Johannes Gerhardus Strijdom

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Johannes Gerhardus Strijdom (1958)

Johannes Gerhardus Strijdom (born July 15, 1893 in Willowmore ; † August 24, 1958 in Cape Town ) was a politician of the Nasionale Party (NP) and Prime Minister of the South African Union from November 30, 1954 to August 24, 1958.

Life

Strijdom was born on his parents' farm in the Cape Colony .

Early political office

He graduated from Victoria College in Stellenbosch with a law degree and was a lawyer in Nylstroom in the 1920s . During this time his political commitment developed and he worked as the NP secretary of his home district. In the elections in 1929 he gained a seat in parliament for the constituency of Waterberg . In the 1930s he took over the leadership of the NP provincial association in the Transvaal , whose structures he fundamentally reformed. His energetic work earned him the nickname Lion of the North (German: "Löwe des Nordens"). In 1934, he refused to be a single of the leading NP-members in the Transvaal the merger of his party with the South African Party of Jan Smuts in a cross-party coalition led by the United Party and Prime Minister Barry Hertzog .

Cabinet member

In the first cabinet of Afrikaner nationalists after the general election of 1948 he was appointed by then Prime Minister Malan as Minister of land issues and irrigation ( of Lands and Irrigation of Ministers appointed).

Act as Prime Minister

On November 30, 1954, he became chairman of the National Party and Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa. Strijdom's extreme political views were expressed by removing "non-whites" from the electoral roll and bringing charges against 156 activists in the Treason Trial who participated in the adoption of the Charter of Freedom at the Congress of the People in 1955.

In August 1956, his government was faced with the protest march of 20,000 women in Pretoria , which was directed against the passport laws ( Native Urban Areas Act ) and the intended changes to the Group Areas Act ( Native Urban Areas Amendment Act No. 77 of 1957 ).

His government ended consular relations with what was then the Soviet Union in 1956 . In a note from the South African Foreign Minister to the Soviet Consul General in Pretoria, the government's decision to end the consular relationship between the two countries with effect from March 1, 1956 was communicated. Diplomatic contacts, trade relations and other matters were in future conducted through the Soviet Chargé d' Affaires in London at the level of the High Commission .

His vehement advocacy of a Republic of South Africa independent of the Commonwealth of Nations earned him the nickname The Lion of the Waterberg (German: "The Lion of the Waterberg ").

Johannes Gerhardus Strijdom died during his reign. His grave is on Heroes' Acre ( Afrikaans : Die Helde Akker ) in Church Street Cemetery in Pretoria.

Gravesite of Johannes Gerhardus Strijdom and his wife Susan Strijdom

Private life

Strijdom was married to actress Marda Vanne for less than a year ; the marriage ended in divorce. He later married Susan de Klerk, an aunt of Frederik Willem de Klerk . He had two children with her.

Honors

Strijdom Square in Pretoria
  • His house in Nylstroom (now Modimolle ) was converted into a museum.
  • The airport in Windhoek was named after him in 1964 as JG Strijdom International Airport (since 1998 Hosea Kutako International Airport ).
  • Strijdom Square , a square in Pretoria, with a statue of John Strijdom.
  • Hans Strijdom Dam , today the Mokolo reservoir at Mokolo in the Limpopo province .
  • JG Strydom Tunnel , a 132.3 meter long road tunnel on the Abel Erasmus Pass in the Strydpoort Mountains , opened on May 8, 1959.
  • Street names such as Hans Strijdom Street in South African cities, for example Centurion (Lyttelton Manor), Vanderbijlpark and Hans Strijdom Avenue Lane in Cape Town (City Center) or the intersection of Hans Strijdom Interchange in Pretoria.

Web links

Commons : Johannes Gerhardus Strijdom  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c South African History Online: Johannes G Strijdom . on www.sahistory.org.za (English)
  2. ^ A b c d South African History Online: Former South African Prime Minister JG Strijdom dies . on www.sahistory.org.za (English)
  3. ^ SAIRR : A Survey of Race Relations in South Africa 1955-1956 . Johannesburg [1957], p. 39
  4. ↑ a b Modimolle: Strijdom House en Strijdom Statue . on www.modimolle24.co.za ( Memento from November 25, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ^ South African History Online: The statue of former SA Prime Minister JG Strijdom (Hans) on Strijdom Square, Pretoria, collapses . on www.sahistory.org.za (English)
  6. ↑ Independent Online, Sapa: Strijdom's head rolls on old 'Republic Day' . News from May 31, 2001 on www.iol.co.za (English)
  7. ↑ MokoloMokolo and Crocodile River (West) Water Augmentation Project (MCWAP): Water is Live, Sanitation is Dignity . on www.dwa.gov.za (English)
  8. ^ Water Institute of Southern Africa: Mokolo Dam, Hans Strydom Dam . on www.ewisa.co.za ( Memento from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
  9. ↑ WhereToStay: JG Strydom Tunnel . on www.wheretostay.co.za (English)
personal data
SURNAME Strijdom, Johannes Gerhardus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African politician and prime minister
DATE OF BIRTH July 15, 1893
PLACE OF BIRTH Willowmore
DATE OF DEATH August 24, 1958
Place of death Cape Town