| Andries Treurnicht |
Article Index for Andries |
Information AboutAndries Treurnicht |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT ANDRIES TREURNICHT | |
| south african politicians | |
| 1921 births | |
| 1993 deaths | |
| maties | |
| university of cape town alumni | |
|
He was born in Piketberg ( Cape Province ), and began his working life as a journalist, being editor of ''Die Kerkbode'' and ''Hoofstad''. He was a keen sportsman, excelling on the rugby field, playing provincial rugby against the All Blacks in 1949. After obtaining his MA in Theology at the University Of Stellenbosch , he completed a Doctorate in Political Philosophy at the University Of Cape Town . He subsequently entered the Dutch Reformed Church (NG Kerk), serving various congregations as minister for 14 years. He was elected Deputy Chairman of the Cape Synod and later of the General Synod. NATIONAL PARTY CAREER In 1971 he became the National Party MP for Waterberg . Newly appointed as Deputy Minister of Education, in 1976 his instruction to implement the policy that black students should be taught in Afrikaans triggered the Soweto Riots . In 1978 he was chosen, over the heads of 12 ministers, as Leader of the National Party in the Transvaal , and in 1979 he became Minister of State for Administration and of Statistics. CONSERVATIVE PARTY CAREER On March 20 1982 , he and 17 other MPs quit the National Party to form the Conservative Party to oppose P.W. Botha and the National Party's limited reforms to separate development ( Apartheid ). The CP's English language programme booklets from 1987-89 stated that the party was established "to continue the policy of self-determination after the {Link without Title} government had exchanged self-determination" (something the CP described as an "infallible policy"), for power-sharing. In 1987 the Conservative Party became the official opposition in the South African House of Assembly, winning 550,000 votes, displacing the liberal Progressive Federal Party . Donald Simpson, writing in the South African newspaper, '' The Star '', (24 May 1987), went as far as to predict that the National Party would lose the next election and that the Conservative Party would become the new government of South Africa.
Already nicknamed "Doctor No", in 1992 he led the opposition campaign during the Referendum called by F.W. De Klerk to gain white approval for negotiations to end Apartheid . This campaign marked the peak of Conservative support in South Africa, gaining just under one million votes, but the "No" vote was defeated 2 to 1 by white voters. Treurnicht was the author of no less than 16 books, many in the cultural field. He died on 22 April 1993 in Cape Town during a heart operation. His death came shortly after the Conservative Party suffered a major blow with the arrest of senior member Clive Derby Lewis for the murder or Chris Hani . His former deputy minister, Ferdinand Hartzenberg , became the last leader of the Conservative Party. REFERENCES
|
|
|