Pieter Willem Adriaan Mulder (born 26 July 1951) is a South African politician and the former 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 ...

. He served as the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in the Cabinet of President Jacob Zuma from 2009–14.

Biography

Early life and politics

Mulder was born in

Randfontein Randfontein is a gold mining town in the West Rand, Gauteng, South Africa, west of Johannesburg. With the Witwatersrand gold rush in full swing, mining financier JB Robinson bought the farm Randfontein and, in 1889, floated the Randfontein Est ...

and grew up in Randfontein and

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

. He completed his secondary education at Riebeeck High School in Randfontein, where he was head boy and Victor Ludorum in athletics. The son of former Cabinet minister

Connie Mulder Connie Mulder, born Cornelius Petrus Mulder (5 June 1925– 12 January 1988), was a South African politician, cabinet minister and father of Pieter Mulder, former leader of the Freedom Front Plus. He started his career as a teacher of Afri ...

, Pieter first worked as a lecturer at the Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education, before being promoted to head of the university's communications department. He represented the town of Potchefstroom in

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

for nearly thirty years from 1988–2017, initially elected as an MP for the

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 ...

(KP).

Freedom Front

Prior to South Africa's first multi-racial election in 1994, Mulder co-founded the Freedom Front with

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

Constand Viljoen General Constand Laubscher Viljoen, (28 October 1933 – 3 April 2020) was a South African military commander and politician. He co-founded the Afrikaner Volksfront (Afrikaner People's Front) and later founded the Freedom Front (now F ...

, a former head of the

South African Defence Force The South African Defence Force (SADF) (Afrikaans: ''Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag'') comprised the armed forces of South Africa from 1957 until 1994. Shortly before the state reconstituted itself as a republic in 1961, the former Union Defence F ...

. At the election in 1994, the Freedom Front won nine seats in the National Assembly. This number was reduced to three at the 1999 general election. Viljoen, who acted as the leader since the party's founding, retired from politics in 2001 and Mulder succeeded him.

Deputy Minister and Leader of the Freedom Front Plus

In 2004, under Mulder's leadership, the Freedom Front was renamed Freedom Front Plus after absorbing the smaller

, the

Afrikaner Eenheidsbeweging The Afrikaner Eenheidsbeweging (Afrikaner Unity Movement) was a small South African political party founded in Pretoria in 1998. It was led by Cassie Aucamp, and based on Afrikaner nationalism. The party participated in the South African general ...

(Afrikaner Unity Movement), which lost its only seat in the National Assembly due to floor-crossing, and the Federal Alliance of Dr.

Louis Luyt Louis Luyt (18 June 1932 – 1 February 2013) was a South African business tycoon and politician, and one-time rugby administrator. Having been a rugby player as a young man, Luyt went on to become a businessman. He founded Triomf Fertiliser a ...

. At the 2004 general election, the new "Freedom Front Plus" managed to gain four seats in the National Assembly. On 10 May 2009, President Jacob Zuma announced his appointment of Mulder as the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Mulder served until May 2014, when he was replaced by former Police Commissioner

Bheki Cele Bhekokwakhe "Bheki" Hamilton Cele (born 22 April 1952) has been the South African Minister of Police since February 2018. He was National Commissioner of the South African Police Service for two years, until misconduct allegations led to his su ...

. Mulder stepped down as leader of the Freedom Front Plus in late-2016, and was replaced by fellow MP

Pieter Groenewald 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 since his election in November 2016. He started his political career by being elected Mayor of St ...

. He remained a member of parliament until December 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mulder, Pieter 1951 births Living people People from Randfontein Afrikaner people South African people of Dutch descent Freedom Front Plus politicians Members of the National Assembly of South Africa North-West University alumni Members of the House of Assembly (South Africa) Forestry in South Africa Conservative Party (South Africa) politicians