Mr Andrew Grant Whitfield was appointed as Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition from 3 July 2024.
He is the provincial leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Eastern Cape.
Mr Whitfield entered into politics in May 2011, when he was elected to represent the DA as a local councillor in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality (NMBMM). In May 2014, he was ranked first on the DA’s regional party list and was elected as a Member of the National Assembly. He served just over two years and was designated as an alternate member of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Tourism.
He represented the DA as a Member of the Mayoral Committee responsible for the economic development, tourism and agriculture portfolio in the NMBMM from 2016 to 2018, and as a Member of the Provincial Legislature from 2018 to 2019. He served two terms as the party’s Provincial Chairperson between 2017 and 2023, and was a Shadow Minister of Police until June 2024.
Mr Whitfield holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in Political Science and Industrial Psychology, and a BA (Honours) degree in Political Science obtained from Rhodes University.
Source: Department of Trade, Industry and Competition
