White Namibian
White Namibians (german: Weiße Namibier or Europäer Namibier) are people of European descent settled in Namibia. The majority of White Namibians are Afrikaners (locally born or of White South Africans descent), with many of the White minority ...
politician and lawyer in
South West Africa
South West Africa ( af, Suidwes-Afrika; german: Südwestafrika; nl, Zuidwest-Afrika) was a territory under South African administration from 1915 to 1990, after which it became modern-day Namibia. It bordered Angola (Portuguese colony before 1 ...
, the forerunner to modern
Namibia
Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...
.
Van Zijl was a prominent member of the
National Party of South West Africa
The National Party of South West Africa ( af, Nasionale Party van Suidwes-Afrika, german: Nationale Partei Südwestafrikas) was a political party in South West Africa.
History
The party was originally established in Mariental by Frikke Jooste ...
(NP), which was a branch of the main party in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
. He was a member of the all-White
legislative assembly of South West Africa
A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government.
Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known a ...
from 1964 until 1981. He left politics in 1981 when he was defeated by
Kosie Pretorius
Jacobus Willem Francois Pretorius, commonly known as Kosie Pretorius (5 September 1935Multi-party conference. In 1985 and 1986, he served in the controversial
Transitional Government of National Unity
The Transitional Government of National Unity (''Gouvernement d'Union Nationale de Transition'' or GUNT) was the coalition government of armed groups that nominally ruled Chad from 1979 to 1982, during the most chaotic phase of the long-running ci ...
(TGNU) as Minister in the Cabinet. The TGNU sought to form an independent government which did not include
SWAPO
The South West Africa People's Organisation (, SWAPO; af, Suidwes-Afrikaanse Volks Organisasie, SWAVO; german: Südwestafrikanische Volksorganisation, SWAVO), officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former ind ...
. He and other NP members formed the
Action National Settlement
Action may refer to:
* Action (narrative), a literary mode
* Action fiction, a type of genre fiction
* Action game, a genre of video game
Film
* Action film, a genre of film
* ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford
* ''Action'' (1980 fil ...
in 1985/1986 and joined with
Moses Katjiuongua
Moses Katjikuru Katjiuongua (24 April 1942 – 8 March 2011) was a Namibian politician, minister in the Transitional Government of National Unity, member of the Constituent Assembly of Namibia, and member of the National Assembly of Namibia.
Early ...
and
SWANU
The South West Africa National Union (SWANU) is a Namibian political party founded in 1959. Most of its members came from the Herero people, while fellow independence movement SWAPO was mostly an Ovambo party. The party's president is Charles ...
1989 election
The following elections occurred in the year 1989.
Africa
* 1989 Beninese parliamentary election
* 1989 Botswana general election
* 1989 Equatorial Guinean presidential election
* 1989 People's Republic of the Congo parliamentary election
* 198 ...
. The NPF, however, only earned one seat in the
Constituent Assembly
A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...
, which went to Katjiongua. Following the defeat, van Zijl retired from politics permanently.
Following retirement, van Zijl mostly stayed on his farm, called "Den Haag", in the Summerdown area in the
Omaheke Region
Omaheke ( hz, Sandveld) is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, the least populous region. Its capital is Gobabis. It lies in eastern Namibia on the border with Botswana and is the western extension of the Kalahari desert. The self-governed vil ...
in eastern Namibia. He died in
Swakopmund
Swakopmund (german: Mouth of the Swakop) is a city on the coast of western Namibia, west of the Namibian capital Windhoek via the B2 main road. It is the capital of the Erongo administrative district. The town has 44,725 inhabitants and covers ...