Piet Jacobus van der Walt (born 14 January 1966 in

Okahandja Okahandja is a city of 45,159 inhabitants in Otjozondjupa Region, central Namibia, and the district capital of the Okahandja electoral constituency. It is known as the ''Garden Town of Namibia''. It is located 70 km north of Windhoek on the B1 r ...

) is a

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

n businessperson and politician who has been the Deputy Minister of National Planning since 2018.

Early life and education

Van der Walt grew up in Okahandja and went to primary school there. His secondary school was the Higher Technical School in

Windhoek Windhoek (; ; ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek, which ...

. He became a diesel mechanic by profession, graduating in 1989 from the Windhoek Technical College. He also holds an engineering diploma in mechanical drawing and machines and properties of metals. Commenting on his alleged service for ''

Koevoet Koevoet (, Afrikaans for ''Crowbar (tool), crowbar'', also known as Operation K or SWAPOL-COIN) was the counterinsurgency branch of the South West African Police (SWAPOL). Its formations included white South African police officers, usually se ...

'', the counter-insurgency branch of the

South West African Police The South West African Police (SWAPOL) was the national police force of South West Africa (now Namibia), responsible for law enforcement and public safety in South West Africa when the territory was administered by South Africa. It was organised ...

(SWAPOL) before

Namibian independence The history of Namibia has passed through several distinct stages from being colonised in the late nineteenth century to Namibia's independence on 21 March 1990. From 1884, Namibia was a German colony: German South West Africa. After the First ...

, he stated that his short stint in

Oshakati Oshakati is a town in northern Namibia. It is the regional capital of the Oshana Region and one of Namibia's largest cities both by population and as an economic center. It had a population of 58,656 people in 2023. Oshakati was founded i ...

in the north of Namibia was merely to serve in the auxiliary service as mechanic. From 1990 he worked for

Old Mutual Old Mutual (officially Old Mutual Limited) is a South African investment, savings, insurance, and banking group, operating across Africa. It is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange, the Namibian Stock Exchan ...

in Windhoek. In 1999 he started ''Van der Walt Motors'', a service station with surrounding shops near Windhoek's city centre.

Political career

A White Afrikaner Namibian, van der Walt began associating with

SWAPO The South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO ; , SWAVO; , SWAVO), officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former independence movement in Namibia (formerly South West Africa). Founded in 1960, it has been ...

in a business capacity following independence in 1990. He was placed on the parliamentary list for SWAPO at number 42 prior to the 2009 National Assembly election and subsequently elected. He was associated with the SWAPO Youth League. He retained his parliamentary seat in the 2014 general elections and was subsequently appointed Deputy Minister for Industrialisation, Trade and SME Development. After a

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

reshuffle in February 2018 he swapped positions with

Lucia Iipumbu Lucia Magano Iipumbu (born 20 November 1975 in Onamenga near Elim) is a Namibian politician. A member of SWAPO she entered parliament in 2015 and immediately was appointed as Deputy Minister of Economic and National Planning. After a Cabinet re ...

and is since then Deputy Minister of National Planning.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Van der Walt, Piet 1966 births Living people Namibian people of South African descent Namibian businesspeople Namibian farmers van der Walt, Piet van der Walt, Piet Namibian expatriates in South Africa Members of the National Assembly (Namibia) People from Otjozondjupa Region SWAPO politicians