Wendy Philander


Wendy Felecia Philander is a South African politician serving as a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament since August 2018. She is the chairperson of the Standing Committee on Health. She was previously a Member of the Mayoral Committee and a councillor of the Drakenstein Local Municipality. Philander is a member of the Democratic Alliance.

Life and career

Philander was born in New York, a predominantly working-class Coloured suburb, of Paarl.
She is the youngest daughter of Mary and Jack Kaizer. Her mother died when she was in grade 11. She attended Paulus Joubert Primary School and Paulus Joubert Secondary School. She became a member of the Democratic Alliance in 2008 and was elected a ward councillor of the Drakenstein Local Municipality in the 2011 municipal election. After the 2016 municipal election, she became a PR councillor. She served two terms as the Mayoral Committee Member for Human Settlements and Health under the mayoralties of Gesie van Deventer and Conrad Poole.
In August 2018, Philander was sworn in as a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament, succeeding Lennit Max. She was assigned to serve on the Social Cluster committees. Following the May 2019 general election, she was sworn in for her first full term on 22 May 2019. She is the only parliamentarian from the Drakenstein municipality. In June 2019, Philander was elected chairperson of the Standing Committee on Health.
Philander is a senior member of the provincial Democratic Alliance Women's Network and the network's provincial chairperson. She is also a member of the provincial executive committee of the Democratic Alliance.