DA saddened by passing of Watty Watson

DA saddened by passing of Watty Watson

The Democratic Alliance deeply saddened by the passing away of our friend and colleague Armiston (Watty) Watson, this morning.

Watty has been an icon in South African politics for many decades and was a founding member of the Democratic Alliance. He was instrumental in the establishment of the DA in Mpumalanga and has served the party at a provincial and national level.

 Watty is the former Deputy Provincial Leader in Mpumalanga, a former Member of Parliament (1994, 2004, 2009), the DA’s former Leader of the National Council of Provinces and served as the Parliamentary Chief Whip in the previous term of Parliament.

Watty was true servant of South Africa and worked tirelessly to entrench our democracy. He was a formidable politician, a multilingual individual who had the talent of communicating with any South African in their mother tongue, which enabled him to serve as the DA MP for Thembisile and DR JS Moroka for ten years. He was a mentor, a colleague and a dear friend. Few have made the contribution to our political discourse as Watty Watson and he sorely missed.

I have worked closely with Watty since 1999 and privileged to have had the opportunity to benefit from his immense skills, knowledge and political acumen. On behalf of the Democratic Alliance I wish to extend our sincere sympathy and condolence to his wife Madeleine, son Armiston, daughter Jacqueline and the entire Watson family. We thank them for the years they have shared their beloved husband and farther with the DA and the people of South Africa.