Phumzile Van Damme | |
|---|---|
 Van Damme in Parliament in May 2019 | |
| Member of the National Assembly | |
| In office 21 May 2014 – 20 May 2021 | |
| Shadow Minister of Communications | |
| In office 3 October 2015 – 5 December 2020 | |
| Deputy | Veronica van Dyk Cameron Mackenzie |
| Leader | Mmusi Maimane |
| Preceded by | Gavin Davis |
| Succeeded by | Zakhele Mbhele |
| National Spokesperson of the Democratic Alliance | |
| In office 30 May 2014 – 14 February 2018 Serving with Marius Redelinghuys and Refiloe Nt'sekhe | |
| Leader | Mmusi Maimane |
| Preceded by | Mmusi Maimane |
| Succeeded by | Solly Malatsi |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 20 July 1983 Manzini, Swaziland |
| Citizenship | South African |
| Nationality | South African |
| Political party | Democratic Alliance (until June 2021) |
| Spouse |
Stian Tvede Karlsen (m. 2017) |
| Relations | Qiniso Van Damme (sister) |
| Parent |
|
| Alma mater | Rhodes University |
Phumzile Thelma Van Damme (born 20 July 1983) is a South African tech consultant and activist who specialises in combating political disinformation and misinformation. A former politician, she represented the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the National Assembly of South Africa between May 2014 and May 2021. She was the party's Shadow Minister of Communications from October 2015 to December 2020.
Van Damme began her career as a political staffer for the DA and joined the National Assembly in the May 2014 general election. In addition to serving as Shadow Minister of Communications, she was the DA's national spokesperson between May 2014 and February 2018 and a party whip between May 2019 and May 2021. In the communications portfolio, she was a prominent figure in the campaign to hold Bell Pottinger accountable for its white monopoly capital disinformation campaign, and she pioneered the South African Parliament's first efforts to engage international tech giants on their digital privacy and content moderation policies.
Regarded as a member of a social liberal grouping in the DA, Van Damme was sacked from the shadow cabinet in December 2020 after John Steenhuisen took office as the party's leader. Her poor relationship with Steenhuisen and his chief whip, Natasha Mazzone, led her to resign from her parliamentary seat in May 2021. She terminated her party membership a month later.
Since leaving frontline politics, Van Damme has been a freelance consultant on strategy and communications matters relating to disinformation and misinformation, platform accountability and tech regulation, digital rights, and gender-based cyber-harassment. In South Africa she remains a popular political commentator on Twitter.