Stefanus Lourens Muller (1917–2005) was a South African politician and cabinet minister.

Biography

Lourens Muller was born in

Beaufort West Beaufort West (Afrikaans: ''Beaufort-Wes''; Xhosa: ''eBhofolo'') is a town in the Western Cape province in South Africa. It is the largest town in the arid Great Karoo region, and is known as the "Capital of the Karoo". It forms part of the Beauf ...

in the

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 1917. Muller worked for

South African Railways Transnet Freight Rail is a South African rail transport company, formerly known as Spoornet. It was part of the South African Railways and Harbours Administration, a state-controlled organisation that employed hundreds of thousands of people ...

before studying law and practicing as a lawyer in

Robertson Robertson may refer to: People * Robertson (surname) (includes a list of people with this name) * Robertson (given name) * Clan Robertson, a Scottish clan * Robertson, stage name of Belgian magician Étienne-Gaspard Robert (1763–1837) Places ...

. He was married to the soprano singer Hanlie van Niekerk, but divorced soon afterwards. In 1961, he was elected to

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

as the National Party candidate in the constituency of Ceres. Muller initially worked under the Justice ministry, then held several ministerial posts under prime minister

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 presid ...

with whom he had developed a close political alliance. Under the Voster and Botha governments, Muller held the ministries of Police, Economic Affairs, Home Affairs and Transport. After Vorster's resignation as

State President 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 ...

in the aftermath of the information scandal, Muller was widely considered the favourite to succeed him. The position instead went to

Marais Viljoen Marais Viljoen, (2 December 1915 – 4 January 2007) was the last ceremonial state president of South Africa from 4 June 1979 until 3 September 1984. Viljoen became the last of the ceremonial presidents of South Africa when he was succeeded in ...

. Muller was dismissed from the government by prime minister

P. W. Botha Pieter Willem Botha, (; 12 January 1916 – 31 October 2006), commonly known as P. W. and af, Die Groot Krokodil (The Big Crocodile), was a South African politician. He served as the last prime minister of South Africa from 1978 to 1984 and ...

, after a growing series of disagreements. After his dismissal, Muller left the National Party in 1980 and later became a founding member of Andries Treurnicht's

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

. In 1981, Muller would retire from parliament at that year's

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

. He died after a period of illness in 2005. He had been treated at a clinic in

Somerset West Somerset West ( af, Somerset-Wes) is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa. Organisationally and administratively it is included in the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality as a suburb of the Helderberg region (formerly called Hottent ...

before his death.

References

1917 births 2005 deaths White South African people National Party (South Africa) politicians Members of the House of Assembly (South Africa) Ministers of Home Affairs of South Africa {{WesternCape-politician-stub