Hendrik Jacobus Coetsee (19 April 1931 – 29 July 2000), known as Kobie Coetsee, was a South African lawyer, National Party politician and administrator as well as a negotiator during the country's transition to universal democracy.

Biography

Born on 19 April 1931 in Ladybrand,

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( ; ) was an independent Boer-ruled sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeated and surrendered to the British Em ...

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa (; , ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day South Africa, Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the British Cape Colony, Cape, Colony of Natal, Natal, Tra ...

a small agricultural town in the province of

(now the province of Free State), he studied law at the University of the Orange Free State and qualified as an attorney. In 1968, Coetsee won the

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein ( ; ), also known as Bloem, is the capital and the largest city of the Free State (province), Free State province in South Africa. It is often, and has been traditionally, referred to as the country's "judicial capital", alongsi ...

West seat in 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 g ...

, vacated by J. J. Fouche, who became State President. P. W. Botha appointed him in 1978 as Deputy Minister for Defence and National Intelligence and, in 1980, to the powerful position of

Justice Minister A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

. The portfolio of Prisons was added to his responsibilities. On 12 October 1978, Coetsee became Deputy Minister of Defence and National Security. He reorganised National Intelligence after the Information Scandal and adjusted the national service to make sure that people would not suffer financial loss or travel unnecessarily while doing their military service. Coetsee was appointed as Minister of Justice on 7 October 1980. He changed the legal system by introducing the small claims court and pioneering the Matrimonial Property Act in 1984. This act had an important effect on the status of married women and introduced the accrual system of sharing property between spouses. Coetsee also contributed to the process that made community service an alternative option to being jailed and did away with racially specific commissioners' courts. He was serious about legal reform and in April 1986, he asked for a legal commission to investigate the role of the courts in protecting group and individual rights, after which a report on human and group rights had to be drawn up. He also walked the Indemnity Act through parliament, ensuring that those who took part in political negotiations after the unbanning of the African National Congress (ANC) would receive temporary immunity. After the first non-racial democratic elections in South Africa in 1994, he was elected president of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

(which was later renamed the

National Council of Provinces The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) is the upper house of the Parliament of South Africa under the post-apartheid constitution of South Africa, constitution which came into full effect in 1997. It replaced the former Senate of South Africa# ...

), although the ANC had a comfortable majority in this chamber of parliament as well. He kept that position until 1997.

Meetings with the ANC

A series of meetings between him and the imprisoned

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

began in 1985. In 1985, he was elected provincial leader of the

NP. From 1990 on, he participated in the negotiations between the NP-government and the ANC. In 1993 he also took over the defence portfolio from Roelf Meyer until the elections of 1994. A Fast Attack Craft of the

South African Navy The South African Navy (SA Navy) is the naval warfare branch of the South African National Defence Force. The Navy is primarily engaged in maintaining a conventional military deterrent, participating in counter-piracy operations, fishery prote ...

was named after him. Kobie Coetsee married Helena Elizabeth Malan on 6 October 1956 and was a father of two sons and three daughters. He died of a heart attack on 29 July 2000, in

References

* Mondli Makhanya: Wily lawyer who won madiba's trust. Former champion of apartheid dies with integrity intact. Sunday Times (South Africa) 30 July 2000
Hendrik Jacobus (Kobie) Coetsee , a biography – South African History Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coetsee, Kobie 1931 births 2000 deaths People from Ladybrand Afrikaner people South African people of Dutch descent National Party (South Africa) politicians Defence ministers of South Africa Presidents of the Senate of South Africa Members of the House of Assembly (South Africa) South African jurists South African lawyers Justice ministers of South Africa