Kent Diederich Skelton Durr (born 1941) is a South African politician and diplomat who served as

Minister of Trade and Industry A Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry or variations is a ministry that is concerned with a nation's trade, industry and commerce. Notable examples are: List *Algeria: Ministry of Industry and ...

from September 1989 to March 1991 during the presidency 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 A ...

. He later served as South African Ambassador to the United Kingdom and he represented the

African Christian Democratic Party African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

(ACDP) in 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 ...

from April 2004 to July 2005.

Life and career

Durr was born in the former

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 1941 and attended the

South African College Schools The South African College Schools (colloquially often known as “SACS”) is a public English medium primary and high education institution situated in Newlands - part of the Southern Suburbs region of Cape Town in the Western Cape province of ...

and

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

. During

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 ...

, he represented the governing National Party in 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 ...

, and in September 1989 he was one of two Anglophones appointed to President de Klerk's cabinet. He served as

until March 1991, when he was designated as South African Ambassador to the United Kingdom and left the assembly. After the end of apartheid, Durr remained active in South African politics, ultimately leaving the NP for the ACDP. In the 2004 general election, he stood as a candidate for the ACDP and was elected to the post-apartheid National Assembly, serving the Western Cape constituency. He resigned on 31 July 2005 and was replaced by Hendry Cupido.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Durr, Kent Living people 1941 births African Christian Democratic Party politicians National Party (South Africa) politicians Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 20th-century South African politicians 21st-century South African politicians South African diplomats University of Cape Town alumni Ambassadors of South Africa to the United Kingdom