Basil Mark Douglas (25 February 1960 – 28 August 2020) was a South African politician and community activist in the coloured suburbs of Johannesburg.
A teacher by profession, he founded the South Western Joint Civic Association in 1994 and subsequently led the group through two major ratepayers' protests.
Douglas was born on 25 February 1960[1][self-published source] in Noordsig outside Johannesburg in the former Transvaal province.
Unlike affiliates of the South African National Civics Organisation, Sowejoca's members were broadly opposed to the African National Congress (ANC) and the ANC-allied civic groups which had been given representation on the Transvaal Metropolitan Council.
[4] Douglas claimed that coloured people were being discriminated against by a racist, black-dominated ANC government.
[5] In 2001, he caused controversy in the party when he allegedly encouraged Indian and coloured party members to boycott an internal election which saw a white member, Barry Dunn, elected as IFP chairperson in Gauteng.
[8] In a January 2015 by-election, he was elected to represent the DA as a local councillor in ward 68 in Johannesburg, beating the ANC candidate with 3,703 votes against his opponent's 3315.