| Balthazar Johannes Vorster | |
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In office 10 October 1978 – 4 June 1979 |
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| Preceded by | Marais Viljoen (acting) |
| Succeeded by | Marais Viljoen |
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In office 13 September 1966 – 29 September 1978 |
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| Preceded by | Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd |
| Succeeded by | P.W. Botha |
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| Born | 13 December 1915 Eastern Province, South Africa |
| Died | 10 September 1983 (aged 67) |
| Political party | National Party |
| Religion | Dutch Reformed Church |
Balthazar Johannes Vorster (Afrikaans pronunciation: [ˈforstər]; 13 December 1915 - 10 September 1983), better known as John Vorster, served as the Prime Minister of South Africa from 1966 to 1978 and as President from 1978 to 1979. While known for his adherence to apartheid, he nevertheless concluded a more pragmatic foreign policy than his predecessors, in an effort to improve relations between the white minority government and South Africa's neighbours.
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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.
Following his release in 1944 from a detention camp in Koffiefontein (he had been detained for involvement with the Ossewabrandwag in 1942)[1], 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 the House of Assembly representing the seat of Nigel in the Transvaal. He was a MP during the terms of prime ministers D.F. Malan, J.G. Strijdom and Dr Hendrik Verwoerd. 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.
A notorious leader of the right wing of the National Party, he was appointed Minister of Justice in 1961 by PM Verwoerd, a self-outspoken mentor and idol of Vorster. Upon Verwoerd's assassination in 1966, Vorster was elected 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. His domestic policy did not match his foreign policy, however; he was ruthless in suppressing anti-apartheid dissent. During his period as Prime Minister, Vorster was considered by some to be the most popular Prime Minister South Africa had ever had as shown by the success of The National Party in the General Election's which took place during Vorster's Premiership.
Vorster retired as Prime Minister in 1978, after twelve years in office. 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.
| Preceded by Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd |
Prime Minister of South
Africa 1966–1978 |
Succeeded by Pieter Willem Botha |
| Preceded by Marais Viljoen |
State President of South
Africa 1978–1979 |
Succeeded by Marais Viljoen |
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