{{short description|South African politician (born 1982)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_suffix = MP | office = Delegate to the National Council of Provinces | term_start = 15 June 2024 | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1982|12|25|df=y}} | citizenship = South African | party = Democratic Alliance | partner = <!--For those with a domestic partner and not married--> | relations = | education = | alma_mater = University of South Africa | known_for = | committees = | portfolio = | awards = | website = | honorific_prefix = The Honourable | constituency_AM = Western Cape }}
'''Nicholas Gotsell''' (born 25 December 1982) is a South African politician from the Western Cape. He has represented the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the National Council of Provinces since June 2024. He is an attorney by training.
== Early life and career == Gotsell was born on 25 December 1982.<ref name=":122">{{Cite web |date=10 April 2024 |title=Final Candidate Lists for 2024 National and Provincial Elections: National Candidates |url=https://www.elections.org.za/pw/Documents/Candidates-List-NPE2024/National%20Candidates%20List.pdf |access-date=2024-03-26 |website=Electoral Commission of South Africa}}</ref> He was a clerk in the magistrates' courts in Wynberg and Cape Town, and he worked as a judge's registrar in the Western Cape High Court while completing his LLB at the University of South Africa.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=People |url=https://capetownattorneys.smarttechnologies.co.za/people/ |access-date=2024-07-22 |website=Cape Town Attorney Association |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2011 he joined De Klerk & Van Gend, a firm of attorneys in Cape Town, where he served his articles of clerkship. After his admission as an attorney of the High Court of South Africa, he remained at De Klerk & Van Gend as an associate, becoming head of the firm's wills and estates department.<ref name=":0" />
Gotsell left legal practice to join the management of the Democratic Alliance (DA).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-08-03 |title=De Lille hearing set to go – maybe |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2018-08-03-00-de-lille-hearing-set-to-go-maybe/ |access-date=2024-07-22 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref> During the 2021 local elections the GOOD Party criticised him for sharing a faked video clip of GOOD candidate Peter de Villiers; the video was posted on Gotsell's Facebook page and reposted by DA chairperson Helen Zille.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Khumalo |first=Juniour |date=14 October 2021 |title=GOOD's Peter de Villiers demands apology from Zille for sharing fake video of him |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/goods-peter-de-villiers-demands-apology-from-zille-for-sharing-fake-video-of-him-20211014 |access-date=2024-07-22 |website=News24 |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Parliament of South Africa: 2024–present == In the May 2024 general election, Gotsell stood as a parliamentary candidate, ranked 157th on the DA's national party list.<ref name=":122" /> He was elected to a seat in the Western Cape caucus of the National Council of Provinces. On 9 July 2024, the council designated him to serve on the Judicial Service Commission as a parliamentary representative.<ref>{{Cite web |date=11 July 2024 |title=Parliament elects Mr Poobalan Govender as Deputy Chairperson |url=https://www.gov.za/news/media-statements/parliament-elects-mr-poobalan-govender-deputy-chairperson-11-jul-2024 |access-date=2024-07-22 |website=South African Government}}</ref> He was also appointed as a member of the Select Committee on Security and Justice, a member of the Select Committee on Public Petitions and Executive Undertakings, and an alternate member of the Select Committee on Cooperative Governance and Public Administration and the Select Committee on Public Infrastructure and Minister in the Presidency.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nicholas Gotsell |url=http://www.pa.org.za/person/nicholas-gotsell/ |access-date=2024-07-22 |website=People's Assembly |language=en}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{People's Assembly (South Africa)|id=nicholas-gotsell|name=Nicholas Gotsell}} *[https://www.parliament.gov.za/person-details/5685 Nicholas Gotsell] at Parliament of South Africa {{Permanent delegates of the National Council of Provinces}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gotsell, Nicholas}} Category:Living people Category:1982 births Category:21st-century South African lawyers Category:Democratic Alliance (South Africa) politicians Category:Members of the National Council of Provinces Category:Politicians from the Western Cape Category:University of South Africa alumni