Dawid Jacobus de Villiers (10 July 1940 – 23 April 2022) was an ordained minister in the Dutch Reformed Church; a South African Government minister and a Springbok rugby captain.

Biography

His father Coenie was a railway clerk and organizer of the

National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

and Member of Parliament for the Vasco constituency from 1953 to 1961. The family moved to Caledon where he began his schooling. However, they moved again a year later to Bellville, where he matriculated in 1959 at the

Hoërskool Bellville Hoërskool Bellville (Bellville High School) is a public Afrikaans medium co-educational high school situated in Bellville in the Western Cape province of South Africa, It is one of the top schools in the Western Cape province, It was founded i ...

. In 1960 he studied at the

University of Stellenbosch Stellenbosch University (SU) (, ) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant university in Sub-Sahara ...

where he obtained a degree in

Theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

and gained honours in

Philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

. During 1962 to 1963, he was President of the

Student Council A student council (also known as a student union, associated student body or student parliament) is an administrative organization of students in different educational institutes ranging from elementary schools to universities and research or ...

. In 1963–1964, he was a part-time lecturer in philosophy at the

University of the Western Cape The University of the Western Cape (UWC; ) is a Public university, public research university in Bellville, South Africa, Bellville, near Cape Town, South Africa. The university was established in 1959 by the Politics of South Africa, South ...

and was awarded the Abe Bailey and Markotter scholarships. He was the Pastor of the Wellington congregation of the Dutch Reformed Church from 1967 to 1969. After that, he became a lecturer at the

Rand Afrikaans University The Rand Afrikaans University (RAU) (Afrikaans: ''Randse Afrikaanse Universiteit'') was a prominent South African institution of higher education and research that served the greater Johannesburg area and surroundings from 1967 to 2004. It ha ...

(RAU). In 1972 he completed his MA in philosophy and received a scholarship to study abroad. He was married to Suzaan Mangold. They had three daughters and a son.

Springbok rugby

De Villiers also excelled in

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

(scrumhalf position) and became involved in all levels of the sport, including representing South Africa in 25 test matches, His first international test match was in 1962 against the British Lions, aged 22. In 1970 he captained the

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabhokobhoko) is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

against

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Test history

Politics

While he was lecturing at RAU, the then rector,

Gerrit Viljoen Gerrit Van Niekerk Viljoen (11 September 1926 – 29 March 2009) was a South African government minister and member of the National Party. He was chair of the Broederbond from 1974 to 1980, Administrator-General of South West Africa from ...

, persuaded him at this time to become active in politics. Against his father's wishes, De Villiers entered politics and stood for election. He was elected to the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible g ...

as MP for Johannesburg West and was re-elected in the elections of

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

and

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

. In April 1979, De Villiers was appointed South African Ambassador in London. On his return in October 1980 he became Minister of Trade and Industry. The following year he contested the Gardens constituency in Cape Town, but lost to Ken Andrew of the

Progressive Federal Party The Progressive Federal Party (PFP) () was a South African political party formed in 1977 through merger of the Progressive and Reform parties, eventually changing its name to the Progressive Federal Party. For its duration, it was the main parl ...

. He was subsequently elected MP for Piketberg, Cape Province. While he was the Minister of Trade and Industry, the Liquor Act was passed which desegregated South African bars at the owners’ discretion and the South African Tourist Board was established. In 1983, he called a commission to investigate monopolies, and he stimulated small business in rural and ‘homeland’ areas. In 1989 he became Minister of Mineral and Energy Affairs, and of Public Enterprises as well as Cape NP leader.

Death

He died from cancer in

Stellenbosch Stellenbosch (; )A Universal Pronouncing Gazetteer.
Thomas Baldwin ...

Western Cape The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...

on 23 April 2022.

References