Alexandra Lilian Amelia Abrahams has taken up her new role as Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition after being sworn in at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on 17 November 2025. The oath was administered by Acting Deputy Judge President Sulet Potterill.
Her appointment, announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa on 12 November, forms part of the latest changes to the national executive. Abrahams, a member of the Democratic Alliance, steps into the position previously held by Andrew Whitfield. At the same ceremony, Willem Abraham Stephanus Aucamp was sworn in as Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment.
Abrahams’s career has been shaped by her work in South African politics and social development. She studied International Relations and later completed an Honours degree in Political Science at Stellenbosch University. She entered the political arena in 2009 as an assistant to the DA’s provincial campaign manager and later joined the Western Cape Department of Social Development, where she worked for eight years.
She became a Member of the National Assembly in 2019 and served on several committees, most notably the Portfolio Committee on Social Development. Between 2020 and 2024, she held the position of Shadow Deputy Minister of Social Development under DA leader John Steenhuisen. Her work in Parliament focused on oversight issues involving social grants, the National Development Agency, and the South African Social Security Agency.
Her move to the trade and industry portfolio marks a shift from her earlier focus on social development, placing her at the centre of economic policy at a time when government is under pressure to support jobs, investment, and industrial growth.