Johannes "Jan" de Klerk, (22 July 1903 – 24 January 1979) was a South African politician. He was the father of

F. W. 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 ...

, the last apartheid

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 ...

. As a member of the National Party, de Klerk served as

interim An interim is a period of temporary pause or change in a sequence of events, or a temporary state, and is often applied to transitional political entities. Interim may also refer to: Temporary organizational arrangements (general concept) * Provi ...

State President for nine days following the retirement of

Jacobus Johannes Fouché A Jacobus is an English gold coin of the reign of James I, worth 25 shillings. The name of the coin comes from the Latin inscription surrounding the King's head on the obverse of the coin, IACOBUS D G MAG BRIT FRA ET HI REX ("James, by the grace o ...

in 1975./ Prior to this, he served as a Senator (1955–1975), Minister of Work and Public Works (1954–1958), Work and Mines (1958–1961),

Home Affairs An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministr ...

, Work and Immigration (1961), Home Affairs, Education and Arts and Sciences (1961–1966), Education, Arts and Sciences and Information (1966–1967) and National Education (1968–1969), and President of the Senate from 1969 to 1976.

Biography

The eldest son of Reverend Willem de Klerk, a Dutch Reformed Church minister and his wife Aletta Johanna van Rooy, Jan de Klerk was born 22 July 1903 in

Burgersdorp Burgersdorp is a medium-sized town in Walter Sisulu in the Joe Gqabi District Municipality of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. In 1869 a Theological Seminary was established here by the ''Gereformeerde Kerk'', but in 1905 it was move ...

. He spent his childhood in

Potchefstroom Potchefstroom (, colloquially known as Potch) is an academic city in the North West Province of South Africa. It hosts the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University. Potchefstroom is on the Mooi Rivier (Afrikaans for "pretty river ...

, in South-West

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, ...

. He studied Christian Higher Education at the Potchefstroom University, where he obtained a BA degree and a higher education diploma in 1926 after three years. he was the President of the Student Union, he married Hendrina Cornelia Coetzer on 27 April 1927, and had two sons, Willem Johannes (Wimpie) and Frederik Willem (F.W.). From 1927 to 1945, Jan de Klerk worked in Nylstroom and

Witwatersrand The Witwatersrand () (locally the Rand or, less commonly, the Reef) is a , north-facing scarp in South Africa. It consists of a hard, erosion-resistant quartzite metamorphic rock, over which several north-flowing rivers form waterfalls, which ...

. He was headteacher of a school, and secretary of a white workers' trade union. In January 1947, he became administrative secretary of the National Party for the Rand region and in 1948, chief secretary of the NP of Transvaal. From 1949 to 1955, he was a member of the provincial council of Transvaal. In 1954, Jan de Klerk was named senator and Minister of Work and Public Works in the government of his brother-in-law, Prime Minister

JG Strijdom Johannes Gerhardus Strijdom (also spelled Strydom in accordance with Afrikaans spelling; 14 July 1893 – 24 August 1958), also known as Hans Strijdom and nicknamed the Lion of the North or the Lion of Waterberg, was the fifth prime minister of ...

. This nomination provoked controversy due to the relationship between the two men. He was a minister in the governments of

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 ...

and

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 ...

. Until 1969, he successively dealt with mines, home affairs, immigration, and education. While Minister of Education, he helped found the

Rand Afrikaans University The Rand Afrikaans University (RAU) was a prominent South African institution of higher education and research that served the greater Johannesburg area and surroundings from 1967 to 2004. It has since merged with the Technikon Witwatersrand ...

(RAU) in Johannesburg and the

University of Port Elizabeth The University of Port Elizabeth (UPE) was a public university located in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. UPE was founded on 31 January 1964, by an act of parliament, and held its first academic year in 1965. It of ...

(UPE), while also chancellor of the University of Potchefstroom (PU vir CHO). He was twice approached to be honorary president of the republic in 1967 and 1968. By the time of his retirement from the cabinet, de Klerk had been a cabinet minister for more than fifteen years and was rewarded with the

Decoration for Meritorious Services The Decoration for Meritorious Services was an honour conferred until 1987 by the Government of the Republic of South Africa, usually for political services to the country. The appointments were made by the State President of South Africa. Pos ...

. From 1969 to 1976, he presided over the

Senate 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 ...

or upper house of the South African parliament, and this meant that he was briefly interim State President of South Africa in 1975, under a

dormant commission A dormant commission is a commission in a Commonwealth realm that lies dormant or sleeping until it is triggered by a particular event. Historically, a dormant commission was given in relation to a military command. During the Crimean War, Sir ...

that was invoked. He retired from political life, spent his last few years on a farm and died in

Krugersdorp Krugersdorp (Afrikaans for ''Kruger's Town'') is a mining city in the West Rand, Gauteng Province, South Africa founded in 1887 by Marthinus Pretorius. Following the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand, a need arose for a major town in the we ...

on 24 January 1979.

Legacy

A school in Krugersdorp is named in honour of Jan de Klerk.

Ancestry

External links

Biography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Klerk, Johannes de 1903 births 1979 deaths People from Burgersdorp Afrikaner people South African people of Dutch descent National Party (South Africa) politicians State Presidents of South Africa Education ministers of South Africa Presidents of the Senate of South Africa Ministers of Home Affairs of South Africa