|
The fear of death is merely the result of an unfulfilled life. Franz Kafka |
Anthony James "Tony" Leon (born December 15, 1956) is a South African politician who served as leader of the opposition from 1999-2007 as leader of the Democratic Alliance. Although still a member of the DA, he currently serves as the South African Ambassador to Argentina under the ANC government.
Contents |
Leon grew up in Durban, South Africa during the apartheid era. He was educated at Kearsney College near Durban. His father Ramon Leon was a High Court Judge. Both his parents were active in the liberal, anti-apartheid Progressive Party (which later became the Democratic Party).
In 1974 at the age of 18 he became an organiser for the Progressive Party, one of the two opposition parties represented in parliament at the time. After this, he qualified as an attorney at the University of the Witwatersrand, where he was President of the Law Students' Council and Vice-President of the Students' Representative Council, and became a lecturer in the Law Department in 1986. He has accredited Harry Schwarz and Helen Suzman as his biggest inspirations. In the same year he was elected to the Johannesburg City Council for Yeoville. When the results for the election were released, it was announced that the NP candidate Sam Bloomberg had won. However Harry Schwarz, his political mentor, uncovered that this was untrue, and Leon was declared the winner. He became leader of the opposition in the city council.
In 1989 he was elected to Parliament for the Houghton constituency, representing the Progressive Party's successor, the Democratic Party.
From 1990 to 1994 he chaired the DP's Bill of Rights Commission, and as such was an advisor to the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA) and a delegate to the multi-party negotiations that led to the end of apartheid and the establishment of a multi-party democracy in 1994.
At the 1994 general elections, Leon was again elected to Parliament in the first democratic National Assembly, as well as leader of the Democratic Party. At the time, the Democratic Party was perceived as merely a minor party of white liberals, an oddity in the first multiracial government of South Africa. Yet between 1994-1999 its seven members managed to become the most vocal, active and involved legislators.
With the second democratic elections in 1999 and the New National Party only retaining 28 seats (down from 82 in 1994), he became Leader of the Opposition as the DP took 38 seats, showing a growth of over five-fold.
After the 2004 general elections, the Democratic Alliance under Leon had a vote increased by 2.8%, as did the ANC with an increase of 3.3%. These gains came at a cost to three of the five minor opposition parties, with only the Independent Democrats — a newcomer in the elections — also attracting support.
Leon built a high media profile as opposition leader by criticising the ANC government under Nelson Mandela but more so under his successor, President Thabo Mbeki, for their inabilities to properly deal with South Africa's problems of poverty, unemployment and the AIDS epidemic.
On November 26, 2006, Leon announced that he would step down from the leadership of the Democratic Alliance in 2007, and would not accept nomination for the leadership of the party at the party's congress in May 2007. Leon, nevertheless, kept his seat in Parliament until 2009, when its term expired.
Leon retired as leader of the DA on 5 May 2007. He was succeeded by Helen Zille who was elected as the new party leader on 6 May 2007.
On his retirement, former President Nelson Mandela said:"Your contribution to democracy is enormous. You have far more support for all you have done than you might ever read about".
One of South Africa's leading political commentator, Justice Malala wrote about him: "“Every South African should wake up today and say a little thank you to Tony Leon ... he was fearless when many were fearful, vocal when many had lost their voices, openly critical when many would only speak in whispers ... the man has done a remarkable job.” ~ Justice Malala, (7 May 2007)
Leon was voted 16th in the TV channel SABC3's Top 100 Great South Africans. He became the first South African politician to record a podcast when his was launched during the 2006 local government election campaign.
From September to December 2007, Leon was a Fellow at the Institute of Politics at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government.
On November 29, 2007, Mr. Leon was a guest at the prestigious Yale Political Union, keynoting a student debate on the topic "Resolved: The Nation Should Not Be Tied To Ethnicity." After a vigorous debate, the motion passed.
In 2008, Leon released his autobiography On the Contrary. The book was favourably received, The Economist described it as "eloquent, funny and rich... an important record of South Africa’s young democracy, witnessed from the other side of the fence". The book was also serialized by the Johannesburg Sunday Times.
The book won the Recht Malan Prize in the Via Afrika Book Awards for the best work of non fiction in 2009
In the last quarter of 2008 Leon was a Visiting Fellow at the Cato Institute Center for Liberty and Global Prosperity in Washington DC. His research paper: The State of Liberal Democracy in Africa - Resurgence or Recession was published in May 2010
He published a series of articles in Business Day from the campaign trail of the recent South African general election, 2009.
After Leon completed his over 20 years as an MP, he was invited to write two weekly columns in leading South African Sunday paper "Sunday Times" and in leading daily paper "Business Day", winning excellent reviews for his writing and analysis even from previous political opponents. Journalist Xolela Mangcu wrote: "As for Tony Leon? The man is the best thing to have happened to the media in the past many years, particularly over the course of the nastiest political analysis in the history of our young democracy. His turn of phrase is impeccable, and his analysis without any trace of prejudice. Through political analysis Tony may make up for what he lost in active politics."
In August 2009, Tony Leon was appointed by President Jacob Zuma as Ambassador to Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. After receiving diplomatic training, he started as Ambassador in September. Leon follows many Democratic Alliance and Democratic Party members who have been appointed Ambassadors such as Harry Schwarz, Zach de Beer, Douglas Gibson and Sandra Botha.
Leon is married (since 2000) to Michal (formerly Even-Zahav, Israeli born), and has two stepchildren, Noa and Etai (Even-Zahav).
Tony Leon
Found error in text? Please select it and press CTRL-ENTER
© 2008-2025, JewAge.org
Discussion
Please log in / register, to leave a comment