Samuel Johannes de Beer (born 19 August 1944) is a South African politician and former Christian minister who served in

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

from 1974 to 2001, excepting a brief hiatus from 1998 to 1999. He subsequently joined the

Gauteng Provincial Legislature The Gauteng Provincial Legislature is the legislature of the South African province of Gauteng. It is a unicameral body of 80 members elected every five years. The current legislature, the seventh, was 2019 Gauteng provincial election, elected on ...

. A former

Dutch Reformed Church The Dutch Reformed Church (, , abbreviated NHK ) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the traditional denomination of the Dutch royal famil ...

minister, de Beer entered politics during

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

through 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 ...

(NP), which he represented in 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 ...

from 1974 to 1994, serving the Geduld constituency. During that time, from 1991, he also served as

Minister for Education and Training In the Government of Australia, the Minister for Education administers the Department of Education. The position is held by Labor MP Jason Clare, following the Australian federal election in 2022. Portfolio scope The Minister is responsible f ...

under President

F. W. 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 of South Africa, deputy president a ...

. After South Africa's democratic transition, he represented the NP in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

from 1994 to 1998 and as NP leader in

Gauteng Gauteng ( , ; Sotho-Tswana languages, Sotho-Tswana for 'place of gold'; or ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts f ...

from 1997 to 1998. In August 1998, de Beer defected to the

United Democratic Movement The United Democratic Movement (UDM) is a centre-left, social-democratic, South African political party, formed by a prominent former National Party leader, Roelf Meyer (who has since resigned from the UDM), a former African National Congre ...

(UDM), which he went on to represent in the National Assembly from 1999 to 2001. In February 2001, he defected for a second time, leaving the UDM for the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...

(ANC). In March 2001, he joined the Gauteng Provincial Legislature under the ANC banner.

Early life and career

De Beer was born on 19 August 1944 in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

in the former

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name ''Transvaal''. * South African Republic (1856–1902; ...

. He completed two undergraduate degrees, one in theology, from the

University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria (, ) is a multi-campus public university, public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and ''de facto'' capital of South Africa. The university was established in 1908 as the Pretoria campus of the Johan ...

, where he was a member of the national executive of the Afrikaanse Studentebond from 1965 to 1967. After graduating, he was a minister in the

, first in

Magaliesburg Magaliesburg is a small town situated below the Witwatersrand mountain range in Gauteng, South Africa. The Magaliesberg mountain range is north and visible from town, hence the name "Magaliesburg". The mountains themselves are named after Kgosi ...

and then in Springs. In

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; ...

, de Beer was elected to a

(NP) seat in the

, representing the Transvaal's Geduld constituency. He served in Parliament for the next two decades. After chairing the

East Rand The East Rand is a major urban area located in the Gauteng province of South Africa. It is the urban eastern part of Witwatersrand that is functionally merged with the Johannesburg conurbation. The region extends from Alberton in the west to ...

branch of the NP from 1983 to 1984, he was Deputy Minister of Education and Development Aid from 1984 to 1989. In 1991, President

appointed him to the cabinet as

, a portfolio which included administration of the Bantu education system.

Post-apartheid political career

The 1994 general election was held under universal suffrage and de Beer was elected to represent the NP in the new multi-racial

. During the legislative term that followed, in June 1997, he was elected to succeed

Roelf Meyer Roelof Petrus Meyer GCOB (born 16 July 1947) is a South African politician and businessman. A Member of Parliament between 1979 and 1997, he was the chief negotiator for the National Party government during the negotiations to end apartheid ...

as leader of the NP's

provincial branch, narrowly defeating Fanus Schoeman. When de Klerk resigned as the party's national leader weeks later, de Beer ran to succeed him in a contest against Danie Schutte and

Marthinus van Schalkwyk Marthinus Christoffel Johannes van Schalkwyk (born 10 November 1959) is a South African politician, academic, and lawyer, who serves as High Commissioner to Australia. He previously served as MP and Minister of Tourism in the Cabinet of South Af ...

; van Schalkwyk prevailed, but de Beer retained his position as Gauteng leader. In August 1998, de Beer resigned as NP provincial leader and as a Member of Parliament in order to defect from the NP (by then restyled as the New National Party) to the

(UDM). He appeared on the UDM's party list in the 1999 general election and was returned to a seat in the National Assembly. However, he again failed to complete his term in the seat: in February 2001, he announced that he had resigned from the UDM, and would therefore lose his parliamentary seat. He said:

heoptimistic expectations that I had of the UDM's potential of achieving its goals, as expressed in its election manifesto, have faded away. Under these circumstances it is only fair to make room for somebody who can still work with enthusiasm for the party. I see the last two and a half years involvement in establishing a new, young party – with its main aim to bring all South Africans together in one party – as a privilege and a great experience.

He also accused Roelf Meyer, the UDM's co-founder and his former NP colleague, of having abandoned the UDM, saying "It could have been a totally different sorry if Roelf had not done that". De Beer subsequently joined the governing

(ANC), and in mid-March he was sworn in to an ANC seat in the

. He was re-elected to a full term in the provincial legislature in the 2004 general election.

References

External links

Interviews
with

Padraig O'Malley Padraig O'Malley (born 1942 in Dublin, Ireland) is an Irish international peacemaker, author, and professor. O'Malley specializes in the problems of divided societies, such as South Africa and Northern Ireland. He has written extensively on the ...

(1992–1993) Living people 1944 births Politicians from Johannesburg University of Pretoria alumni Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 1994–1999 Members of the House of Assembly (South Africa) Members of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature 21st-century South African politicians African National Congress politicians United Democratic Movement (South Africa) politicians National Party (South Africa) politicians Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa clergy {{DEFAULTSORT:de Beer, Sam