Denis John Worrall (born 29 May 1935 in Benoni,

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa ( nl, Unie van Zuid-Afrika; af, Unie van Suid-Afrika; ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the Cape, Natal, Trans ...

)Who's Who in Southern Africa
Retrieved 4 April 2012 is a South African academic, businessman, and former politician and diplomat.

Life and career

Worrall was appointed as a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

for 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 ...

in 1974, representing the segregationist National Party. He was subsequently 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 governme ...

as National Party MP for Cape Town Gardens. He was chairman of the Constitutional Committee of the

President's Council The State President of the Republic of South Africa ( af, Staatspresident) was the head of state of South Africa from 1961 to 1994. The office was established when the country became a republic on 31 May 1961, albeit, outside the Commonweal ...

until 1982,Worrall, Denis John
- The O'Malley Archives and was Ambassador to

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from 1982 to 1984, and then Ambassador to the

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from 1984 to 1987.Swiss Invest Forum
, biography of Denis Worrall, Retrieved 6 January 2008 As a member of the NP's relatively moderate faction, Worrall objected to the shift from reform to security after 1985. He resigned his post in order to return to South Africa and enter politics again, standing as an independent against the senior government minister

Chris Heunis 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 and P. W. Botha. He was born in ...

in the Helderberg constituency in the 1987 election, but lost by 39 votes. Worrall then formed the conservative but anti-apartheid Independent Party with

Wynand Malan Wynand Malan (born 25 May 1943) is a liberal Afrikaner South African politician. A lawyer, Malan entered politics in the 1977 South African election when he was elected to the South Africa's all white parliament as the National Party MP for ...

in 1988. He subsequently became one of the three co-leaders of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, and won the Berea constituency for the DP in the 1989 election. Worrall taught at universities in South Africa (

University of Natal The University of Natal was a university in the former South African province Natal which later became KwaZulu-Natal. The University of Natal no longer exists as a distinct legal entity, as it was incorporated into the University of KwaZulu-N ...

and

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( o ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, and the

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and edited the first general textbook on the South African government and politics. Worrall is the former Vice Chairman of the International Bank of Southern Africa, former chairman of the Australian mining company Crown Diamonds N.L., director of several other companies and a consultant to the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

and several multinational corporations. In 2015, Worrall founded The Cape Messenger, an online daily newspaper with a focus on business and politics in South Africa.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Worrall, Denis 1935 births Living people People from Benoni South African diplomats Ambassadors of South Africa to Australia Independent Party (South Africa) politicians Democratic Party (South Africa) politicians Ambassadors of South Africa to the United Kingdom University of Cape Town alumni Cornell University alumni