Jacob "Japie" Basson (25 July 1918 – 8 August 2012) was a South African politician who began his career with the National Party, but was later expelled from it, and became a forceful critic of the apartheid government as a member, by turns, of the United Party, Progressive Federal Party, and his own short-lived National Union.[1][2] He was described as "fiery", "colourful", an "individualist", and as the "chameleon" of South African politics for his shifting partisan allegiances.[1]
Japie Basson | |
|---|---|
| Member of the South African Parliament | |
| In office 1950–1980 | |
| Constituency | Namib Bezuidenhout |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Jacob Daniel du Plessis Basson 25 July 1918 Paarl, Cape Province, Union of South Africa |
| Died | 8 August 2012 (aged 94) Cape Town |
| Political party | National Party Independent National Union United Party Progressive Federal Party |
| Alma mater | Stellenbosch University |
He was originally elected to the House of Assembly in 1950 as MP for the constituency of Namib, in what was then South African-administered South West Africa, before leaving the National Party in 1959. In 1960, he co-founded the South West Party with Ferdinand Lempp, former editor of Allgemeine Zeitung, the German language daily newspaper in the territory.[3]
However, he later founded his own party, the National Union, which despite its opposition to many aspects of the apartheid policies of Hendrik Verwoerd, supported his government's decision to make South Africa a republic, although he declared that a republic would do Verwoerd himself no good.[4]
Basson was elected as MP for Bezuidenhout in Johannesburg in 1961,[5] before merging it with the United Party, for which he served as its foreign affairs spokesman.[6] Following the collapse of that party, Basson led the Committee for a United Opposition, which merged with the more liberal Progressive Reform Party to form the Progressive Federal Party.[7]
In 1980, in the wake of disagreements with the PFP over support for the constitutional reforms of the government of P. W. Botha, he was expelled from the party caucus.[8] This was because he had stated that he was prepared to serve on the President's Council, a body established by the Botha government to advise on a new constitution.[9] Earlier, his party had adopted a resolution rejecting the body.[10] He was appointed to the President's Council, serving as a member of its Constitutional Committee from 1981 to 1984, and on retirement from the Council, rejoined the National Party.[11]
References
edit- ^ a b "Chameleon of SA politics dies". IOL. 10 August 2012.
- ^ "Japie Basson". www.StellenboschWriters.com.
- ^ A Glance at Our Africa: Facsimile Reprint of Southwest News--Suidwes Nuus, 1960, Dag Henrichsen, Basler Afrika Bibliographien, 1997, page 67
- ^ Africa, Issues 2-24, page 68
- ^ Stellenbosch Writers: Stellenbosch Authors of Books, Rosemarie Breuer, Jill Adams, Stellenbosch Writers Publishers, 2005, page 6
- ^ The South West Africa/Namibia Dispute: Documents and Scholarly Writings on the Controversy Between South Africa and the United Nations, John Dugard, University of California Press, 1973, page 534
- ^ The Road to Democracy in South Africa: 1970-1980, South African Democracy Education Trust, Unisa Press, 2004, page 849
- ^ South African Digest, Department of Information, 1980, page 99
- ^ To the Point News in Depth, Volume 9, Issues 18-35, page cxxxvii
- ^ A Survey of Race Relations in South Africa, Volume 34, South African Institute of Race Relations, 1980, page 18
- ^ Divided or United Power: Views on the New Constitutional Dispensation, J. A. Du Pisanie, L. Patria, 1986, page 67
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