B. J. Vorster

B. J. Vorster

Infobox_President
name=Balthazar Johannes Vorster



caption =Balthazar Johannes "John" Vorster
order=6th State President of South Africa
term_start= 10 October 1978
term_end= 4 June 1979
predecessor=Marais Viljoen (acting)
successor=Marais Viljoen
birth_date=birth date|1915|12|13
birth_place=Eastern Province
death_date=death date and age|df=yes|1983|09|10|1915|12|13
death_place=
party=National Party
order2= Prime Minister of South Africa
term_start2= 13 September 1966
term_end2= 29 September 1978
predecessor2=Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd
successor2=P.W. Botha

Balthazar Johannes Vorster (13 December 1915 - 10 September 1983), better known as John Vorster ("FOUR-stir"), served as the Prime Minister of South Africa from 1966 to 1978 and as President from 1978 to 1979.

upport for Nazism

In Vorster's younger years, he attracted notoriety by opposing South Africa's intervention on the side of the Allies in World War II, and speaking favourably of the Nazi regime of Adolf Hitler, whose dictatorial government he regarded as a better model.

1940s to 1950s

Following his release in 1944 from a detention camp in Koffiefontein (he had been detained for involvement with the Ossewabrandwag in 1942) [ [http://www.bookrags.com/biography/balthazar-johannes-vorster/ Balthazar Johannes Vorster Biography | Encyclopedia of World Biography Biography ] ] , Vorster became active in the National Party, which began implementing the policy of Apartheid in 1948. Although racial discrimination in favour of whites had long been a central fact of South African politics and society, the National Party institutionalized racism through Apartheid legislation.

In 1953, Vorster was elected to parliament. He was a member of parliament during the terms of prime ministers D.F. Malan, J.G. Strijdom and Dr Hendrik Verwoerd. Dr Hendrik Verwoerd appointed him Minister of Justice in 1961. Vorster's past as a draft-dodger and Nazi sympathizer came back to haunt him. Vorster answered his critics by saying that he had now "come to believe in" the parliamentary system.

1960s to 1970s

When Prime Minister Verwoerd was assassinated in 1966, Vorster was chosen by the National Party to replace him. He continued Verwoerd's implementation of apartheid legislation, and in 1968 abolished the last four parliamentary seats that had been reserved for white representatives of Coloured (mixed race) voters.

Vorster was somewhat more pragmatic than his predecessors when it came to foreign policy, however. He alienated an extremist faction of his National Party by pursuing diplomatic relations with African countries, and by agreeing to let Black African diplomats live in white areas. He unofficially supported, but refused to recognize officially, the neighbouring state of Rhodesia, which was ruled by a white minority government that had rebelled against British rule. Vorster followed white public opinion in South Africa by supporting Rhodesia publicly, but was unwilling to alienate important political allies in the United States by extending diplomatic recognition to Rhodesia. In 1974, he pressured Ian Smith, the Rhodesian Prime Minister, to accept in principle that white minority rule could not continue indefinitely. Many considered Vorster a traitor.Fact|date=November 2007 His domestic policy did not match his foreign policy, however; he was ruthless in suppressing anti-apartheid dissent.

Vorster retired as Prime Minister in 1978, after twelve years in office. It was widely rumoured that he had become an alcoholic and that this had affected his abilities. He was succeeded by P.W. Botha, a hardliner who nevertheless began the first reforms to moderate the apartheid system. Following his retirement as Prime Minister, Vorster was elected to the largely honorary position of State President. His tenure in that office, however, was short-lived. In what came to be known as the Muldergate Scandal, so named after Dr Connie Mulder, the Cabinet minister at the centre of it, Vorster was implicated in the use of a secret slush fund to establish "The Citizen", the only major English language newspaper that was favourable to the National Party. A commission of inquiry concluded in mid-1979 that Vorster "knew everything" about the corruption and had tolerated it. He resigned from the presidency in disgrace. He died in 1983, aged 67 years.

References

External links

* [http://www.vorster.net/ Website of the South African "Vorster" family.] (In Afrikaans.)
* [http://www.bookrags.com/B.J._Vorster B.J. Vorster] , BookRags
* [http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/library-resources/speeches/vorster-speeches/vorster-speeches-index.html B. J. Vorster: Selected speeches]
* [http://www.anc.org.za/books/reich.html The Rise of the South African Reich - Chapter 6] , Brian Bunting, 1969

Persondata
NAME= Vorster, Balthazar Johannes
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Former South African Prime Minister
DATE OF BIRTH=13 December 1915
PLACE OF BIRTH=Eastern Province
DATE OF DEATH=10 September 1983
PLACE OF DEATH=


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  • VORSTER (B. J.) — VORSTER BALTHAZAR JOHANNES (1915 1983) Treizième enfant d’une famille aisée de Jamestown (province du Cap), Vorster a été avocat, député et ministre avant d’être choisi, en septembre 1966, pour succéder comme leader du Parti national, et donc… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Vorster — ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Adolf Vorster (1610–1675), Papiermacher, Pächter der Papiermühle in Broich Balthazar Johannes Vorster (1915–1983), von 1966 bis 1978 Ministerpräsident und 1978/79 Staatspräsident der Republik Südafrika… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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  • Vorster — John Vorster Balthazar Johannes (John) Vorster (1915 1983) était un homme politique d Afrique du Sud, membre du Parti national, ministre de la justice de 1961 à 1966, premier ministre de 1966 à 1978 et Président de la république de 1978 à 1979. À …   Wikipédia en Français

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  • Vorster, John — orig. Balthazar Johannes Vorster born Dec. 13, 1915, Jamestown, Cape Province, S.Af. died Sept. 10, 1983, Cape Town South African prime minister (1966–78). Vorster was arrested in 1942 for supporting Germany in World War II. In the 1948 elections …   Universalium

  • Vorster, John — orig. Balthazar Johannes Vorster (13 dic. 1915, Jamestown, Provincia de El Cabo, Sudáfrica–10 sep. 1983, Ciudad de El Cabo). Primer ministro sudafricano (1966–78). Fue arrestado en 1942 por apoyar a Alemania en la segunda guerra mundial. En las… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Vorster — Vọrster   [f ], Balthasar Johannes, südafrikanischer Politiker, * Jamestown (Kapprovinz) 13. 12. 1915, ✝ Kapstadt 10. 9. 1983; Rechtsanwalt, als Mitglied der National Party 1953 ins Parlament gewählt, 1961 66 Justizminister, 1966 78 Vorsitzender …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Vorster — biographical name John 1915 1983 originally Balthazar Johannes Vorster prime minister of Republic of South Africa (1966 78) …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • ФÓРСТЕР (Vorster) Балтазар — (Vorster) Балтазар (1915–83), премьер министр ЮАР в 1966–78, през. ЮАР в 1978–79. В 1942–44 в заключении в лагере для профашистских элементов. В 1961–66 мин. юстиции. Проводник политики апартеида …   Биографический словарь

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