| Intro | South African politician |
| Is | Politician |
| From | South Africa |
| Type | Politics |
| Gender | male |
| Birth |
22 November 1958, Doornfontein, South Africa |
| Age | 62 years |
| Star sign | Sagittarius |
| Politics | Democratic Alliance |
John Clifford Moodey (born 22 November 1958) is a South African politician who has been serving as the Provincial Leader of the Gauteng Democratic Alliance (DA) since 2012. He previously held the post from 2007 to 2010. Moodey has been a Member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature since 2004 and served as Leader of the Opposition from 2014 to 2019. He is the DA’s Shadow MEC for Community Safety.
Early life
John Clifford Moodey was born on 22 November 1958 in Doornfontein, a suburb of Johannesburg. He and his family were later evicted and forced to move due to the Group Areas Act. He became an activist while he was still in school.
Political career
Moodey was previously a trade unionist and served on the executive of the Combined Employers Union. He joined the Democratic Party in 1998, which became the Democratic Alliance in 2000. He was elected to the Johannesburg City Council in 2000 as the ward councillor for Florida. He became chairperson of the DA caucus in 2001 and soon deputy chairperson of the party in Gauteng South in 2002.
He became Provincial Chairperson of the DA in 2004. In the same year, he was appointed a Member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature. He was elected Provincial Leader of the party in 2007, succeeding Ian Davidson to become the party’s first black leader in Gauteng. At the DA’s October 2009 provincial conference, in a bid to secure re-election, Moodey’s campaign sent out SMS’s displaying false information. The provincial conference was nullified and disciplinary steps were taken against Moodey. A second provincial conference was promptly called for and held in April 2010, in which former DA MP Janet Semple defeated Moodey by just 8 votes.
In January 2012, Semple announced her retirement as the provincial leader. Moodey declared his intention to contest the position at the party’s conference in March. He was endorsed by Semple and DA Federal Youth Leader Makashule Gana. Moodey defeated MP Ian Ollis.
In November 2014, Moodey was re-elected for another term after he defeated MPL Refiloe Nt’sekhe. He secured another term in November 2017 after he defeated Ghaleb Cachalia.
In February 2020, Moodey announced that he would be retiring as provincial leader ahead of the party’s upcoming provincial conference later on in the year. On 24 February 2020, he announced that he would run for DA Federal Leader at the party’s Federal Congress, which was scheduled to be held in May. The elective conference has been postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak and Moodey has temporarily suspended all campaign activities.
Personal life
Moodey is married to Barenice. They have children and grandchildren. They reside in Florida, Gauteng.