Hermanus Jacobus Kriel (14 November 19415 July 2015) was the first

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

of the

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 ...

province. He previously served as the

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in the South African government under

Frederik Willem de Klerk Frederik Willem de Klerk ( , ; 18 March 1936 – 11 November 2021) was a South African politician who served as the seventh and final state president of South Africa from 1989 to 1994 and as deputy president alongside Thabo Mbeki under Preside ...

. He was born in 1941 in

Kakamas Kakamas is a town founded in 1898 and located in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, on the banks of the Orange River. Originated as at a place where the Orange River could be relatively easily crossed. The spot was first known as Bass ...

Cape Province The Province of the Cape of Good Hope (), commonly referred to as the Cape Province () and colloquially as The Cape (), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequently the Republic of South Africa. It encompassed the old Cape Co ...

. Kriel served as premier from 11 May 1994 to 11 May 1998 as a member 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 ...

. He became known for having questioned the objectivity of the

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and for having advocated for the return of the death penalty in South Africa. He defected to the Democratic Party in June 2000; the DP had overtaken the NP as the official opposition in the

National Assembly of South Africa The National Assembly is the directly elected house of the Parliament of South Africa, located in Cape Town, Western Cape. It consists of four hundred members who are elected every five years using a party-list proportional representation sy ...

after the election held the year before. He was however ranked unfavorably by the DP's electoral college, and would instead later appear on the candidate list for the small

African Christian Democratic Party The African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) is a South African political party founded in 1993. It is a conservative Christian Christian party based on Biblical principles. The leader of the party is Kenneth Meshoe. Following the 2016 municipa ...

. Kriel was married to Anna-Mari (née Jooste). He died on 5 July 2015, aged 73.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kriel, Hernus 1941 births 2015 deaths People from Kakamas Afrikaner people National Party (South Africa) politicians Government ministers of South Africa Premiers of the Western Cape Stellenbosch University alumni