Jan Christiaan "Chris" Heunis, DMS (20 April 1927 – 27 January 2006) was a South African Afrikaner lawyer, politician, member of the National Party and cabinet minister in the governments of

John Vorster Balthazar Johannes "B. J." Vorster (; also known as John Vorster; 13 December 1915 – 10 September 1983) was a South African apartheid politician who served as the prime minister of South Africa from 1966 to 1978 and the fourth state presiden ...

and

P. W. Botha Pieter Willem Botha, (; 12 January 1916 – 31 October 2006), commonly known as P. W. and af, Die Groot Krokodil (The Big Crocodile), was a South African politician. He served as the last prime minister of South Africa from 1978 to 1984 and ...

. He was born in 1927 in Uniondale in the

Cape Province The Province of the Cape of Good Hope ( af, Provinsie Kaap die Goeie Hoop), commonly referred to as the Cape Province ( af, Kaapprovinsie) and colloquially as The Cape ( af, Die Kaap), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequen ...

(now the

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

). After studying in

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...

, he continued his studies in law and became a lawyer in 1951. At the same time, he pursued a political career and became head of the National Party in George District and a member of the municipal council. In 1959, he was elected to the Provincial Council. Heunis was elected to the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible gove ...

in 1970, and in 1974 became Minister of Indian Affairs and Tourism in the government of

. In 1975, he became Minister of Economic Affairs. In 1979, as part of the

Government, he participated in the preparation of a new constitution, and in 1982, became Minister of Constitutional Reform. In this role, he put in place the

Tricameral Parliament The Tricameral Parliament, officially the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa, was the legislature of South Africa between 1984 and 1994, established by the South African Constitution of 1983, which gave a limited political voice to ...

, gave the

right to vote Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

to the Coloureds and Indians, in separate chambers of the

South African Parliament The Parliament of the Republic of South Africa is South Africa's legislature; under the present Constitution of South Africa, the bicameral Parliament comprises a National Assembly and a National Council of Provinces. The current twenty-seve ...

. He convinced the leader of the Labour Party,

Allan Hendrickse Helenard Joe Hendrickse (22 October 1927 – 16 March 2005), popularly known as Allan Hendrickse, was a South African politician, Congregationalist minister and teacher. He participated in an act of defiance by swimming at a South African beach ...

, to agree to this reform. During this time, he took part in confidential informal interviews in Port Elizabeth between two NP representatives, and two representatives from the

ANC The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...

. In September 1986, Heunis was unanimously voted leader of the NP in the

, taking over from President

. At the beginning of 1989, he assumed the functions of State President for the interim for 100 days when Pieter Botha suffered a cerebral congestion. He was one of the candidates for leadership of the National Party, along with

Pik Botha Roelof Frederik "Pik" Botha, (27 April 1932 – 12 October 2018) was a South African politician who served as the country's foreign minister in the last years of the apartheid era, the longest-serving in South African history. Known as a libe ...

Barend du Plessis Barend Jacobus du Plessis (born 19 January 1940 in Johannesburg) is a South African retired politician and a former member of the now-dissolved National Party, as well as Minister of Finance in 1984–1992. Early life and education Du Plessis ...

and

Frederik de Klerk Frederik Willem de Klerk (, , 18 March 1936 – 11 November 2021) was a South African politician who served as state president of South Africa from 1989 to 1994 and as deputy president from 1994 to 1996 in the democratic government. As South ...

, but was beaten in the second round of elections. He narrowly avoided defeat in the 1987 election, in which he faced a challenge from former NP MP and diplomat

Denis Worrall Denis John Worrall (born 29 May 1935 in Benoni, Transvaal, Union of South Africa)Who's Who in Southern Africa ...

, but held the seat by 39 votes. Later, Heunis retired from political life, and did not participate in the elections of 1989, and returned to his law practice in

Somerset West Somerset West ( af, Somerset-Wes) is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa. Organisationally and administratively it is included in the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality as a suburb of the Helderberg region (formerly called Hottent ...

with his son Jakkie Heunis. He received an honorary doctorate in philosophy from the

University of Stellenbosch Stellenbosch University ( af, Universiteit Stellenbosch) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant ...

, honorary lieutenant-colonel of the police, honorary citizen of George, decorated with the Grand Cordon of the order of the Republic of China, and was father of four boys and one girl. He died in January 2006 in Somerset West after a long illness.

References

External links

Article in the Mail and Guardian- January 2006
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heunis, Jan Christiaan 1927 births 2006 deaths People from George Local Municipality Afrikaner people National Party (South Africa) politicians Ministers of Home Affairs of South Africa Members of the House of Assembly (South Africa) 20th-century South African lawyers