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Prime Minister of South Africa

Head of government of South Africa (1910–1984)

Field	Value
post	Prime Minister
body	South Africa
native_name	af
insignia	Coat of Arms of South Africa (1932-2000).svg
insigniacaption	Coat of Arms of South Africa
image	JBM Hertzog - SA.jpg
imagecaption	Longest serving:
J. B. M. Hertzog
30 June 1924 – 5 September 1939
style	The Right Honourable (until 1961)
type	Head of government
member_of
appointer	Governor-General of South Africa (1910–1961)
State President of South Africa (1961–1984)
termlength	Whilst commanding the confidence of the House of Assembly
formation
first	Louis Botha
last	Pieter Willem Botha
abolished
superseded_by	Executive State President of South Africa
website

J. B. M. Hertzog 30 June 1924 – 5 September 1939 State President of South Africa (1961–1984)

The prime minister of South Africa ( was the head of government in South Africa between 1910 and 1984.

History of the office

The position of Prime Minister was established in 1910, when the Union of South Africa was formed. He was appointed by the monarch’s representative in the country—the governor-general until 1961 and the state president after South Africa became a republic in 1961. In practice, he was the leader of the majority party or coalition in the House of Assembly. With few exceptions, the governor-general/state president was bound by convention to act on the prime minister's advice. Thus, the prime minister was the country's leading political figure and de facto chief executive, with powers similar to those of his British counterpart.

The first prime minister was Louis Botha, a former Boer general and war hero during the Second Boer War.

The position of Prime Minister was abolished in 1984, when the State President was given executive powers after a new constitution was adopted – effectively merging the role of Prime Minister and State President. The last Prime Minister of South Africa, P. W. Botha, became the first executive State President after the constitutional reform in 1984 after Marais Viljoen's retirement.

In post-apartheid South Africa, the Inkatha Freedom Party has called for a return to a Westminster-style split executive with a Prime Minister as head of government, which is part of its overarching goal of avoiding a single-party South African state.

List of prime ministers of South Africa

;Parties

No.	Portrait	Name
(Birth–Death)
Constituency	Term of office	Elected
(Parliament)	Political party	Government	Took office	Left office	Time in office	South African Party}}; color:white;" rowspan="2"	1	South African Party}}; color:white;" rowspan="2"	2	National Party (South Africa)}};" height=60	3	United Party (South Africa)}}; color:white;" height=60	United Party (South Africa)}}; color:white;" rowspan="2"	(2)	National Party (South Africa)}};" rowspan="2"	4	National Party (South Africa)}};" rowspan="2"	5	National Party (South Africa)}};" rowspan="2"	6	National Party (South Africa)}};" rowspan="2"	7	National Party (South Africa)}};" rowspan="2"	8
[[File:Louisbotha (cropped).jpg	100px]]	Louis Botha
(1862–1919)
MP for Standerton, Transvaal Province
(until 1915)
MP for Losberg, Transvaal Province
(from 1915)	31 May 1910	27 August 1919		[1910](1910-south-african-general-election) ()
[1915](1915-south-african-general-election) ()	South African Party	L. Botha I–II
First South African Prime Minister. Formation of the Union of South Africa. World War I. Conquest of the German South West Africa. Crushed the Maritz rebellion. Ratified the Treaty of Versailles. Died in office.
[[File:Genl JC Smuts (cropped).jpg	100px]]	Jan Christiaan Smuts
(1870–1950)
MP for Pretoria West, Transvaal Province	3 September 1919	30 June 1924		— ()
[1920](1920-south-african-general-election) ()
[1921](1921-south-african-general-election) ()	South African Party	Smuts I–II
Attended [1921 Imperial Conference](1921-imperial-conference). Attempted to broker an armistice and peace deal between the British and Irish nationalists in the Irish War of Independence. Crushed the Rand Rebellion, which caused a political backlash and he lost [1924 general election](1924-south-african-general-election) to National Party. Created coalition with National Party and returned as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice after the [1933 general election](1933-south-african-general-election).
[[File:JBM Hertzog - SA (cropped).jpg	100px]]	James Barry Munnik Hertzog
(1866–1942)
MP for Smithfield, Orange Free State Province	30 June 1924	5 September 1939		[1924](1924-south-african-general-election) ()
[1929](1929-south-african-general-election) ()
[1933](1933-south-african-general-election) ()
[1938](1938-south-african-general-election) ()	National Party
(until 1934)
United Party
(from 1934)	Hertzog I–II–III–IV
Replaced Dutch as second official language by Afrikaans in 1925. Instated a new national flag in 1928. Approved women's suffrage for white women with the Women's Enfranchisement Act, 1930. Adoption of the Statute of Westminster 1931. Removed Black voters from the common voters roll. Created coalition with South African Party to form the United Party. Resigned after the United Party caucus refused to accept his stance of neutrality in World War II.
[[File:Genl JC Smuts (cropped).jpg	100px]]	Jan Christiaan Smuts
(1870–1950)
MP for Standerton, Transvaal Province	5 September 1939	4 June 1948		— ()
[1943](1943-south-african-general-election) ()	United Party	Smuts III
World War II. Ratified the UN Charter. Issued the Fagan Report, which stated that complete racial segregation in South Africa was not practical and that restrictions on African migration into urban areas should be abolished. Lost the [1948 general election](1948-south-african-general-election) to National Party.
[[File:DFMalanPortret (cropped).jpg	100px]]	Daniël François Malan
(1874–1959)
MP for Piketberg, Cape Province	4 June 1948	30 November 1954		[1948](1948-south-african-general-election) ()
[1953](1953-south-african-general-election) ()	National Party	Malan I–II
Came to power on the program of apartheid and began the comprehensive implementation of the segregationist policy.
[[File:JG Strijdom (cropped).jpg	100px]]	Johannes Gerhardus Strijdom
(1893–1958)
MP for Waterberg, Transvaal Province	30 November 1954	24 August 1958		— ()
[1958](1958-south-african-general-election) ()	National Party	Strydom
Tried to cut ties with United Kingdom. Removal of Coloured voters from the common voters roll. Extended 'treason trial' of 156 activists (including Nelson Mandela) involved in the Freedom Charter. Severed diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union. Died in office.
[[File:Zuid Afrikaanse premier dr. H. Verwoerd, Bestanddeelnr 911-1297 (cropped).jpg	100px]]	Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd
(1901–1966)
MP for Heidelberg, Transvaal Province	2 September 1958	6 September 1966		— ()
[1961](1961-south-african-general-election) ()
[1966](1966-south-african-general-election) ()	National Party	Verwoerd I–II
Start of the South African Border War. The Wind of Change speech by British PM Harold Macmillan. Proclaimed South Africa a Republic outside the Commonwealth of Nations on 31 May 1961 after the [1960 referendum](1960-south-african-republic-referendum). Abolished the separate Black voters roll. Launched the bantustan programme. Assassinated.
[[File:John Vorster.jpg	100px]]	Balthazar Johannes Vorster
(1915–1983)
MP for Nigel, Transvaal Province	13 September 1966	2 October 1978		— ()
[1970](1970-south-african-general-election) ()
[1974](1974-south-african-general-election) ()
[1977](1977-south-african-general-election) ([](17th-south-african-parliament))	National Party	Vorster I–II–III
Abolished the Coloured voters roll. South African Border War escalated into a full-scale conflict. He managed policy of détente with African countries, and accepted to let black African diplomats living in white areas. He alienated an extremist faction of his National Party when it accepted the presence of Māori players and spectators during the [1970 New Zealand rugby union tour of South Africa](1970-new-zealand-rugby-union-tour-of-south-africa). He unofficially supported, but refused to recognize officially, the neighbouring state of Rhodesia, which was ruled by a white minority government that had unilaterally declared independence from United Kingdom. In 1974, under pressure from US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger he pressured Ian Smith, the Prime Minister of Rhodesia, to accept in principle that white minority rule could not continue indefinitely. Resigned.
[[File:PW Botha 1963.jpg	100px]]	Pieter Willem Botha
(1916–2006)
MP for George, Cape Province	9 October 1978	14 September 1984		— ([](17th-south-african-parliament))
[1981](1981-south-african-general-election) ([](18th-south-african-parliament))
[1984](1984-south-african-general-election) ()	National Party	P. W. Botha
Remained Minister of Defence until 1980. Improved relations with the West. Authorized radical constitutional reform in 1983, including the creation of the Tricameral Parliament, which give a limited political voice to the country's Coloured and Indian population groups. The majority Black population group was still excluded. Began a secret nuclear weapons program in collaboration with Israel, which culminated in the production of six nuclear bombs. Creation of police counter-insurgency unit, Koevoet. Resignation of Vorster as State President in the wake of the Muldergate Scandal. Abolished the position of Prime Minister in 1984 and became executive State President.

Timeline

ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:21 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:80 right:100 left:20 AlignBars = late

Define $today =

Colors = id:sap value:rgb(0.07,0.62,0.82) legend:South_African_Party id:np value:rgb(0.97,0.58,0.11) legend:National_Party id:up value:rgb(0,0.39,1) legend:United_Party

id:gray1 value:gray(0.85) id:gray2 value:gray(0.95)

DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1910 till:01/01/1985 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = gridcolor:gray1 unit:year increment:5 start:1910 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:gray2 unit:year increment:1 start:1910

Legend = columns:1 left:150 top:35 columnwidth:170

TextData = pos:(20,38) textcolor:black fontsize:M text:"Political party:"

BarData = bar:LBotha bar:Smuts bar:Hertzog bar:Malan bar:Strijdom bar:Verwoerd bar:Vorster bar:PWBotha

PlotData = width:5 align:left fontsize:9 shift:(5,-4) anchor:till

bar:LBotha from: 31/05/1910 till: 27/08/1919 color:sap text:"Louis Botha" bar:Smuts from: 03/09/1919 till: 30/06/1924 color:sap from: 05/09/1939 till: 04/06/1948 color:up text:"Jan Smuts" bar:Hertzog from: 30/06/1924 till: 01/01/1934 color:np from: 01/01/1934 till: 05/09/1939 color:up text:"J. B. M. Hertzog" bar:Malan from: 04/06/1948 till: 30/11/1954 color:np text:"D. F. Malan" bar:Strijdom from: 30/11/1954 till: 24/08/1958 color:np text:"J. G. Strijdom" bar:Verwoerd from: 02/09/1958 till: 06/09/1966 color:np text:"Hendrik Verwoerd" bar:Vorster from: 13/09/1966 till: 02/10/1978 color:np text:"John Vorster" bar:PWBotha from: 09/10/1978 till: 14/09/1984 color:np text:"P. W. Botha"

References

[http://www.polity.org.za/article/ifp-statement-by-mangosuthu-butehlezi-inkatha-freedom-party-leader-welcomes-constitutional-court-judgment-on-regulation-of-introduction-of-bills-12102012-2012-10-12 IFP: Statement by Mangosuthu Buthelezi, Inkatha Freedom Party Leader, welcomes Constitutional Court judgment on regulation of introduction of bills], 12 October 2012

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