Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd

Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd (8 September 1901 – 6 September 1966) was Prime Minister of South Africa from 1958 until his assassination in 1966. Unlike his predecessors, Verwoerd was not born in South Africa, but immigrated at age two with his parents from the Netherlands. A polarizing figure, he is widely considered the architect of apartheid, and was prime minister during the Sharpeville Massacre, the banning of the African National Congress and Pan Africanist Congress, and the treason trial of Nelson Mandela and others. He also presided over the establishment of a republic through the use of questionable electoral practises in a whites-only referendum. However, in a controversial 2004 poll by the South African Broadcasting Corporation, asking South Africans to name the top 100 South Africans of all time, he was voted 19th.

Architect of apartheid

Verwoerd, formerly Minister for Native Affairs, firmly believed in apartheid, and that the black population, by far the majority, had no political role to play in the Republic of South Africa. Several Bantustans, or homelands, were created under the pretext of being independent. He argued that these were the original areas of descent for the black South African population, and effectively made them citizens of different countries. In reality, these were areas not yet settled by white farmers, or where farming wasn't economically viable. Mass population transfers occurred when blacks were forcibly moved out of the cities and into these areas, during which many died. He also stripped the mixed-race Coloureds of their voting rights by amending an entrenched clause in the Union's Constitution; since his party did not have the required two-thirds majority in both Houses of Parliament which would have allowed him to do this, he enlarged the Senate with his own appointees. Once the legislation was passed, the Senate's membership was changed back to its original size.

Related Topics:
Apartheid - Black - Bantustans - Homeland - Coloured - Entrenched clause - Constitution - Senate

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