Bantu Holomisa

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Bantu Holomisa, 2019

Bantubonke Harrington "Bantu" Holomisa (born July 25, 1955 in Mqanduli , Transkei ) is a South African politician. He is chairman of the United Democratic Movement (UDM) party.

Life

Bantu Holomisa is the son of a future chief of the AmaHegebe tribe, Bazindlovu Holomisa, and his second wife Constance. First he attended the primary school in Mqanduli, later the Jongilizwe College in Tsolo. The latter was a special school for the sons of chiefs and headmen. He acquired his Matric in 1975. During this time he also led a rugby team. Holomisa then worked for the Department of Posts and Telecommunications in Umtata for six months .

In 1976 Holomisa became a member of the Transkei Defense Force . Here he received training as a parachutist , commander of a combat unit and attended an officer candidate course (recognized in 1978). Thereafter, Holomisa was one of the first black graduates to take part in the personnel and management course at the Army College in Pretoria . After his rise to command in 1987, he carried out a military coup against the then government of the Transkei under Prime Minister Stella Sigcau , in which the de facto ruling South African troops did not intervene. From then on he was president of the formally independent homeland Transkei. In 1989 he lifted the ban on the African National Congress (ANC) and the Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC). An attempted coup against Holomisa, apparently initiated by South African intelligence officials, failed in 1990; the coup plotters were shot without trial.

In April 1994 the Transkei was incorporated into the South African province of Eastern Cape , so that Holomisa lost his office. In the same year he became a member of the Executive Committee of the African National Congress and South Africa's Deputy Minister for Environment and Tourism in the Mandela Cabinet . After testifying before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 1996 to deal with the crimes of apartheid , he was expelled from the ANC and lost his ministerial office. In 1997 he founded the United Democratic Movement with the white ex-minister Roelf Meyer , took over its chairmanship and in 1999 became a member of the UDM in the South African parliament. In addition to Holomisa, the UDM has had three other members of parliament since 2009.

Until he took office as President of the Transkei, Holomisa also served as a high-ranking sports official. He is married and has three children.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Shelagh Gastrow: Who's Who in South African Politics, Number 4 . Ravan Press, Johannesburg 1992, pp. 102-104
  2. ↑ Information from the ANC website ( Memento of December 11, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (English), accessed on November 16, 2010
  3. ↑ a b c Information on whoswhosa.co.za (English, archive version )
personal data
SURNAME Holomisa, Bantu
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Holomisa, Bantubonke Harrington (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African politician
DATE OF BIRTH July 25, 1955
PLACE OF BIRTH Mqanduli , Transkei , South Africa