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| ==Leaders== | ==Leaders== | ||
| * ] (1934-1953) | * ] (1934-1953) | ||
| * ] (1953-1958) | * ] (1953-1958) | ||
| * ] (1958-1966) | * ] (1958-1966) | ||
| * ] (1966-1978) | * ] (1966-1978) | ||
| * ] (1978-1989) | * ] (1978-1989) | ||
| * ] (1989-1997) | * ] (1989-1997) | ||
Revision as of 14:12, 2 January 2004
The National Party was the governing party of South Africa from 1948 to 1994. Its policies included Apartheid, abolition of links to the British Monarchy and the promotion of Afrikaaner culture.
The National Party was founded in 1934 by Daniel François Malan, as a breakaway from an older party of the same name led by James Berry Munnik Hertzog. When Herzog merged his party with a rival party led by Jan Christiaan Smutts, a faction of hardline Afrikaner nationalists led by Malayan refused to follow Herzog. The National Party lost elections in 1938 and 1943, but swept to power in 1948. It immediately began a program of Apartheid - a deliberate institutionalisation and extension of existing discriminatory racial legislation. The three parliamentary seats reserved for (white) representatives of Africans were scrapped, Coloureds (mixed-race South Africans) were removed from the Common Roll - and eventually disenfranchised altogether, mixed marriages were outlawed, and "homelands" were set up, with the intention of moving all Blacks to them eventually. Beginning in the early 1980s, the National Party began to moderate its policies slightly, under the leadership of President Pieter Willem Botha, but substantive change did not take place until Frederik Willem de Klerk took over the party leadership in 1989. De Klerk decided to negotiate with Black leaders to end the apartheid regime, and a multiracial election was held in 1994, which was won by the African National Congress. The National Party remained in government, however, as a coalition partner to the ANC until 1997, when it withdrew to become the official Opposition.
In 1997, the National Party renamed itself the New National Party to distance itself from its past, and elected Marthinias van Schvalkwik as its new leader. More recently, the New National Party has decided to renew its partnership with the ANC; the two parties have formed a coalition to rule the Province of Western Cape.
See also: History of South Africa.
Leaders
- Daniel François Malan (1934-1953)
- Johannes Gerhardus Strijdom (1953-1958)
- Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd (1958-1966)
- Balthazar Johannes Vorster (1966-1978)
- Pieter Willem Botha (1978-1989)
- Frederik Willem de Klerk (1989-1997)
- Marthinias van Schvalkwik (1997-)
Last edited by David Cannon, 02 January 2004