Petrus "Piet" Matheus Junius (1941 - 3 April 2021) was a

Namibian 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 ...

politician who served as the Deputy Education Minister of the Interim Namibian Government from 1985 to 1989. Junius also served as vice-president of the Democratic Turnhalle Association between 1985 and 1989.

Life and death

Junius was born in Rehoboth, South West Africa in 1941. Junius attended the Teachers Training College in Johannesburg, South Africa, graduating with a diploma. He went on to work as both a farmer and a teacher in Namibia.''Junius, Petrus Matheus.'' In: ''Africa Who's Who.'' Africa Books, London 1991, S. 856. In 1971, alongside

Ben Africa Ben Africa (born 13 October 1938) is a Namibian politician, medical doctor, and former Baster captain. Africa is most notable for serving as the fourth Captain of the Baster and his tenure as vice-president of the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance ...

and

John McNab John McNab (1934/1935 - 3 October 2020) was a Namibian politician who served as Rehoboth, Namibia, Rehoboth Baster captain from 1999 until 2020. Life and death John McNab was born around the Rehoboth, Namibia, Rehoboth area of South West Africa ...

, Junius founded the Rehoboth Baster Association (RBA). The RBA sought to represent

Baster The Basters (also known as Baasters, Rehobothers or Rehoboth Basters) are a Southern African ethnic group descended from white European men and black African women, usually of Khoisan origin, but occasionally also enslaved women from the Cape, ...

interests in the Rehoboth region. In 1977, the RBA merged with the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance to create the Popular Democratic Movement. Junius served as the Deputy Minister for National Education and Public Service in the cabinet of the Transitional Government of National Unity between 1985 and 1989. Throughout the same period, Junius served as vice-chairman of the Democratic Turnhalle Association (DTA). He was expelled from the RBA in 1986, becoming the leader of the Progressive People's Party in the same year. In 1989, Junius founded, and became president of, the Christian Democratic Party. At the same time, he became a member of the Namibian Constituent Assembly. From 1990 to 2003, Junius was a member of the Namibian

lower house A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...

, 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 ...

, representing the DTA. In 2018, Junius was elected as the president of the United People's Movement - the political organization of the Baster people. On 3 April 2021, Junius died from a

coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the com ...

-induced heart attack, 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 ...

, at the age of 79. He was buried on his Kurunab farmstead, about 37 miles south of Rehoboth.

References

1941 births 2021 deaths Namibian politicians People from Rehoboth, Namibia {{Improve categories, date=July 2022