Gerhardus Jacobus 'Gert' Hanekom (30 March 1930—2 December 1999), affectionately known as Oom Gert ( af, Uncle Gert), was a

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 ...

n politician serving in several ministerial portfolios.

Biography

Hanekom was born on 30 March 1930 in

Redelinghuys Redelinghuys is a village in the Bergrivier Local Municipality in the Western Cape province of South Africa, located about north of Cape Town on the Verlorevlei River. The 2001 Census recorded the population as 581 people in 167 households. The ...

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 ...

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 ...

. He attended school there and graduated from the

University of South Africa The University of South Africa (UNISA), known colloquially as Unisa, is the largest university system in South Africa by enrollment. It attracts a third of all higher education students in South Africa. Through various colleges and affiliates, U ...

as a chartered accountant. He subsequently worked as accountant in the private sector. In 1956 he took up accounting work in

Windhoek Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 20 ...

and founded ''Hanekom & Kie'' in 1975, an accounting company that developed into the local

PricewaterhouseCoopers PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounting ...

dependance. Although initially a member of the

Afrikaner nationalist Afrikaner nationalism ( af, Afrikanernasionalisme) is a nationalistic political ideology which created by Afrikaners residing in Southern Africa during the Victorian era. The ideology was developed in response to the significant events in Afrik ...

National Party (NP), Hanekom disassociated with its

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 ...

policies over time. He and other NP members left and founded

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 f ...

in 1986, a party that later joined the National Patriotic Front. Hanekom worked with

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 ...

shortly before

Namibian independence The history of Namibia has passed through several distinct stages from being colonised in the late nineteenth century to Namibia's independence on 21 March 1990. From 1884, Namibia was a German colony: German South West Africa. After the First W ...

and joined the party in 1990. Hanekom joined the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

in 1990 by appointment of president

Sam Nujoma Samuel Shafiishuna Daniel Nujoma, (; born 12 May 1929) is a Namibian revolutionary, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served three terms as the first President of Namibia, from 1990 to 2005. Nujoma was a founding member and the first ...

as Namibia's first Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development. In 1992 he was moved to the finance portfolio, and in 1995 he became Minister of Environment and Tourism. He served until 1997 when he took over as head of the President's Economic Advisory Council. Hanekom was ill with cancer and heart problems. He died on 2 December 1999 and was awarded a

state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of Etiquette, protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive ...

References

1930 births 1999 deaths People from the Western Cape Members of the National Assembly (Namibia) SWAPO politicians Environment and tourism ministers of Namibia Finance ministers of Namibia Agriculture ministers of Namibia {{Namibia-politician-stub