Charles Robberts Swart

Charles Robberts Swart (born December 5, 1894 in Winburg , Orange Free State , † July 16, 1982 in Bloemfontein ) was a South African politician.

Charles Robberts Swart was imprisoned with his mother in a British concentration camp for several years during the Boer War in 1900 . After his release he studied law and philosophy in Bloemfontein. After further years of study in the USA , he returned to South Africa. In 1919 he became a member of the National Party . In addition to his political work, he worked as a journalist and gave legal lectures in the following years .

In 1948 he became Minister of Justice in the cabinet of Daniel François Malan . He retained this position in the following government. In 1955 he became Deputy Prime Minister. Swart was a representative of apartheid and passed numerous laws and regulations that severely restricted the lives of blacks. In 1959 he was appointed Governor General of the Union of South Africa . In 1960, the South African Union decided in a referendum to abolish the monarchy , as a result of which the Republic of South Africa was founded in 1961 . Swart was elected the first President of the Republic of South Africa on May 31, 1961 . On May 31, 1967, he resigned for health reasons.

The Rhodes University awarded him in 1962 a honorary doctorate . Even then, this honor was considered controversial. It was related to his work as a former government member, where he was instrumental in the Extension of University Education Act ( Act 45/1959 ). This law fixed the racially motivated division in the country's higher education landscape. As a result of this university decision , its then Rector Basil Schonland resigned from this representative office.

literature

Charles R. Swart , in: Internationales Biographisches Archiv 44/1982 of October 25, 1982, in the Munzinger Archive ( beginning of article freely available)

Web links

Commons : Charles Robberts Swart - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

^ Nelson Mandela Center of Memory: 1959. Extension of University Education Act No. 45 . on www.nelsonmandela.org (English)
^ Roger Southall, Julian Cobbing, Center for Civil Society ( UKNZ ): From racial liberalism to corporate authoritarianism: the shell affair and the assault on academic freedom in South Africa . P. 7 (PDF document p. 7) online at www.ccs.ukzn.ac.za (English)

personal data
SURNAME	Swart, Charles Robberts
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	South African politician; President (1961–1967)
DATE OF BIRTH	December 5, 1894
PLACE OF BIRTH	Winburg , Orange Free State
DATE OF DEATH	July 16, 1982
Place of death	Bloemfontein

[1] Nelson Mandela Center of Memory: 1959. Extension of University Education Act No. 45 . on www.nelsonmandela.org (English)

[2] Roger Southall, Julian Cobbing, Center for Civil Society ( UKNZ ): From racial liberalism to corporate authoritarianism: the shell affair and the assault on academic freedom in South Africa . P. 7 (PDF document p. 7) online at www.ccs.ukzn.ac.za (English)