Theophilus Ebenhaezer Dönges (8 March 1898 – 10 January 1968) was a South African politician who was elected the

state president of South Africa 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 ...

, but died before he could take office, aged 69.

Early life

Eben Donges was born on 8 March 1898 in the town of

Klerksdorp Klerksdorp () is located in the North West Province, South Africa. Klerksdorp, the largest city in the North West Province, is located southeast of Mahikeng, the provincial capital. Klerksdorp was also the first capital of the then Transvaal Repub ...

, the youngest son of Theophilus C. Dönges, a minister of religion. He attended

Stellenbosch University 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 ...

and received a law degree from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. He was admitted to the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

on 23 November 1921 and withdrew without being

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

on 8 November 1928. When he returned from London, he became active in the National Party and joined its mouthpiece, ''

Die Burger ''Die Burger'' (English: The Citizen) is a daily Afrikaans-language newspaper, published by Naspers. By 2008, it had a circulation of 91,665 in the Western and Eastern Cape Provinces of South Africa. Along with ''Beeld'' and ''Volksblad'', it is ...

'', as a journalist. He left journalism in 1927 and practised law.

Career

Running for parliament, he was unsuccessful in his first attempt in 1938 before obtaining a seat in 1941. When the National Party won power in 1948, he joined the cabinet as Minister of Posts and Telegraphs. As Minister of the Interior, from 1948 to 1961, he was one of the so-called "architects" of

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

, introducing race-based population registration, and removing

Coloured Coloureds ( af, Kleurlinge or , ) refers to members of multiracial ethnic communities in Southern Africa who may have ancestry from more than one of the various populations inhabiting the region, including African, European, and Asian. South ...

voters from the common voters' roll as a prelude to disenfranchising them altogether. During his tenure as Minister of the Interior, Dönges believed that apartheid would continue only for the next two generations. In November 1953, after DF Malan resigned as Cape Provincial leader, Dönges defeated Eric Louw to become the new provincial leader. In the 1958 National Party leadership election following the death of Prime Minister J. G. Strijdom, Dönges ran for the party leadership and lost to

Hendrik Verwoerd Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd (; 8 September 1901 – 6 September 1966) was a South African politician, a scholar of applied psychology and sociology, and chief editor of ''Die Transvaler'' newspaper. He is commonly regarded as the architect ...

in the final round of voting between the two candidates. Despite this, Verwoerd included Dönges in the new cabinet as Minister of Finance from 1958 to 1966. After Verwoerd's assassination, Dönges, as senior member of the Cabinet, became

acting Prime Minister An acting prime minister is a cabinet member (often in Westminster system countries) who is serving in the role of prime minister, whilst the individual who normally holds the position is unable to do so. The role is often performed by the deputy ...

on 6 September 1966 until a National Party congress named

B. J. 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 presid ...

to succeed to the premiership. Dönges was elected State President to succeed C.R. Swart on his retirement on 1 June 1967, but suffered a stroke and fell into a coma before he could take office. He died on 10 January 1968 without regaining consciousness. His deputy Tom Naudé acted for him until 6 December 1967 when he officially replaced Dönges.

Legacy

He received the posthumous honours granted to a former State President: a state funeral and his effigy on the obverses of the 1969 silver 1 Rand coins. There is a school in Cape Town named after him,

Eben Dönges High School Eben Dönges High School (Hoërskool Eben Dönges) is a government-funded high school in Kraaifontein, Western Cape, South Africa. Founded It was established in 1961. Name The school is named after Theophilus Ebenhaezer Dönges, who was a po ...

and another primary school in Bothaville, Eben Dönges Primary School, as well as the Eben Dönges Hospital in

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

.Eben Dönges HS
home, retrieved August 2014

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donges, Theophilus Ebenhaezer 1898 births 1968 deaths People from Klerksdorp Afrikaner people South African people of German descent Members of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK) National Party (South Africa) politicians Purified National Party politicians Herenigde Nasionale Party politicians State Presidents of South Africa Prime Ministers of South Africa Finance ministers of South Africa Ministers of Home Affairs of South Africa Members of the House of Assembly (South Africa) Alumni of University of London Worldwide Elected officials who died without taking their seats