 48hrs in which the South African government asked for comments on the Covid-19 Risk-Adjusted Strategy, Maynier led the call for input from businesses in the Western Cape, and collated a submission to the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs that included contributions from over 445 businesses and industry bodies. With the commencement of the Alert Level 4 restrictions on the 1 May 2020 as part of the South African government’s Covid-19 Risk Adjusted Strategy, a number of non-essential businesses were permitted to open, with the condition that they implement measures to stop the spread of Coronavirus. Maynier affirmed the Western Cape government's commitment to supporting businesses to open safely and responsibly by publishing health guidelines for business, together with information material for employers and their staff to utilise in the workplace, that had been developed by the Western Cape Department of Health together with the Department of Economic Development and Tourism.
On the 28 April 2020, Maynier announced the launch of the "One Day” campaign to support the tourism industry in the Western Cape during the Coronavirus crisis. The innovative campaign was developed by Wesgro, the Western Cape’s official Tourism, Trade and Investment Promotion Agency, and used digital content tools to virtually showcase the province to those currently in lockdown in South Africa, and around the world, reminding them that one day Cape Town and the Western Cape will again be open for them to explore and experience.
During the Coronavirus crisis the Western Cape government’s call centre was overwhelmed with calls from the public looking for assistance at the start of the nation-wide lockdown, increasing to almost 14,000 calls per day from previously only receiving around a few hundred calls per day. A request to the Business Process Outsourcing sector in the Western Cape for assistance resulted in companies such as SA Commercial and Mindpearl assisting with technical solutions and agent capacity. On the 29 April 2020, Maynier visited Webhelp, a call centre in Cape Town, to observe their health and safety protocol and used the opportunity to thank the industry in the whole for their support during the Coronavirus crisis.
On 07 May 2020, Maynier announced the launch of the #GoDigitalWC weekly webinar series by the Department of Economic Development and Tourism which brings leading experts in digital technology and business transformation to present ideas and advice for SMMEs on how they can adapt and innovate during the Coronavirus crisis. Maynier also called for digital and technology experts to volunteer for the department's Tech Volunteer programme which aimed to match experts with businesses who need digital expertise. The following week, Maynier called for businesses to register to receive digital and technology advisory support from the tech experts who had volunteered for the programme.
On 08 May 2020, Maynier confirmed that he had written a letter to Minister of Trade and Industry, Ebrahim Patel, requesting him to open up e-commerce in South Africa under Alert Level 4 to allow for the sale of all goods, the delivery of those goods directly to customers and for the importation of those goods to be allowed. Maynier visited e-commerce businesses, such as the Takealot Distribution Centre in Cape Town, to view health and safety protocols in place that confirmed the sector presented an opportunity for businesses to open responsibly and safely during the Coronavirus crisis. On 14 May 2020, Minister of Trade and Industry, Ebrahim Patel, issued directions that allowed for all goods, except goods prohibited for sale, to be sold through e-commerce platforms across South Africa. This was welcomed by Maynier.