Ashor Sarupen

Ashor Sarupen (born 1 July 1988) is a South African politician who is serving as Deputy Minister of Finance since 3 July 2024. He has served as the Chairperson of the Federal Council of the Democratic Alliance since 12 April 2026. He is a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa for the Democratic Alliance (DA), after having taken office on 22 May 2019. He was a representative of the party on both the Standing Committee on Appropriations and the Standing Committee on Finance. He also served as chief of staff to DA Federal Council Chairperson Helen Zille, and presently serves as her Parliamentary Counsellor.

He previously served as a Member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature from 2014 to 2019 and before that, he was the Democratic Alliance Chief Whip and City Councillor in the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality from 2011 to 2014.

Biography Sarupen was born in Pietermaritzburg in the former Natal Province. His family soon moved to Springs. He studied at the University of the Witwatersrand where he obtained a BSc Honours Degree and then a Masters in Business Administration. In October 2019, he ran Helen Zille's campaign for DA Federal Council Chairperson. She subsequently won the election.

During the DA's 2020 Federal Congress, delegates voted to add a third deputy chairperson to the Federal Council, the party's second-highest decision-making body. Sarupen was elected in a special election on 27 November 2020 with 73% of the vote. He served alongside James Masango and Thomas Walters. He was re-elected to a full term as the first deputy chairperson of the party's federal council at the party's 2023 Federal Congress, reportedly winning by a large margin. Chairperson of the DA Federal Council After the incumbent Federal Council Chairperson Helen Zille announced that she would not stand for re-election at the DA's Federal Congress in April 2026, Sarupen announced his candidacy for the position. He was widely expected to win the position. He was elected on 12 April 2026, defeating House Chairperson, Werner Horn.