Peter Marais

Peter Marais (born 1948) is a controversial South African politician who participated in the Tricameral Parliament and became the Mayor of Cape Town after the 1994 elections 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 (DA). He was forced from the position in 2001 by DA leader Tony Leon, who saw him as a political embarrassment. [cite web|url=http://www.sabcnews.com/features/da_split/buildup.html|title=The build-up that led to the implosion of the DA|publisher=SABC|accessdate=2007-05-10] The move contributed to the New National Party (NNP) 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. [cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9389806/South-Africa|title=South Africa Year in Review: 2002|publisher=Encyclopedia Britannica]

He later founded the New Labour Party (NLP), 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. [cite news|url=http://www.l2b.co.za/Construction_News/Article/Article~ID~2370.asp|title=Marais wipes away tears after verdict|date=5 October 2006]

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