| Hendrik Verwoerd |
Article Index for Hendrik |
Website Links For Hendrik |
Information AboutHendrik Verwoerd |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT HENDRIK FRENSCH VERWOERD | |
| prime ministers of south africa | |
| apartheid government | |
| cold war leaders | |
| south african anti-communists | |
| maties | |
| afrikaners | |
| south african calvinists | |
| assassinated south african politicians | |
| 1901 births | |
| 1966 deaths | |
|
Numerous major roads in towns and cities in South Africa are named after Verwoerd. The Gariep Dam in the Free State , and Port Elizabeth Airport in the eastern Cape were formerly named after H. F. Verwoerd, as was the town of ''Verwoerdburg'' (now Centurion ) and ''H.F. Verwoerd Hospital'' (now Pretoria Academic Hospital ). YOUTH Verwoerd (his surname is pronounced, roughly, ''Fer-Voodt'', not ''Ver-foo-erd'' or ''Ver-word'') was born in Weesp , near Amsterdam in the Netherlands . His father, Wilhelm Verwoerd, a building contractor and a Missionary for the Dutch Reformed Church , relocated the family to South Africa in 1903. Verwoerd was given the chance to study at the University Of Oxford , but refused, on account of his anti-British dispostion, instead deciding on a round of European universities (Hamburg, Leipzig and Berlin, as many Afrikaner intellectuals before him had done). Verwoerd obtained his doctorate in Afrikaans at Stellenbosch University . In the 1930s he made brief visits to Germany and the USA . He was a student of the anthropologist Dr. Eugen Fischer , who promoted ideas of racial segregation and separate development. ARCHITECT OF APARTHEID Verwoerd, formerly Minister for Native Affairs, firmly believed in Apartheid . His aim was to create a South African state where whites would be the demographic majority, in order to ensure that white South Africans were not politically and culturally swamped by a black African majority. In order to achieve this ten black Homeland s or Bantustans , were created. Blacks were given the vote in these homelands instead of in 'white' South Africa. Verwoerd argued that these were the original areas of descent for the black South African population. The homeland policy effectively made blacks the citizens of different countries. Mass population transfers occurred when blacks were forcibly moved into these homeland areas. Apartheid also stripped the mixed-race Coloured s of their voting rights by amending an Entrenched Clause in the Union's Constitution ; since his party did not have the required two-thirds majority in both Houses of Parliament which would have allowed him to do this, he enlarged the Senate with his own appointees. Once the legislation was passed, the Senate's membership was changed back to its original size. A REPUBLIC During Verwoerd's term in office, South Africa ceased to be a Commonwealth Realm under Queen Elizabeth II known as the Union Of South Africa , instead becoming a Republic in 1961 , known as the Republic Of South Africa . The creation of a republic was one of the National Party 's long-term goals since originally coming to power in 1948 ; and Verwoerd's antipathy towards the British Crown was long standing; as editor of the newspaper ''Die Transvaler'', he ignored the British Royal Family 's tour of South Africa in 1947 , with one news item only referring in passing to 'congestion caused by some visitors from overseas'. The opposition 's Winds Of Change speech and international condemnation following the Sharpeville Massacre , South Africa would have to go it alone by becoming a republic. Many South Africans of English origin voted for the change believing that South Africa would remain in the Commonwealth, suggesting that there may have been significant numbers of Afrikaners opposed to the change, given that they made up a much larger proportion of the voting population. Verwoerd also managed to persuade them by keeping the system of government almost exactly the same (except that the president would be chosen by both houses). The Republic of South Africa came into existence on 31 May 1961 , chosen because it was the anniversary of the signing of the Treaty Of Vereeniging that had brought the Anglo-Boer War in 1902 . Following India 's assumption of republic status, it was agreed by Commonwealth leaders that being republic was not incompatible with membership but that a Commonwealth Realm would have to reapply for Commonwealth membership if it became a republic. At the meeting of Commonwealth Prime Ministers held in London Verwoerd argued that apartheid was just a matter of good labour policy. However, a number of Commonwealth Prime Ministers, particularly John Diefenbaker of Canada , denounced apartheid and argued that racial equality was a principle Commonwealth membership. As a result of widespread opposition from the leaders of non-white New Commonwealth countries as well as Old Commonwealth member Canada and the threat that several countries would resign from the Commonwealth if South Africa's application was approved, Verwoerd withdrew South Africa's application to remain a member of the Commonwealth on 15 March 1961 . South Africa's memership officially lapsed on 31 May when it officially became a republic. South Africa's Commonwealth membership was restored in 1994, although it remains a republic. ASSASSINATION On 16 April 1960 , Verwoerd was shot and injured by David Pratt while opening the Rand Easter Show at Milner Park, Johannesburg . Pratt was declared Insane and sent to a Mental Institution in Bloemfontein , committing suicide a few months later. In 1966 , Verwoerd was stabbed to death in the House Of Assembly by Dimitri Tsafendas , a parliamentary clerk, who escaped the Death Penalty on the grounds of insanity, saying that a large Worm in his Stomach told him to kill Verwoerd. Tsafendas's motive for killing Verwoerd remains unclear. Tsafendas had a Mozambican mother and, although not racially classified as a "coloured", he had a dark skin. This may have played a role, since he had recently fallen in love with a coloured woman. He had applied for reclassification as a coloured, since sexual relations between people of different races were illegal under apartheid. It is also unclear to what degree the murder was a political act. The trial of Tsafendas dealt mainly with the question of whether he was capable of fully understanding the consequences of his actions, and possible motives were never discussed. The Attorney General alleged that Tsafendas was a "hired killer", but this was not accepted by Judge Beyers, who ordered Tsafendas to be Imprisoned indefinitely at the " State President 's pleasure." SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|