Peter Marais

Who is Peter Marais?

Peter Marais is a South African politician who participated in the Tricameral Parliament and became the Mayor of Cape Town after the 2000 election and later Premier of the Western Cape province.

Marais became Mayor of Cape Town following the local government election in December 2000 as a member of the Democratic Alliance. He was forced from the position in 2001 by DA leader Tony Leon, who saw him as a political embarrassment. The move contributed to the New National Party pulling out of the DA.

As a member of the NNP, Marais became premier of the Western Cape from December 5, 2001, to June 3, 2002, when he resigned following allegations of sexual harassment. The state declined to prosecute him for these allegations.

He later founded the New Labour Party, attracting only 0.67% of the Western Cape provincial votes in the national election in 2004.

In 2006, he was cleared of corruption charges stemming from party funding in 2002.

In November 2008, Marais joined the newly formed Congress of the People party, which broke from the ruling African National Congress early in the year.