Vasco da Gama (council speaker)
Vasco Manoel da Gama (born 29 January 1959) is a South African politician with the Democratic Alliance and a member of the Johannesburg City Council. He most recently served as the Johannesburg council speaker until 31 August 2022 when a motion of no confidence was settled with 136 votes for the motion and 132 against it, resulting in Da Gama’s ouster. Early life and education Da Gama was born in Louis Trichardt, Transvaal (now Limpopo) in 1959. In 1969, his family was forcibly removed from their homes as part of the government's apartheid policy, which led to Da Gama to study at a Coloured-only school. Career In 2011, he ran as a DA mayoral candidate for Johannesburg before a panel of 30 people, including party leader and Premier of the Western Cape Helen Zille, but was defeated by Mmusi Maimane. Following Maimane's departure to the National Assembly in 2014, Da Gama was appointed leader of the DA's caucus, a position he had previously held. In August 2016, Da Gama was elected council speaker. He was removed as speaker in December 2019 and replaced with the ANC's Nonceba Molwele. After the 2021 local government elections, the DA put him forward as