Brandon Topham

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Brandon Topham
MP
Deputy Shadow Minister of the Auditor General
Assumed office
October 2015
LeaderMmusi Maimane
Deputy Shadow Minister of Appropriations
Member of Parliament
for Midrand, Gauteng
Personal details
Born7 June 1971
Pretoria, South Africa
NationalitySouth African
Political partyDemocratic Alliance
ResidencePretoria, South Africa
Alma materUniversity of South Africa
OccupationMember of Parliament
ProfessionPolitician, Community Leader, Businessman

Brandon Rodney Topham (born Pretoria, 7 June 1971) is a South African politician, community leader and businessman.[1] He is also a South African Freemason[2]

Business life[]

Brandon Topham has served on the boards of a wide variety of businesses, often as Secretary, CFO, Financial Director or Non Executive Director. These companies include 1time Airline, Ecsponent Limited, Seesa (Pty) Ltd, Telemasters Holdings Limited and the Professional Provident Society (PPS).[3][4]

Education[]

He is a Qualified Lawyer, Chartered Accountant, Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), and Chartered Management Accountant (CIMA).[5][6]

Political life[]

Topham became interested in politics at the age of 16 when he witnessed the unfairness of apartheid. He avoided compulsory military service when he went to university.[7]

As a long-standing member of the Democratic Alliance, South Africa's main opposition party, he was chosen to be the DA's candidate for mayor of the City of Tshwane in 2011.[8] The governing ANC retained the metro, however. Topham thereafter led the DA opposition in the Tshwane council.

After standing unsuccessfully to be the party's mayoral candidate again in 2016, Topham instead became a Member of the South African Parliament for the DA and served as Deputy Shadow Minister of The Auditor General, and The Deputy Shadow Minister of Appropriations.

In October 2016 Topham criticised Minister of Finance Malusi Gigaba and suggested that there is more to the South African Revenue Service's collection shortfall of R50.8 Billion and that "There may be a rolling of payment and collection. I suggest you do a performance appraisal for senior SARS officials and see if they’ve reported truthfully."[9]

In 2018, Topham resigned from parliament.

Freemasonry[]

Topham has been named grand treasurer of the Grand Lodge of South Africa in 2015.[10] He is currently listed as Secretary of Lodge Koh-I-Noor no 79 in Pretoria.[11]

In March 2016 the Freemasons were accused of influencing the Democratic Alliance's candidate list. Topham dismissed these claims and stated "The Freemasons are not a secret society and do not take oaths. Some people who do not believe all men are created equal, use it as a bogeyman, as the Broederbond did in the previous dispensation" He further mentioned that only about 30 public representatives nationwide are Freemasons.[12]

Forensic Accounting[]

The forensic report detailing how R1,4 Billion disappeared during the Fidentia Scandal, a Ponzi Scheme, was co-compiled by Topham.[13]

References[]

  1. ^ "Profile:Brandon Rodney Topham". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  2. ^ "Tensions rise in DA over candidates". Herald Live. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  3. ^ "Ecsponent Board of Directors". Ecsponent Limited. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  4. ^ "Directors / Trustees 2017" (PDF). PPS. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 July 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  5. ^ "Politicians: Brandon Rodney Topham". People's Assembly. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  6. ^ "Profile:Brandon Rodney Topham". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  7. ^ "Interview: Brandon Topham". People's assembly. 13 February 2017. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  8. ^ "The DA mayoral candidates for Joburg, Tshwane - Zille - POLITICS | Politicsweb".
  9. ^ "Look into SARS, MPs tell Gigaba amid glaring tax shortfall". Fin24.com.
  10. ^ "Grand Lodge Yearbook 2015" (PDF). Grand Lodge of South Africa. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  11. ^ "Provincial Grand Lodges Northern Division". Grand Lodge of South Africa. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  12. ^ "Tensions are mounting in DA amid Freemason claims". Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  13. ^ "Inspection report issued to the registrar of financial services providers" (PDF). ITINews. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
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