{{Short description|South African politician (born 1971)}} {{BLP sources|date=February 2018}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Brandon Topham | honorific_suffix = MP | image = | office = Deputy Shadow Minister of the Auditor General | term_start = October 2015 | term_end = | office2 = Deputy Shadow Minister of Appropriations | term_start2 = | constituency_MP3 = Midrand, Gauteng | parliament3 = | term_end3 = | majority3 = | predecessor3 = | successor3 = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1971|6|7}} | birth_place = Pretoria, South Africa | death_date = | death_place = | spouse = | party = Democratic Alliance | leader = Mmusi Maimane | relations = | children = | alma_mater = University of South Africa | occupation = Member of Parliament | profession = Politician, Community Leader, Businessman | signature = | website = | footnotes = }}
'''Brandon Rodney Topham''' (born Pretoria, 7 June 1971) is a South African politician, community leader and businessman.<ref>{{cite web|title=Profile:Brandon Rodney Topham|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/profiles/people/16462975-brandon-rodney-topham|website=Bloomberg.com|accessdate=27 February 2018}}</ref> He is also a South African Freemason<ref>{{cite web|title=Tensions rise in DA over candidates|url=https://www.heraldlive.co.za/news/2016/03/30/tensions-rise-da-candidates/|website=Herald Live|accessdate=27 February 2018}}</ref>
==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, [https://www.seesa.co.za/ SEESA (Pty) Ltd], Telemasters Holdings Limited and the Professional Provident Society (PPS).<ref>{{cite web|title=Ecsponent Board of Directors|url=https://www.ecsponentlimited.com/leadership-team/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160526123247/http://www.ecsponentlimited.com/leadership-team/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=26 May 2016|website=Ecsponent Limited|accessdate=27 February 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Directors / Trustees 2017|url=https://www.pps.co.za/Documents/Directors.pdf#search=Topham|website=PPS|accessdate=27 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170703063323/https://pps.co.za/Documents/Directors.pdf#search=Topham|archive-date=3 July 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Education== He is a Qualified Lawyer, Chartered Accountant, Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), and Chartered Management Accountant (CIMA).<ref>{{cite web|title=Politicians: Brandon Rodney Topham|url=https://www.pa.org.za/person/brandon-rodney-topham/|website=People's Assembly|accessdate=27 February 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Profile:Brandon Rodney Topham|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/profiles/people/16462975-brandon-rodney-topham|website=Bloomberg.com|accessdate=27 February 2018}}</ref>
==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.<ref>{{cite web|title=Interview: Brandon Topham|url=https://www.pa.org.za/blog/brandon-topham-da|website=People's assembly|date=13 February 2017|accessdate=28 February 2018}}</ref>
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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.politicsweb.co.za/iservice/the-da-mayoral-candidates-for-joburg-tshwane--zill|title = The DA mayoral candidates for Joburg, Tshwane - Zille - POLITICS | Politicsweb}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{cite web|title=Look into SARS, MPs tell Gigaba amid glaring tax shortfall|url=https://www.fin24.com/Budget/Budget-and-Economy/look-into-sars-mps-tell-gigaba-amid-glaring-tax-shortfall-20171026|website=Fin24.com}}</ref>
In 2018, Topham resigned from parliament.
==Freemasonry== Topham has been named grand treasurer of the Grand Lodge of South Africa in 2015.<ref>{{cite web|title=Grand Lodge Yearbook 2015|url=https://www.grandlodge.co.za/yearbooks/GLSA2015.pdf|website=Grand Lodge of South Africa|accessdate=27 February 2018}}</ref> He is currently listed as Secretary of Lodge Koh-I-Noor no 79 in Pretoria.<ref>{{cite web|title=Provincial Grand Lodges Northern Division|url=http://www.grandlodge.co.za/provincial-grand-lodges/northern-division/|website=Grand Lodge of South Africa|accessdate=27 February 2018}}</ref>
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.<ref>{{cite news|title=Tensions are mounting in DA amid Freemason claims|url=http://www.dispatchlive.co.za/news/politics/2016/03/30/tensions-are-mounting-in-da-amid-freemason-claims/|accessdate=27 February 2018}}</ref>
==Forensic Accounting== The forensic report detailing how R1,4 Billion disappeared during the [https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2013-05-21-the-disgraced-fidentia-boss-and-his-unlikely-friends/#.WpWPkYKgepo Fidentia Scandal], a Ponzi Scheme, was co-compiled by Topham.<ref>{{cite web|title=Inspection report issued to the registrar of financial services providers.|url=http://www.itinews.co.za/content/media/companydocs/ac8554e3-473e-4773-b1d8-eb9c5b5d1202.pdf|website=ITINews|accessdate=27 February 2018}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Topham, Brandon}} Category:1971 births Category:Living people Category:Chief financial officers Category:University of South Africa alumni Category:South African businesspeople Category:Democratic Alliance (South Africa) politicians Category:Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2014–2019