Kevin Mileham

Kevin John Mileham (born 23 April 1971) is a South African politician, a Member of the South African Parliament for the Democratic Alliance and the Shadow Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy. Mileham was first elected to Parliament on 3 June 2013, replacing Athol Trollip.[1] His first parliamentary role was as the Shadow Deputy Minister of Land Reform and Rural Development. After the 2014 National Elections, he was appointed the Shadow Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs. In February 2019, he was appointed as Shadow Minister of Energy. After the National and Provincial Elections on 8 May 2019, Mileham was appointed as Shadow Minister of the expanded portfolio of Mineral Resources and Energy.[2]

The Honourable

Kevin Mileham

MP
Mileham during a parliamentary debate in September 2019
Shadow Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy
Assumed office
5 June 2019
Preceded byPosition established
Shadow Minister of Energy
In office
21 February 2019 – 5 June 2019
Preceded byGavin Davis
Succeeded byPosition dissolved
Shadow Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
In office
29 May 2014 – 21 February 2019
Preceded byJohn Steenhuisen
Succeeded byJoe McGluwa
Chief Whip of the Democratic Alliance Buffalo City Caucus
In office
May 2011 – June 2013
Chief Whip of the Democratic Alliance Ndlambe Caucus
In office
April 2006 – May 2011
Personal details
Born (1971-04-23) 23 April 1971
Durban, South Africa
Political partyDemocratic Alliance
Spouse(s)Natasha Mazzone
ResidenceEast London, Eastern Cape, South Africa
Alma materUniversity of the Witwatersrand
OccupationPolitician

Background

Mileham matriculated with academic honours from Selborne College in East London in 1988 and went on to graduate with a Bachelor of Commerce (Legal) degree from the University of the Witwatersrand. He continued his studies to obtain a post-graduate Diploma in Advertising and Marketing from AAA School of Advertising.[3]

Post studies, he commenced work for The Jupiter Drawing Room, a South African advertising agency, handling brands such as Coca-Cola and 5FM. In 1996, he was employed by Coca-Cola to launch the Powerade sports drink in South Africa. In 1998 he joined Microsoft South Africa as a marketing manager, initially only covering consumer products, but later promoted to include all desktop applications (including Microsoft Office and Windows) for both the consumer and business sectors.[4] In 2001, he relocated to the Eastern Cape, where he founded his own marketing and management consultancy business, Forward Momentum.[3]

Mileham has two children from his first marriage to Laura Guest. He married fellow Democratic Alliance Member of Parliament, Natasha Mazzone in July 2017.[5]

Politics

Mileham was actively involved in party politics for the former Democratic Party as a party agent and activist during the 1994 and 1999 elections. In 2003, he became actively involved in local politics. He joined the Democratic Alliance in Port Alfred (Ndlambe Local Municipality) where he was soon appointed constituency chairperson. In 2006, he was elected to the Ndlambe municipal council, and appointed as the party's Chief Whip and finance spokesperson.[6]

In 2007, Mileham was selected to be part of the first class of Democratic Alliance's Young Leaders Programme[7][8] In 2009, he stood unsuccessfully for Parliament. In 2011, he was elected as a municipal councillor to the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, and was appointed as the DA's Chief Whip.[9]

In 2013, following the death of Pine Pienaar, a member of the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature, the DA's provincial leader Athol Trollip elected to return to the province following his reelection defeat to Lindiwe Mazibuko for the position of DA Parliamentary Leader. The DA selected Mileham to fill the seat.[10] Mazibuko appointed him Shadow Deputy Minister for Land Reform and Rural Development.[11]

After his re-election in 2014, Mileham was appointed the Shadow Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs by the new Leader of the Opposition, Mmusi Maimane.[12] In February 2019, he was appointed as Shadow Minister of Energy. He held this position until June 2019, when Maimane appointed him as Shadow Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy.[13]

VBS Mutual Bank

In mid-2016, Mileham began asking parliamentary questions about municipal deposits with VBS Mutual Bank. In terms of the South African Municipal Finance Management Act (No. 56 of 2003), municipalities may only open bank accounts with financial institutions registered in terms of the Banks Act (No. 94 of 1990, as amended by Act 3 of 2015).[14] Mutual banks, like VBS, are registered in terms of the Mutual Banks Act (No. 124 of 1993), and are therefore ineligible to accept municipal deposits.[15]

Mileham continued to drive the issue in parliament, and the National Treasury later cautioned municipalities in August 2017 that this practice was prohibited.[16] The Treasury has admitted that they caught on too late to the illegality of the municipal deposits.[17]Municipalities continued to deposit funds with the bank.[18] The issue garnered national attention in January 2018, when liquidity concerns caused by some municipalities attempting to withdraw their funds, forced the South African Reserve Bank to place VBS under curatorship.[19]

Mileham laid criminal charges against municipal officials and politicians who had influenced the deposits.[20] The Motau Report (released by the Reserve Bank in October 2018) found evidence of maladministration and recommended that bank leadership, public officials and auditors be held liable in civil proceedings.[21][22][23][24]

Further investigations by various media houses led to several politically connected figures being exposed as alleged recipients of VBS commissions or influencers who encouraged municipalities to invest with VBS, including the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Zweli Mkhize,[25] the treasurer-general of the African National Congress in Limpopo province,[26] the deputy chairperson of the ANC in Limpopo, Florence Radzilani,[27] and the former premier of the North West Province, Supra Mahumapelo.[28] Mileham has laid charges against all those implicated.[29]

References
  1. "Mileham to fill Trollip's shoes in Parliament soon".
  2. "The DA's new Shadow Cabinet ready to make Parliament work for the people".
  3. "Kevin Mileham". Who's who SA. Archived from the original on 26 January 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  4. "Enterprise". 151-154: 103. Retrieved 26 June 2020. Comments Kevin Mileham. product marketing manager at Microsoft South Africa Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. Lindwa, Buhle (8 August 2019). "DA's Natasha Mazzone gets candid about life outside parliament". The South African. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  6. "Mr Kevin Mileham (DA)". People's Assembly. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  7. "Redirecting..." www.bdlive.co.za. Retrieved 2017-11-21.
  8. Pillay, Verashni. "DA crop of young leaders come of age". The M&G Online. Retrieved 2017-11-21.
  9. Deklerk, Aphiwe (26 June 2020). "Ntame named as DA chief whip in BCM". DispatchLIVE. Retrieved 18 June 2013. The vibrant 28-year-old replaces Kevin Mileham, who takes up a position in Parliament.
  10. George, Zine (13 May 2013). "Mileham to fill Trollip's shoes in Parliament soon". DispatchLIVE. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  11. Gwarube, Siviwe (6 June 2013). "Shadow Cabinet tweaked - DA". Politicsweb. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  12. "DA announces new shadow ministry". BusinessTECH. 5 June 2014. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  13. Nkanjeni, Unathi (6 June 2019). "DA shadow cabinet: What you need to know". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  14. "Local Government: Municipal Finance Management Act 56 of 2003". Government of South Africa. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  15. Khumalo, Khabelo (10 July 2018). "Central bank slams law-breaking municipalities". IOL. Johannesburg. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  16. "Municipalities warned not to deposit funds with VBS Mutual Bank - Treasury". Politicsweb. 11 March 2018. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  17. "SARB, Treasury caught on late to illegal VBS deposits - Nene". 2 November 2018.
  18. Dolley, Caryn (26 July 2018). "VBS saga: Municipalities in for half-a-decade wait for a fraction of R1.5bn deposits". News24. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  19. "SARB places VBS Mutual Bank under curatorship". 11 March 2018.
  20. "Fraud charges against 15 municipalities after banking with VBS".
  21. Smit, Sarah (10 October 2018). "New report backs criminal charges against VBS 'captors'". Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  22. "Explosive report into VBS Bank reveals large-scale 'looting'".
  23. "VBS Bank scandal revealed in explosive report". 11 October 2018.
  24. "Publication Detail - South African Reserve Bank".
  25. "Messages show how the ANC directly scored from the VBS 'bank heist': Report".
  26. "Heads roll in Limpopo over VBS scandal". 21 October 2018.
  27. "Heads roll in Limpopo over VBS scandal". 21 October 2018.
  28. https://mg.co.za/article/2018-11-09-00-north-west-ex-premier-punted-vbs
  29. "DA lays charges against the #VBS50". IOL. 11 October 2018. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
Political offices
Preceded by
Mpowele Swathe		 South African Shadow Deputy Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform
2013–2014		 Succeeded by
Thomas Walters
Preceded by
John Steenhuisen		 South African Shadow Minister of Cooperative Governance & Traditional Affairs
2014–2019		 Succeeded by
Joe McGluwa
Preceded by
Gavin Davis		 South African Shadow Minister of Energy
Feb 2019 – Jun 2019		 Succeeded by
Position dissolved
Preceded by
New position		 South African Shadow Minister of Mineral Resources & Energy
Jun 2019		 Succeeded by
incumbent
Incumbent
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