Tielman Johannes de Villiers Roos (8 May 1879 – 28 March 1935) was a

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

n politician and South African Minister for Justice from 1924 to 1929.

Labour politics

Roos made his name as the leader of a group of young members of the

South African Party The South African Party (, ) was a political party that existed in the Union of South Africa from 1911 to 1934. History The outline and foundation for the party was realized after the election of a 'South African party' in the 1910 South Af ...

who were opposed to the creation of the

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa (; , ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day South Africa, Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the British Cape Colony, Cape, Colony of Natal, Natal, Tra ...

Louis Botha Louis Botha ( , ; 27 September 1862 – 27 August 1919) was a South African politician who was the first Prime Minister of South Africa, prime minister of the Union of South Africa, the forerunner of the modern South African state. A Boer war v ...

.'Grey Steel; Part 4, 32: Old Resentments Return'
/ref> Roos and his followers fell in with

Daniel François Malan Daniël François Malan (; 22 May 1874 – 7 February 1959) was a South African politician who served as the fourth prime minister of South Africa from 1948 to 1954. The National Party implemented the system of apartheid, which enforce ...

and he was a founding 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 ...

. As head of the party in

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; ...

Roos sought to build a following amongst the white workers in the area, supporting mine workers' strikes in 1918. Using his as his personal slogan "workers of the world unite and fight for a white South Africa", he was a regular speaker at a series of events in 1922 when white miners went back on strike over wage cuts and an increase in the proportion of black workers allowed.Brian Bunting, ''The Rise of the South African Reich'', Penguin Books, 1969, p. 31 Roos' connections to the

working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

voters was instrumental in securing the National Party's coalition with the

South African Labour Party The South African Labour Party (), was a South African political party formed in March 1910 in the newly created Union of South Africa following discussions between trade unions, the Transvaal Independent Labour Party, and the Natal Labour P ...

that led to their victory in the 1924 election. Indeed attempts between the two parties to reach an agreement during the 1922 strike were even known as "Roos's Parliament" such was his influence at the time.

In government

Roos would serve as Justice Minister from 1924 to 1929. In government he was a strong advocate of

racial segregation Racial segregation is the separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Segregation can involve the spatial separation of the races, and mandatory use of different institutions, ...

but despite this he defended the rights of the Industrial and Commercial Workers' Union to organise amongst Black workers in

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

. He also continued his policy of reaching out to the workers, describing the Labour Party as 'brothers' of the National Party and encouraged working class voters to join the party.

Gold standard

Roos spent three years as a judge in the Supreme Court of Appeal but resigned after criticizing

Prime Minister of South Africa The prime minister of South Africa ( was the head of government in South Africa between 1910 and 1984. History of the office The position of Prime Minister was established in 1910, when the Union of South Africa was formed. He was appointed ...

James Barry Munnik Hertzog General James Barry Munnik Hertzog (3 April 1866 – 21 November 1942), better known as Barry Hertzog or J. B. M. Hertzog, was a South African politician and soldier. He was a Boer general during the Second Boer War who served a ...

due to a lack of plans to come off the

gold standard A gold standard is a backed currency, monetary system in which the standard economics, economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from the 1870s to the ...

. He then used this issue to relaunch his political career.Grey Steel; Part 7, 60: The Tour Of England And North America
/ref> Roos proposed an alliance with

Jan Smuts Field Marshal Jan Christian Smuts, (baptismal name Jan Christiaan Smuts, 24 May 1870 11 September 1950) was a South African statesman, military leader and philosopher. In addition to holding various military and cabinet posts, he served as P ...

to ensure he got his way, although the former PM was unwilling as Roos wanted the Premiership for himself. Ultimately however Roos personal popularity ensured that his demands were agreed to with Finance Minister N.C. Havenga taking the country off gold in a move that led to a widespread economic up-turn. This success of sorts was to be Roos' final contribution to South African politics as, although it had initially been his campaign, support dwindled after the country came off gold. Roos would die soon afterwards. He was a South African Freemason.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roos, Tielman 1879 births 1935 deaths Politicians from Cape Town Afrikaner people 20th-century South African judges Chancellors of the University of Pretoria South African Party (Union of South Africa) politicians National Party (South Africa) politicians Justice ministers of South Africa South African Freemasons