Background
She was born in Portuguese Elizabeth, and currently resides in KwaZulu-Natal, where she represents the Central Durban constituency.
She was born in Portuguese Elizabeth, and currently resides in KwaZulu-Natal, where she represents the Central Durban constituency.
In October 2015 she was expelled from the party by the District Attorney Federal Executive. In December 2015 the decision was lifted on appeal to the District Attorney"s Federal Legal Commission. Kohler Barnard spent 23 years working as a radio and print journalist.
She ran the KwaZulu-Natal offices of SAfm and also presented/produced the station"s afternoon news programme The Editors.
Kohler-Barnard moved to politics in response to increasing state interference in the management of the SABC. She was elected to parliament with the District Attorney in 2004, and was initially spokesperson on Arts and Culture. She was subsequently appointed opposition spokesperson on Health, and was a vocal critic of incumbent Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, particularly over her support for controversial German vitamin salesman Matthias Rath.
Rath attempted to sue Kohler Barnard for describing him as a "charlatan", and also tried to sue newspapers that carried the remark. Subsequently, Kohler Barnard was appointed as Shadow Minister of Police.
She was also the District Attorney"s representative on the SADC observer mission to Zimbabwe for the last two elections in that country.
In October 2015, Kohler Barnard was taken to an internal District Attorney disciplinary panel after controversially sharing on her Facebook page a post from someone else suggesting that life in South Africa was better under former apartheid President PW Botha. Seemingly, one of the first instructions to Kohler Barnard to delete the post came from former District Attorney leader Helen Zille. She subsequently deleted the post.
Kohler Barnard apologised unreservedly for her action, and was subsequently demoted to the position of shadow Deputy Minister of Public Works.
Kohler Barnard stated at the time that she was considering her position, and new District Attorney party leader Mmusi Maimane came under pressure to expel her from the party. The disciplinary panel apparently recommended that Kohler Barnard be fined R20,000, be removed from all internally elected District Attorney positions, pay for public apologies in 5 newspapers and attend a social media management course at her own expense.
Following this, Kohler Barnard"s membership of the District Attorney was terminated by the District Attorney Federal Executive. Kohler Barnard then appealed the decision to the District Attorney Federal Legal Commission, as a result of which her expulsion was suspended for a period of 5 years.
The controversy undoubtedly harmed the image of the District Attorney, which has been trying to project itself as an anti-apartheid party and also damaged relations with Committee on Publication Ethics, which was previously seen as another opposition party with which the District Attorney could work closely.
James Selfe, Chair of the District Attorney Federal Council, stated that the affair could cause "massive damage" to the District Attorney and probably hurt the party in the polls. The controversy also caused some serious internal tension within the District Attorney, as some have viewed the original decisions as harsh, and may have implications for Mmusi Maimane as new leader of the District Attorney. The party remains divided on the issue, and the matter may not be totally resolved as yet.
Her treatment by the District Attorney was described by one political analyst as a "show trial", inconsistent, and as exposing Maimane as a weak party leader.
