Johannes de Klerk
Johannes | |
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File:Jan de Klerk.jpg | |
State President of South Africa (acting) | |
In office 9 April 1975 – 19 April 1975 |
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Preceded by | Jacobus Johannes Fouché |
Succeeded by | Nicolaas Johannes Diederichs |
Minister of Home Affairs | |
In office 1961–1966 |
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Personal details | |
Born | Burgersdorp, Cape Colony |
22 July 1903
Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Krugersdorp, Transvaal Province, South Africa |
Political party | National Party |
Spouse(s) | Hendrina Cornelia Coetzer |
Children | Willem de Klerk F. W. de Klerk |
Alma mater | Potchefstroom University |
Religion | Dutch Reformed |
Johannes "Jan'" de Klerk, DMS (22 July 1903 – 24 January 1979)[1] was a South African politician. He was the father of Frederik Willem de Klerk, the last State President of South Africa.
As a member of the National Party, de Klerk served as interim State President for nine days following the retirement of Jacobus Johannes Fouché in 1975.[2] Prior to this, he served as a Senator (1955–1975), Minister of Work and Public Works (1954–1958), Work and Mines (1958–1961), Home Affairs, Work and Immigration (1961), Home Affairs, Education and Arts and Sciences (1961–1966), Education, Arts and Sciences and Information (1966–1967) and National Education (1968–1969), and President of the Senate from 1969 to 1976.
Biography
Son of Reverend Willem de Klerk and his wife Aletta Johannes van Rooy, Jan de Klerk was born 22 July 1903 in Burgersdorp. He spent his childhood in Potchefstroom, in South-West Transvaal. Graduating from Potchefstroom University[3] (1926) where he was the President of the Student Union, he married Hendrina Cornelia Coutzer on 27 April 1927, and had two sons, Willem Johannes and Frederik Willem.
From 1927 to 1945, Jan de Klerk worked in Nylstroom and Witwatersrand. He was headteacher of a school, and secretary of a white workers' trade union. In January 1947, he became administrative secretary of the National Party for the Rand region and in 1948, chief secretary of the NP of Transvaal. From 1949 to 1955, he was a member of the provincial council of Transvaal.
In 1954, Jan de Klerk was named senator and Minister of Work and Public Works in the government of his brother-in-law, Prime Minister JG Strijdom. This nomination provoked controversy due to the relationship between the two men.
He was a minister in the governments of Hendrik Verwoerd and John Vorster. Until 1969, he successively dealt with mines, home affairs, immigration, and education. While Minister of Education, he helped found the Rand Afrikaans University (RAU) in Johannesburg and the University of Port Elizabeth (UPE), while also chancellor of the University of Potchefstroom (PUVCHO). He was twice approached to be honorary president of the republic in 1967 and 1968.
By the time of his retirement from the Cabinet, de Klerk had been a cabinet minister for more than fifteen years and was rewarded with the Decoration for Meritorious Service
From 1969 to 1976, he presided over the Senate or upper house of the South African parliament, and this meant that he was briefly interim President of South Africa in 1975. He retired from political life, and died in Krugersdorp on 24 January 1979.
Legacy
A school in Krugersdorp is named in honour of Jan de Klerk.
Ancestry
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External links
References
Attribution
- This article contains text from the Afrikaans Wikipedia article - http://af.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_de_Klerk
Political offices | ||
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Preceded by | Minister of Education, Arts and Sciences Minister of National Education 1961–1969 |
Succeeded by Johannes Petrus van der Spuy |
Preceded by | Minister of Home Affairs 1961–1966 |
Succeeded by P. K. Le Roux |
Preceded by | Minister of Work 1954–1961 |
Succeeded by Alfred Trollip |
Preceded by | Minister of Public Works 1954–1958 |
Succeeded by Paul Sauer |
Preceded by | President of the Senate of South Africa 1969–1976 |
Succeeded by Marais Viljoen |
- Use South African English from May 2012
- All Wikipedia articles written in South African English
- Use dmy dates from May 2011
- Pages with broken file links
- 1903 births
- 1979 deaths
- People from Burgersdorp
- Afrikaner people
- White South African people
- South African people of Dutch descent
- South African people of Huguenot descent
- National Party (South Africa) politicians
- State Presidents of South Africa
- Education ministers of South Africa
- Presidents of the Senate of South Africa
- Ministers of Home Affairs of South Africa