Petrus Johannes "Pieter" Groenewald (born 27 August 1955) is a South African politician. He has been serving as the Leader of the

Freedom Front Plus The Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus; af, Vryheidsfront Plus, ''VF Plus'') is a right-wing political party in South Africa that was formed (as the Freedom Front) in 1994. It is led by Pieter Groenewald. Its current stated policy positions include a ...

since his election in November 2016. He started his political career by being elected Mayor of Stilfontein in 1988. He relinquished the position in 1989 due to his election to 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 ...

. Groenewald co-founded the Freedom Front in 1994, and served as a Member of 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 rep ...

until his election to the

North West Provincial Legislature The North West Provincial Legislature is the primary legislative body of the South African province of North West (South Africa), North West. It is unicameral in its composition, and elects the premier and the provincial cabinet from among the memb ...

in 1999. He returned to the National Assembly in 2001. Groenewald's son,

Michal Michal (; he, מיכל , gr, Μιχάλ) was, according to the first Book of Samuel, a princess of the United Kingdom of Israel; the younger daughter of King Saul, she was the first wife of David (), who later became king, first of Judah, ...

, also serves as an MP for the FF+.

Early life

Pieter Groenewald was born in

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 ...

. He achieved a B.luris degree from the

Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education The Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education (abbreviated as PU for CHE) was a South African university located in Potchefstroom. Instruction was mainly in Afrikaans. In 2004, the university was merged with other institutions to c ...

. Other degrees that Groenewald has obtained include a Postgraduate Diploma in Communications, a master's degree in Management and Development, and a Doctorate in Politics.

Political career

He was elected Mayor of Stilfontein in 1988. At the South African general election of 1989, Groenewald was elected to the

House of Assembly of South Africa The House of Assembly (known in Afrikaans as the ''Volksraad'', or "People's Council") was the lower house of the Parliament of South Africa from 1910 to 1981, the sole parliamentary chamber between 1981 and 1984, and latterly the white rep ...

for the Stilfontein constituency.Dr Pieter Groenewald
''VF Plus''. In March 1994, Groenewald co-founded the Freedom Front, a minority rights and pro-Afrikaner nationalism political party. He was elected to the newly-established

in April of the same year. He served as a Member of Parliament until he was elected to the

in 1999. He served as a North West MPL from 1999 until he returned to the National Assembly in 2001. Groenewald has held various leadership positions in the

, such as Parliamentary Leader and Federal Chairperson from 11 August 2011 until 12 November 2016. He was also the Provincial Leader of the party in the North West from March 1994 to March 2017. On 12 November 2016, Groenewald was elected Leader of the Freedom Front Plus, succeeding

Pieter Mulder Pieter Willem Adriaan Mulder (born 26 July 1951) is a South African politician and the former leader of the Freedom Front Plus. He served as the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in the Cabinet of President Jacob Zuma from ...

, who retired from the position. Advocate Anton Alberts succeeded Groenewald as Federal Chairperson. Groenewald led the Freedom Front Plus to achieve its best election result in the 2019 general election. The party increased its vote share to 2.38% of the national vote, earning it ten seats in the

, its highest representation in the National Assembly since its founding in 1994. Additionally, the party won representation in eight of the nine provincial legislatures and largely improved its showing in the provinces of

Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...

and the

North West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

.Mailovich, Claudi
FF Plus defies expectations
''BusinessLIVE'', 9 May 2019. Retrieved on 30 June 2019.

References

External links

People's Assembly profile

Dr Petrus Johannes Groenewald – Parliament of South Africa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Groenewald, Pieter Living people People from North West (South African province) North-West University alumni Members of the National Assembly of South Africa Freedom Front Plus politicians Afrikaner people 1955 births