Danie Schutte | |
---|---|
Minister of Home Affairs | |
In office 1993–1994 | |
President | F. W. de Klerk |
Preceded by | Louis Pienaar |
Succeeded by | Mangosuthu Buthelezi |
Personal details | |
Born | Daniel Pieter Antonie Schutte 13 June 1947 Pretoria,Transvaal Province Union of South Africa |
Political party | Nasionale Aksie (since 2002) |
Other political affiliations | New National Party National Party |
Alma mater | Stellenbosch University |
Daniel Pieter Antonie "Danie" Schutte (born 13 June 1947) is a South African politician and lawyer who was the last Minister of Home Affairs of the apartheid era from 1993 to 1994. He represented the National Party (NP) both in the apartheid-era House of Assembly and in the post-apartheid National Assembly.
Schutte was the provincial leader of the NP in Natal province from 1993 to 1999. He also played a significant role in the negotiations to end apartheid. Although he retired from Parliament in 1999,he co-founded Nasionale Aksie with Cassie Aucamp in 2002.
Schutte was born on 13 June 1947 [1] in Pretoria in the former Transvaal. [2] He is Afrikaans. [3] He attended Stellenbosch University,where he was a member of the executive committee of the Afrikaanse Studentebond. After graduating,he worked for a period as a state advocate in the attorney-general's office in Pietermaritzburg,but he later entered private practice as a lawyer. [2]
A member of the NP,Schutte first joined Parliament in 1977,when he was elected to represent the Pietermaritzburg North constituency in the House of Assembly. He served on-and-off in Parliament from then onwards, [3] serving two non-consecutive terms as representative for Pietermaritzburg North. [2] After the 1989 general election,he was appointed Deputy Minister of Justice in the cabinet of F. W. de Klerk. [2] In that capacity,he was involved in the negotiations to end apartheid and helped draft the 1991 National Peace Accord. [2]
In February 1993, [4] de Klerk appointed Schutte as Minister of Home Affairs –the third incumbent in four years. In that capacity,Schutte was centrally involved in planning the historic 1994 general election,South Africa's first to be held under universal suffrage. [2] He also helped negotiate the agreement that secured the participation of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) in the election. [5] In addition,he became acting provincial leader of the NP's Natal branch after the incumbent,Jurie Mentz,defected to the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) in early 1993. [2] He ultimately held that position until 1999. [6]
In a 1995 interview with the Mail &Guardian ,Schutte told Mark Gevisser that he did not acknowledge any need to apologise for having served in the government that enforced apartheid:
I was not the architect of this system. I got it. Basically,we are the ones who dismantled it,who moved away from it... I have never been a racist. If anyone can argue with me and tell me I was one,I'd like to know on what grounds. [3]
In the 1994 general election,Schutte was elected to represent the NP in the new multi-racial National Assembly. [7] He represented the party in the Portfolio Committee on Justice,which during this period held prominent debates about the controversial Truth and Reconciliation Commission. In the committee,he was viewed as "perhaps the most belligerent of the NP backbenchers" and "one of the party's fiercest opponents of the [governing] ANC". [3] Gevisser speculated that he was "positioning himself to take up the reins of the tough 'new right'" of the NP, [3] and he was viewed as a relatively important strategist in the party,alongside Roelf Meyer,Hernus Kriel,and Marthinus van Schalkwyk. [8]
In August 1997,de Klerk announced his retirement,and Schutte was among the first to announce his candidacy to succeed de Klerk as leader of the NP (soon to be relaunched as the NNP). [9] Though Schutte was the most prominent right-wing challenger to the frontrunner,Marthinus van Schalkwyk,the Mail &Guardian observed that he had little support outside Natal and almost none in the party's black caucus. [10] Van Schalkwyk was ultimately elected to the position.
In October 1999,Schutte announced that he intended to resign from politics to work in farming full-time. [11] The following month,he declined to stand for re-election as NNP provincial leader,and Renier Schoeman was elected to succeed him. [6] He left his parliamentary seat on 31 January 2000,ceding his seat to Adriaan Blaas. [12]
However,in June 2002,Schutte returned to the public eye when he was elected as co-leader of Nasionale Aksie,a new political party he had founded with Cassie Aucamp. The party aimed explicitly to represent Afrikaner interests. [13] Schutte said that he had chosen to return to politics because he believed that South Africa "needed a new clean party". [14] However,the party did not win any seats in the 2004 general election. [15]
He is married to Alphia,who was a local politician in Pietermaritzburg, [11] and has four children. [3]
The New National Party (NNP) was a South African political party formed in 1997 as the successor to the National Party,which ruled the country from 1948 to 1994. The name change was an attempt to distance itself from its apartheid past,and reinvent itself as a moderate,mainstream conservative and non-racist federal party. The attempt was largely unsuccessful,and in 2005 the New National Party voted to disband itself.
Marthinus Christoffel Johannes van Schalkwyk is a South African politician,academic,and lawyer,who serves as High Commissioner to Australia. He previously served as MP and Minister of Tourism in the Cabinet of South Africa. Formerly Premier of the Western Cape and Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of South Africa,he was the leader of the New National Party from its inception on 8 September 1997 until its dissolution on 9 April 2005. He was appointed Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism in the Thabo Mbeki administration after merging his party with the ruling African National Congress (ANC),despite the poor performance of the former in the 2004 General Election.
Nelson Mandela took the oath as President of South Africa on 10 May 1994 and announced a Government of National Unity on 11 May 1994. The cabinet included members of Mandela's African National Congress,the National Party and Inkatha Freedom Party,as Clause 88 of the Interim Constitution of South Africa required that all parties winning more than 20 seats in National Assembly should be given representation in the cabinet. Upon its formation it comprised 27 ministers,with a further 13 deputy ministers.
Carol Beatrix Johnson is a South African politician who served in the National Assembly from 2004 to 2009. She was the spin doctor of the New National Party (NNP) until September 2005,when she crossed the floor to join the African National Congress (ANC).
Barend Leendert "Boy" Geldenhuys is a retired South African politician and diplomat who represented the National Party (NP) and New National Party (NNP) in the National Assembly from 1994 to 2004. He served as the leader of the NNP caucus from 2002 to 2004. After losing his seat in the 2004 general election,he was appointed as South African Ambassador to Jordan. A former minister in the Dutch Reformed Church,Geldenhuys also represented the NP in the apartheid-era House of Assembly.
Jacobus Johannes "Cobus" Dowry was a South African politician who served in the Western Cape Executive Council from 2002 to 2009. He served in the National Assembly from 1994 to 2002 and in the Western Cape Provincial Parliament from 2002 to 2009. He represented the National Party (NP) and New National Party (NNP) until September 2005,when he crossed the floor to the African National Congress (ANC). He was an SABC newsreader before entering politics and he was involved in commercial farming after he retired from politics in 2009.
Renier Stephanus Schoeman is a South African politician,businessman and former civil servant who represented the National Party (NP) and New National Party (NNP) in Parliament from 1985 to 2004. He was the provincial leader of the NNP in KwaZulu-Natal from 1999 until the party's demise.
Mahomed Farouk Cassim is a South African politician who served in the National Assembly and in the apartheid-era House of Delegates. After leaving the National Assembly in 2003,he joined the Congress of the People (COPE) and represented COPE as a local councillor in the City of Cape Town.
Frederik Johannes "Frik" van Deventer is a retired South African politician who served in the National Assembly from 1994 to 2004. He represented the National Party (NP) and New National Party (NNP) until March 2003,when he crossed the floor to the Democratic Alliance (DA). He had been an organiser for the NP since the apartheid era and was a former deputy leader of the NNP in the Western Cape.
Samuel Johannes de Beer is a South African politician and former Christian minister who served in Parliament from 1974 to 2001,excepting a brief hiatus from 1998 to 1999. He subsequently joined the Gauteng Provincial Legislature.
Anna van Wyk is a retired South African politician who represented the National Party (NP) and New National Party (NNP) in the National Assembly from 1994 to 2004,serving the Western Cape constituency. She failed to gain re-election in the 2004 general election.
Daryl Wade Swanepoel is a South African politician and political strategist who is currently the chief executive officer of the Inclusive Society Institute. He represented the ANC in the National Assembly from 2013 to 2014.
Casperus "Cassie" Aucamp is a retired South African politician and former Christian minister who was the inaugural leader of the Afrikaner Eenheidsbeweging (AEB) and later the inaugural leader of Nasionale Aksie (NA). He served in the National Assembly from 1999 to 2004.
Izak Jacobus "Sakkie" Pretorius is a retired South African politician from the Western Cape. He served in the National Assembly from 1994 to 2004,representing the Western Cape constituency. He was later elected as a local councillor in the City of Cape Town.
Sarel Jacobus "Kobus" Gous is a retired South African politician who represented the National Party (NP) and New National Party (NNP) in the National Assembly until 2004. He joined during the first democratic Parliament and represented the Gauteng caucus. He was also the NNP's spokesman on health.
Martha Elisabet Olckers is a retired South African politician who was the Western Cape's inaugural Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Education from 1994 to 1998. After her term in the Western Cape Provincial Parliament ended in 1999,she represented the New National Party (NNP) in the National Assembly from 1999 to 2004. She is also a former deputy leader of the NNP's Western Cape branch.
Sipho Elijah Mzimela was a South African politician,anti-apartheid activist,and Christian minister. He was the first post-apartheid Minister of Correctional Services from 1994 to 1998. Originally a member of the African National Congress (ANC),he joined the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) in 1990 and then the United Democratic Movement (UDM) in 1999.
Hendrik Albertyn Smit is a South African politician. He represented the New National Party (NNP) in the National Assembly from 1994 to 2001,serving the Western Cape constituency. Before that,he represented the National Party (NP) in the apartheid-era House of Assembly.
Petrus Arnoldus "Piet" Matthee is a South African politician who represented the National Party (NP) and New National Party (NNP) in Parliament from 1987 to 2004,excepting a hiatus in the President's Council from 1989 to 1990. He joined Parliament during apartheid as the MP for Umlazi,KwaZulu-Natal. In the post-apartheid era,he served in the National Assembly from 1994 to 1999 and then as leader of the NNP in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) from 1999 to 2004.
Pieter Willem Saaiman was a South African politician from the Northern Cape who served as Deputy Minister of Correctional Services from 2003 to 2004. Between 1989 and 2009,he held a variety of positions in the national and provincial governments,representing a series of parties.