Colin Wells Eglin (14 April 1925 – 29 November 2013) was a South African politician best known for having served as national leader of the opposition from 1977–79 and 1986–87. He represented

Sea Point Sea Point (Afrikaans: ''Seepunt'') is an affluent and densely populated suburb of Cape Town, situated in the Western Cape, between Signal Hill and the Atlantic Ocean, a few kilometres to the west of Cape Town's Central Business District (CBD). M ...

in the

South African Parliament The Parliament of the Republic of South Africa is South Africa's legislature. It is located in Cape Town; the country's legislative capital. Under the present Constitution of South Africa, the bicameral Parliament comprises a National Asse ...

from 1958–61 and from 1974–2004. Described by Nelson Mandela as "one of the architects of outh Africa'sdemocracy", Eglin played a leading role in the drafting of the country's post-apartheid constitution.

Early life, education and military service

Eglin was born in on 14 April 1925 in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

, the son of Carl August Eglin and his wife, Elsie May Wells. Both of Eglin's parents were South Africans of British descent. He had just turned nine when his father died in July 1934. He later wrote, "He had been ill for a long time, but had been strengthened by a deep and abiding Christian faith - and by the love and care (and equally deep faith) of his wife". His mother died in 1958. He interrupted his studies in 1943 during World War II to join the

South African Army The South African Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of South Africa, a part of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), along with the South African Air Force, South African Navy and South African Military Health Servi ...

. He became a full-time instructor in the anti-aircraft unit in Cape Town. He was then sent to a similar unit in the

Kingdom of Egypt The Kingdom of Egypt () was the legal form of the Egyptian state during the latter period of the Muhammad Ali dynasty's reign, from the United Kingdom's recognition of Egyptian independence in 1922 until the abolition of the monarchy of Eg ...

and transferred to Italy. He took part in the South African assault on Monte Sole, after which the Allies broke through to the plains of Italy. After the War he remained in Italy for nine months, waiting for demobilisation. During this period, he undertook extramural courses in archaeology and town planning. He graduated from the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...

with a BSc degree in quantity surveying in 1946.

Early political activity

Eglin was a member of Pinelands Municipal Council from 1951 to 1954. He was elected as a United Party Cape Province Provincial Councillor in 1954 and served until 1958. He was elected unopposed as MP for the Peninsula constituency in 1958. He left the United Party to become a founder member of the Progressive Party in 1959, losing his seat in the 1961 general election. Eglin became the leader of the Progressive Party in February 1971. Eglin was at first outside Parliament, but he was elected for the Cape Town seat of Sea Point in the April 1974 General Election, when five other PP candidates joined

Helen Suzman Helen Suzman, Order for Meritorious Service, OMSG, Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, DBE (née Gavronsky; 7 November 1917 – 1 January 2009) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and p ...

in Parliament. Parlementslede van die Progressiewe Party 1960

Mounting parliamentary opposition to apartheid

In February 1975, UP liberal leader

Harry Schwarz Harry Heinz Schwarz (13 May 1924 – 5 February 2010) was a South African lawyer, statesman, and long-time Internal resistance to South African apartheid, political opposition leader against apartheid in South Africa who eventually served as th ...

was expelled from the party along with several others, who formed the Reform Party. The two parties, which shared an anti-apartheid ideology, entered into negotiations to merge, which resulted in the creation of the Progressive Reform Party in July 1975. Eglin was elected leader after Schwarz agreed not to stand for the leadership and was appointed Chairman of the National Executive. He became leader of the Progressive Federal Party in 1977, following a merger with the Committee for United Opposition that had also broken away from the United Party. Eglin was the leader of the official Opposition 1977-79. He was replaced as leader by Frederik van Zyl Slabbert in 1979, when Eglin became Shadow Foreign Minister, a post he would hold until 1986. From 1986-88 Eglin was again party leader, following the resignation of Slabbert. He was official Opposition leader until 1987, when the right-wing Conservative Party became the official opposition party. Zach de Beer took over as leader of the Progressive Federal Party in 1988. The party merged with other groups to become the Democratic Party in 1989 and then the Democratic Alliance in 2000. Eglin continued to serve in the segregated

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 g ...

until it was abolished in 1994 and then in the multi-racial

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 repr ...

in the

Parliament of South Africa The Parliament of the Republic of South Africa is South Africa's legislature. It is located in Cape Town; the country's legislative capital city, capital. Under the present Constitution of South Africa, the bicameralism, bicameral Parliamen ...

until he retired in 2004.

Honours

Colin Eglin was made an Officer of the Order of the Disa in 2005. He was awarded the Order of the Baobab, Category II (Silver), in April 2013.

Death

Eglin died on 29 November 2013 due to cardiac arrest at the age of 88.

Autobiography

He wrote an autobiography titled ''Crossing the Borders of Power''.

References

Sources

* The International Who's Who 2006 (Routledge 2006) * UCT News, Alumni Magazine, 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Eglin, Colin 1925 births 2013 deaths Politicians from Cape Town White South African anti-apartheid activists South African anti-apartheid activists South African people of British descent University of Cape Town alumni United Party (South Africa) politicians Progressive Party (South Africa) politicians Progressive Reform Party (South Africa) politicians Progressive Federal Party politicians Democratic Party (South Africa) politicians Democratic Alliance (South Africa) politicians Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 1994–1999 Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 1999–2004 South African military personnel of World War II Members of the House of Assembly (South Africa) Recipients of the Order of the Baobab