Strijdom, Johannes Gerhardus

▪ prime minister of South Africa

Strijdom also spelled  Strydom  

born July 14, 1893, Willowmore, Cape Colony

died Aug. 24, 1958, Cape Town

 prime minister of the Union of South Africa (1954–58) noted for his uncompromising Afrikaner sympathies. As head of the government, he translated this attitude into a vigorous program of apartheid, or separation of the races.

      After graduating from Victoria College, Stellenbosch, he moved to Pretoria (1914), where he entered the civil service. Three years later he qualified in law at Pretoria University and began a successful practice at Nylstroom, Transvaal. Strijdom became increasingly interested in politics, however, paying particular attention to the rights of his fellow Afrikaners. In 1929 he was elected to Parliament as a member of the Nationalist Party from Waterberg, a seat he continued to hold until his death. His tenacity in political matters led to his characterization as “the Lion of Waterberg.”

      Strijdom was a loyal follower of J.B.M. Hertzog, prime minister and leader of the Nationalist Party, until 1934, when Hertzog and Jan Smuts entered into a coalition. For a time Strijdom was the only member of Parliament from the Transvaal to support Daniel F. Malan's Purified Nationalist Party, contributing much to its victory in the election of 1948. He was rewarded with the post of minister of lands and irrigation in Malan's Cabinet. In that office for six years, he became well-known for advocating white supremacy in South Africa.

      After the retirement of Malan, Strijdom succeeded him as head of the party and on Dec. 3, 1954, assumed the office of prime minister. Strijdom's rise to power represented a victory for the party's more extreme Transvaal faction over the moderate Cape faction. As a result, he pursued a policy of strict apartheid, which was furthered by radically changing the composition of the Senate in 1955 so as to ensure the necessary two-thirds majority in a joint sitting of both houses of Parliament. The following year the Cape Coloured voters were placed on a separate electoral roll. Strijdom fell ill in December 1957 and was succeeded on his death by Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd.

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