Andries Treurnicht

Andries Treurnicht (1921 - 1993) was a Politician afrikaner of South Africa, member of the Broederbond, old Ministre and President of the Conservative party (CP).

Born the February 19th 1921 with Piketberg in a family afrikaner from 9 children from north from the the Cape Province, it made its studies of seminarist at the university of Stellenbosch. Pasteur of the Dutch reformed church (NGK), it is also a Rugby man selected in 1949 in the regional team.

It is in 1949 that he marries Engela Dreyer and with which he will have four girls.

Andries Treurnicht exerts its priesthood initially with Oudtshoorn and finishes its career with Pretoria.

In 1960, it directs the review of the NGK what confers to him an influential and important role in the debates within the church on the separate development of the races.

Partisan of the Apartheid whose principle carries it within the church, it sees himself entrusting in 1967 by the Prime Minister John Vorster the direction of Hoofstad, the pro-governmental daily newspaper of Pretoria. He chairs until in 1974 Broederbond, secret society afrikaner, from which the near total from the South-African ministers is resulting.

In 1971, it is presented to the general elections and gains in the name of the national party, the district of Waterberg in the very preserving area of North Transvaal leaf Jaap Marais, appointed leaving and dissident extreme right-hand side (HNP) which had left the national party in 1969.

Member of the hard wing of the party, Treurnicht is associated minister in charge of education Bantou E in the government of Vorster. It is him which is charged to impose the obligatory teaching of the Afrikaans to the black schoolboys what leads to the revolt of Soweto of 1976.

It takes thereafter the posts of minister of public works then of the national administration.

Elected official with the provincial presidency of the party in Transvaal in 1978, it must compose with the new 1st minister, Pieter Botha, more pragmatic on apartheid.

In 1982, Treurnicht is the first adverse one with the constitutional reform of Botha instituting the tricameralism envisaging a room separated for the mongrels and the Indians at the Parliament.

Put in minority in Transvaal by the joint action of the Foreign Minister Roelof " Pik" Botha and by Frederik De Klerk, it leaves the National Party with 22 other members of Parliament.

The March 20th 1982, it creates the Conservative party and receives the support of John Vorster and Betsie Verwoerd (widow of Hendrik Verwoerd). It is immediately joined by Connie Mulder, the former rival of Pieter Botha at the post of 1st minister.

Re-elected immediately in its district of which he had resigned, he becomes in 1987 the chief of the official opposition at the Parliament.

In 1988, the CP seizes 60 of the 110 municipalities of Transvaal and a municipality on 4 in the free Orange State. It misses little seizing Pretoria.

In 1989, at the time of the general elections started by the new President, Frederik De Klerk, the CP still garners elected officials with more than 1/3 of the votes (including 45% of the voices afrikaners) and becomes the irreducible enemy with any negotiation with the black parties.

Andries Treurnicht takes the head of the opponents to the dismantling of apartheid at the time of the Référendum of March 1992. Victory of the " oui" with 68% of the votes is an electoral slap for in favor ones of apartheid which see there disappearing their last chance to go into reverse with the government. Except North Transvaal, stronghold of Treurnicht, all the areas rocked in the camp of Klerk and reformers, including Pretoria and Bloemfontein. Uninterrupted successes since the formation of the party in 1982 are definitively stopped. Disputed and hostage of the more extremists, Treurnicht sees himself obliged to recognize convention for a South Africa news (CODESA) where it makes sit the CP as an observer.

The April 22nd 1993, it dies following cardiac problems and will thus not see its country becoming a republic with the hands of the black parties, Afrikaners to give up the control of the capacity and the Afrikaans to lose importance in spite of its numerical preeminence among the languages of South Africa.

Ferdinand Hartzenberg (born in 1936), corn grower of Transvaal, vice-president of the party and former minister for the education of 1979 with 1982, which succeeds to him.

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