J. G. Strijdom

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Johannes Gerhardus Strijdom (also spelled Strydom in accordance with Afrikaans spelling; 14 July 1893 – 24 August 1958<ref name=BOE_JG_Strijdom>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>), also known as Hans Strijdom and nicknamed the Lion of the North or the Lion of Waterberg,<ref name=SAH_LionOfTheNorth>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Strydom Succeeds Malan">Template:Cite journal</ref> was a South African politician and the fifth prime minister of South Africa from 30 November 1954 to his death on 24 August 1958.<ref name=BOE_JG_Strijdom /> He was an uncompromising Afrikaner nationalist<ref name=BOE_JG_Strijdom /> and a member of the largest, baasskap (white supremacist) faction of the National Party (NP),<ref name="Kuperus1999">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="politicswebCroweVerwoerd"/> who further accentuated the NP's apartheid policies and break with the Union of South Africa in favour of a republic during his rule.

Early lifeEdit

He was born on the family farm of Klipfontein near Willowmore in the Cape Colony and trained as a lawyer at Victoria College (which later became the University of Stellenbosch) and the University of Pretoria.<ref>http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/569087/Johannes-Gerhardus-Strijdom Johannes Gerhardus Strijdom Retrieved 16 June 2010</ref><ref name=SUNACZA_SU_Uni>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

His father Petrus Strijdom was a very well-known farmer and innovator in the Baviaanskloof where Strijdom was born. He owned three farms in the kloof of which the main farm was Zandvlakte on which the local school, church and shop was sited.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He owned businesses and shops right down to the Gamtoos valley (birthplace of the well-known Khoi woman Saartjie Baartman). He also sold baboon fur and manufactured shoes and soap amongst other products.

Strijdom served in the German South West Africa campaign during World War I, as a member of the South African Medical Corps and, later, of Helgaardt's Scouts, where he reached the rank of corporal.<ref name=jmmssa>Von Zeil, G. 'A South African Prime Minister's Medal' in Journal of the Military Medal Society of South Africa No 42 (August 2003).</ref>

Strijdom later settled in Nylstroom, Transvaal. He identified strongly with this area and its people and became a local community leader amongst the Afrikaners. In 1929, Strijdom was elected to the House of Assembly as MP for Waterberg, representing the National Party (NP) headed by General J.B.M. Hertzog. Strijdom was also leader of the NP in Transvaal, by far the most important province of South Africa, and as such had a strong power base.

After the National Party of J.B.M. Hertzog<ref name=SA_GaP_DW_200>Template:Cite book </ref> merged with the South African Party of General Jan Smuts<ref name=SA_GaP_DW_200 /> and formed the United Party (UP) during the World Economic Crisis in 1932,<ref name=BOE_UnitedParty>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Strijdom was part of the break-away faction of the National Party,<ref name=BOE_JG_Strijdom /> named the Gesuiwerde Nasionale Party (Purified National Party).<ref name=SA_GaP_DW>Template:Cite book </ref> Later, after the United Party was formed, the GNP became known as the (Reunited) National Party<ref name=SA_GaP_DW /> under the leadership of D. F. Malan. Malan, Strijdom and their followers distrusted Smuts and opposed his pro-British policy.<ref name=SA_GaP_DW_201>Template:Cite book </ref> Most of the National Party's MPs stayed with Hertzog, and as Strijdom was loyal to Malan, he was the only MP from Transvaal to support Malan's ideals.<ref name=BOE_JG_Strijdom />

Strijdom favoured the establishment of a republic,<ref name=SAHO_Strijdom /> allegedly with himself as the first President of South Africa,<ref name="Strydom Succeeds Malan"/> but due to political controversy this step was not achieved until 1961, after his death, and then only with Governor-General Charles Swart assuming the position of symbolic State President over a Westminster system, as opposed to the executive presidency of the Boer Republics.<ref name=SAHO_RSA_1961>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Apartheid eraEdit

After the surprising victory of the National Party in 1948, won on a programme of implementing apartheid involving strict ethnic segregation and White minority rule, Malan became Prime Minister of South Africa and Strijdom became Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation. Although it was not one of the classic portfolios,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> it was apparently Strijdom's choice<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> since he had a keen interest in agriculture and was a part-time farmer. Malan gave him the portfolio because his young wife disliked Strijdom.Template:Citation needed Malan tried his best to ensure the more moderate Nicolaas Havenga succeeded him as prime minister, rather than Strijdom.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Prime ministerEdit

On 30 November 1954, Strijdom was elected leader of the National Party and thus the Prime Minister of South Africa after the resignation of Malan and against the latter's will; Malan had preferred the more moderate Havenga, Minister of Finance, as his successor. However, Strijdom was popular among NP party members and people trusted him to push things smoothly forward towards a republic, something Malan was considered to be only lukewarm about as it would enrage the United Kingdom and jeopardise South Africa's international standing. During Strijdom's term as prime minister, he began moves to sever ties with the British monarchy,<ref name="SAR">South African Republicanism, Reuters, Toledo Blade, 30 January 1958</ref> and deepened the Afrikaner ascendency in South Africa, while strengthening the policy of apartheid, including through the Group Areas Development Act.

With regard to racial policies, he believed strongly in the perpetuation of White minority and thus Afrikaner rule through the removal of Cape Coloured voters<ref name="MarrusShain2015">Template:Cite book</ref> from the common voters roll<ref name=SAHO_Strijdom>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and put on a separate Coloured voters roll electing separate (White) representatives, which Malan initiated but could not push through, and was only accomplished in 1960, under Strijdom's successor. Strijdom was an open proponent<ref name="MarrusShain2015"/> of crude baasskap (white supremacy or white domination).<ref name="politicswebCroweVerwoerd">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Loveland1999">Template:Cite book</ref> The extended Treason Trial of 156 activists (including Nelson Mandela) involved in the Freedom Charter, happened during Strijdom's term in office. He also managed to further extend the NP's parliamentary seats during the general election in 1958. Strijdom's government also severed diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union. The Suez Crisis gave a geopolitical victory, as closure of the passage through the war-ridden Suez Canal made Western oil transports dependent upon the Cape of Good Hope and thus the goodwill of the South African Navy, making the question of the regime's survival less precarious.

During his last year in office, Strijdom's weak health led to long terms of absence. He died on 24 August 1958 in Cape Town and was succeeded by Hendrik Verwoerd as head of the NP, securing the radical faction's drive towards a complete break with Britain and abolition of the Union in 1961. Strijdom is interred in the Heroes' Acre, a cemetery in Pretoria.Template:Citation needed

Personal lifeEdit

Strijdom was nicknamed "The Lion of the North", because of his aggression and forthrightness.<ref>South Africa's Foreign Policy: The Search for Status and Security, 1945–1988, James Barber, John Barratt, James Barber, John Barratt CUP Archive, 1990, page 29</ref>

Strijdom married the actress Margaretha van Hulsteyn in 1924, but they divorced within a year.<ref name="Around and About">Template:Cite book</ref> His second wife was Susan de Klerk,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Dead link Template:Cbignore</ref> aunt of future president F W de Klerk. She bore Strijdom two children: Johannes and Estelle. His widow Susan died in 1999 and daughter Estelle (Crowson), in 2009.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

LegacyEdit

There are still various monuments dedicated to Strijdom in South Africa. One monument in central Pretoria, which featured his bust, collapsed in 2001 injuring two people.<ref name=IOL_StrijdomBust>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2012, the city of Pretoria renamed 27 streets, which included renaming a street named after Strijdom (the M10) to a new name in honor of Solomon Mahlangu.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> His house in Modimolle (formerly Nylstroom) is now a museum,<ref name=TouringSA_165>Template:Cite book</ref> which holds parts of the collapsed bust.Template:Citation needed

In Johannesburg, there is a suburb and a street named after Strijdom, although the spelling "Strydom" is also used, even if a couple have already been renamed, one being Malibongwe Drive. In Weltevredenpark, a suburb of Roodepoort, there is a street named JG Strydom Road.<ref>J.G. Strydom Rd, Roodepoort, 1709, South Africa, Google Maps</ref> Randburg also has a business district called Strijdompark named after him.<ref>Strydompark, Randburg, Gauteng 2169, South Africa, Google Maps</ref>

The Hillbrow Tower in Johannesburg was officially named the J.G. Strijdom Tower until 1995, when, shortly after the end of apartheid, it was renamed the Telkom Hillbrow Tower.

In Windhoek, then in South West Africa, the main airport was named J.G. Strijdom Airport following its opening in 1965.<ref>Standard encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, Volume 10, NASOU, 1974, page 202</ref> Following the country's independence as Namibia in 1990, it was renamed Hosea Kutako International Airport.<ref>Action: Visuality in the Making of an African Nation, Giorgio Miescher, Lorena Rizzo, Jeremy Silvester Basler Afrika Bibliographien, 2009, page 133</ref> And next to Hoedspruit there is a tunnel named after him called J.G Strijdom Tunnel next to the village called Leboeng.

ReferencesEdit

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