John Vorster | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 4th State President of South Africa | |
| In office 10 October 1978 – 4 June 1979 | |
| Prime Minister | Pieter Willem Botha |
| Preceded by |
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| Succeeded by | Marais Viljoen |
| 7th Prime Minister of South Africa | |
| In office 13 September 1966 – 2 October 1978 | |
| President |
|
| Preceded by |
|
| Succeeded by | Pieter Willem Botha |
| Minister of Police | |
| In office 1 April 1966 – 9 August 1968 | |
| Prime Minister |
|
| Preceded by | Office established Himself(as Minister of Justice) |
| Succeeded by | Lourens Muller |
| Minister of Justice | |
| In office 8 October 1961 – 14 September 1966 | |
| Prime Minister | Hendrik Verwoerd |
| Preceded by | Frans Erasmus |
| Succeeded by | Petrus Cornelius Pelser |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Balthazar Johannes Vorster (1915-12-13)13 December 1915 |
| Died | 10 September 1983(1983-09-10) (aged 67) |
| Party | National |
| Spouse | |
| Children | Elizabeth (Elsa) Vorster Willem Carel Vorster Pieter Andries Vorster |
| Alma mater | University of Stellenbosch |
Balthazar Johannes Vorster (Afrikaans pronunciation:[ˈbaltɑːzarjuəˈhanəsˈfɔrstər]; 13 December 1915 – 10 September 1983), better known asJohn Vorster, was a South African politician who served as thePrime Minister of South Africa from 1966 to 1978 and thefourthState President of South Africa from 1978 to 1979. Known as B. J. Vorster during much of his career, he came to prefer the anglicized name John in the 1970s.[1] He was interned in 1942 by the South African government for his involvement in the pro-NaziOssewabrandwag,[2] but Vorster denied this and said the official reason given to him was for being “anti-British”.[3]
Vorster strongly adhered to his country's policy ofapartheid, overseeing (as Minister of Justice) theRivonia Trial, in whichNelson Mandela was sentenced tolife imprisonment for sabotage, (as Prime Minister) theTerrorism Act, thecomplete abolition of non-white political representation, theSoweto Riots and theSteve Biko crisis. He conducted a more pragmatic foreign policy than his predecessors, in an effort to improve relations between thewhite minority government and South Africa's neighbours, particularly after the break-up of thePortuguese colonial empire. Shortly after the 1978Internal Settlement inRhodesia, in which he was instrumental, he was implicated in theMuldergate Scandal. He resigned the premiership in favour of the ceremonial state presidency, from which he was forced out as well eight months later.
Vorster was born in 1915 inJamestown,Cape Province,Union of South Africa, the fifteenth child of a successfulsheep farmer,[4] Willem Carel Vorster and his wife, Elizabeth Sophia Vorster (née Wagenaar). He attended primary school there. After Vorster enteredStellenbosch University, he involved himself in student politics becoming the chairman of the debating society, deputy chairman of the student council and leader of the juniorNational Party.[5]
In 1938, Vorster graduated to become a registrar (judge's clerk) to the judge president of theCape Provincial Division of theSupreme Court of South Africa[5] but he did not remain in this post for long, setting up his first law practice inPort Elizabeth and his second in theWitwatersrand town ofBrakpan.[4][5]
From 1939, Vorster attracted attention by strongly opposing South Africa's intervention on the side of the Allies and their former foe theUnited Kingdom, inWorld War II.[4]
Vorster dedicated himself to an anti-British, pro-Nazi organisation called theOssewabrandwag (Ox-wagon Sentinel), founded in 1938 in celebration of the centenary of theGreat Trek. Under the leadership ofJohannes Van Rensburg, theOssewabrandwag conducted many acts of sabotage against South Africa during World War II to limit its war effort. Vorster, who was interned for his activities, which included helping previously interned fugitives, claimed not to have participated in the acts of war attributed to the group.[6][5] He described himself asanti-British, not pro-Nazi, and said his internment was for anti-British agitation.[7]
Vorster rose rapidly through the ranks of theOssewabrandwag becoming a general in its paramilitary wing.[4] In 1942, he said: "We stand forChristian nationalism which is an ally ofNational Socialism. You can call this anti-democratic principle dictatorship if you wish. InItaly it is called 'Fascism', inGermany 'German National Socialism and in South Africa 'Christian nationalism'."[8][9]
His involvement with this group led to his detention atKoffiefontein in 1942.[5] Following his release from custody in 1944, Vorster became active in theNational Party, which began implementing the policy ofapartheid in 1948. Althoughracial discrimination in favour ofwhites had long been a crucial fact of South African politics and society, formal restrictions were loosening and the National Party institutionalised racism in a new way and on a massive scale through its“apartheid” legislation.
In 1953, Vorster was elected to theHouse of Assembly representing the seat of Nigel in theTransvaal. He was appointed as Deputy Minister in 1958.[4] He was anMP during the terms of prime ministersD.F. Malan,J.G. Strijdom andHendrik Verwoerd. Vorster's wartime anti-British activities came back to haunt him.[10] Vorster answered his critics by saying that he had now "come to believe in" the parliamentary system.
A leader of the right wing of the National Party, he was appointed Minister of Justice in 1961 by prime minister Verwoerd, an outspoken mentor and idol of Vorster. He combined that with the Minister of Police and Prisons in 1966.[4]
Upon Verwoerd's assassination in 1966, Vorster was elected by the National Party to succeed him, and continued Verwoerd's implementation of apartheid legislation, including the 1968 abolition of the last four parliamentary seats that had been reserved for white representatives ofColoured (mixed race) voters (realised in 1970). Despite this, Vorster's rule oversaw several other such proposed bills dropped, as well the repealing of legislation prohibiting multi-racial sports teams in order to allow for South Africa to compete at the1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico. Despite Vorster's efforts, protests by numerous African nations meant that the IOC refused permission forSouth Africa's proposed team to compete.
As a personal figure, Vorster was described as "flesh and blood" byProgressiveMPHelen Suzman in contrast to the "diabolical" and "frightening" Verwoerd. His supporters held him in great affection for his eccentricities. Examples of this were the occasion when he briefed the opposition in his private chambers, his allowing pictures of himself to be taken in often precarious situations and then to be distributed publicly as well as his welcoming of foreigners, in his words, to "the happiestpolice state in the world". This new outlook in the leadership of South Africa was dubbed "billikheid" or "sweet reasonableness".[11] He alienated an extremist faction of his National Party when it accepted the presence ofMāori players and spectators during the tour of theNew Zealand national rugby union team in South Africa in 1970.
Vorster was more pragmatic than his predecessors when it came to foreign policy. He improved relations with other African nations, such as by the adoption of his policy of lettingBlack African diplomats live in white areas in South Africa. He unofficially supported, but refused officially to recognise, the neighbouring state ofRhodesia, whose predominantly white minority government hadunilaterally declared independence (UDI) from the UK in 1965. Vorster followed white public opinion in South Africa by supporting Rhodesia publicly, but was unwilling to alienate important political allies in theUnited States by extending diplomatic recognition to Rhodesia.
Thecollapse of Portuguese rule inAngola andMozambique in 1975 left South Africa and Rhodesia as the sole outposts ofwhite minority rule on the continent: while Vorster was unwilling to make any concessions to his country's majority population, he soon realised that white rule would be untenable in a country where blacks outnumberedwhites.[12]
In September 1976, under pressure from US Secretary of StateHenry Kissinger, he pressuredIan Smith, theRhodesian Prime Minister, to accept in principle that white minority rule could not continue indefinitely. Smith and moderateblack nationalist leaders signed theInternal Settlement in March 1978, and in June 1979, followingmultiracial elections, Rhodesia was reconstituted under black majority rule asZimbabwe Rhodesia which, in this form, also lacked any international recognition.
After theSoweto Uprising in 1976, as prime minister, Vorster encouraged the Department of Information to engage in clandestine activities in and outside South Africa. Vorster did not inform his cabinet of these activities and financed them through a secret defence account. When the auditor general made a critical report, a scandal broke out, ultimately leading to the resignation of Vorster. This scandal was colloquially known to some as "South African Watergate".[13]
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Vorster resigned as prime minister in 1978, after twelve years in office. He was succeeded byP. W. Botha, a hardliner who nevertheless began the first reforms to moderate the apartheid system. Following his resignation as prime minister, Vorster was elected to the largely honorary position ofState President. His tenure in his new office, however, was short-lived. In what came to be known as theMuldergate Scandal so named after DrConnie Mulder, the Cabinet minister at its centre, Vorster was implicated in the use of a secret slush fund to establishThe Citizen, the only major English-language newspaper that was favourable to the National Party. A commission of inquiry concluded in mid-1979 that Vorster "knew everything" about the corruption and had tolerated it. He resigned from the state presidency in disgrace. In 1982, John Vorster supported theConservative Party ofAndries Treurnicht at its founding congress. He died in 1983, aged 67 years.
Using theGroup Areas Act,Stellenbosch University dispossessed coloured residents of centralStellenbosch of their land in order to expand the university. They named the building built there after B.J. Vorster, an alumnus and chancellor of the university. It was renamed in the 1990s.[14]
Johannesburg Central Police Station was formerly called John Vorster Square, and was the home of South Africa'sSpecial Branch during the apartheid era.[15]
A popular anecdote about Vorster comes from CricketerDon Bradman's visit to South Africa in June 1971 to discuss theSouth African Cricket team's tour to Australia later that year. The conversation was as follows :
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He is depicted on the obverses of the followingcoins of the South African rand;
1982 1/2 Cent to 1 Rand.
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Prime Minister of South Africa 1966–1978 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | State President of South Africa 1978–1979 | Succeeded by Marais Viljoen |
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| Republic of South Africa (1961–1984) (under Apartheid) | ||
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