Former ambassador to Thailand, DA chief whip Douglas Gibson dies

South Africa’s former ambassador to Thailand and former DA chief whip Douglas Gibson has died.

The announcement was made by DA leader John Steenhuisen on Friday.

“On behalf of the DA, I would like to formally extend our deepest condolences to the friends and family of a great South African, Douglas Gibson,” said Steenhuisen.

Steenhuisen described Gibson as a consummate politician and public servant who held critical positions in the party and government.

“Douglas was a fierce fighter for freedom in South Africa who, even to the last days of his life, took no prisoners in advocating for what he and our party believed. And yet, he brought to all he did an immense capacity for compassion, retaining throughout his career an accessibility and clear humanity in all engagements,” said Steenhuisen.

“At the same time, he was a great ambassador for our country, our party and the values of nonracialism and freedom. If you wanted someone who could step up and show the best of our country, our party and the values we hold dear, Douglas was that man.”

Gibson was a DA leader and a fierce critic in the political sphere. Recently, he came down hard on Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi during the impasse between the ANC and the DA concerning the allocation of MEC positions.

He said at the time that Lesufi seemed to have forgotten he was elected premier with the help of the DA and that his party did not win an outright majority because Gauteng residents had rejected it.

Gibson last month penned an opinion piece at the height of the budget impasse when rumours were rife that the ANC was considering axing the DA from the government of national unity.

In that piece, Gibson said the country and President Cyril Ramaphosa needed the DA because without the DA the ANC would be in the opposition benches as 60% of South Africans had rejected it at the polls.

Gibson last year also tore into ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba for working with the ANC to oust the then DA mayor of Tshwane Cilliers Brink who was replaced by ActionSA’s Nasiphi Moya.

“That coalition of his [Brink] was busy turning the financial situation of Tshwane around and almost everybody seemed to think that they were doing a good job, but he [Brink] had to be knifed because Mr Herman Mashaba had his toes tramped on, or something, and he wasn’t going to be insulted and so on,” Gibson said in an EWN interview.

“So he pulled his people out of a working coalition and has been dancing around with the ANC and embracing Mr Panyaza Lesufi and the EFF and it doesn’t surprise me why [EFF leader] Julius [Malema] described Herman Mashaba as the ‘EFF mayor of Johannesburg’ at one stage to Herman’s embarrassment.”

In paying tribute to him, Steenhuisen said Gibson’s charm and intelligence enabled him to reach out to others and find common ground with them.

“We will miss him dearly. And as we carry on the fight he so long waged, for a better South Africa, we will strive to honour his memory and his great efforts throughout his life to make our country a place of real freedom and vibrant opportunity.”

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