Wyatt Vause Raw (21 September 1921 – 13 March 2001) was a conservative opposition

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 ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

of the

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 ...

era. He was a prominent member of the United Party from the 1940s to the late 1970s, and the leader of the succeeding New Republic Party (NRP).

Early life

Raw was born 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 ...

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

in 1921. He matriculated from Pretoria Boys High and subsequently attended the

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), commonly known as Wits University or Wits, is a multi-campus Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg, South Africa. The universit ...

and the Johannesburg Teachers' Training College before enlisting with the South African forces in May 1940, and went on to serve in the military in

central Africa Central Africa (French language, French: ''Afrique centrale''; Spanish language, Spanish: ''África central''; Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''África Central'') is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries accordin ...

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and

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. He joined his father in a farming and trading venture from 1946 to 1950, served as secretary to the

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

District Farmers' Union, and was appointed a director of the Waterberg Farmers' Co-operative. In 1954, he became sales manager of a textile knitting mill, and from 1956 to 1981 ran his own textile and clothing machinery agency.

Politics

Raw was known for his support of ex-servicemen. He published ''Flares'', a collection of war poems written during his military service. He was vice chairman of the United Party's Pretoria District and was elected to the divisional committee in 1948, where he served until 1950. In 1951, he was appointed Natal secretary of the party. He became a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

for Natal in 1955, and won the Durban Point

parliamentary seat A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of ...

for the party in 1958. He became the party's official spokesperson on defence and transport. In that position, he cooperated well with 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 ...

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, even managing to secure concessions such as amendments to bills.

Helen Suzman Helen Suzman, Order for Meritorious Service, OMSG, Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, DBE (née Gavronsky; 7 November 1917 – 1 January 2009) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and p ...

characterised Raw as a "very

right-wing Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property ...

United Party member", and identified him as one of the reasons she left the party. The United Party disbanded in 1977. Its successor, the NRP, elected Raw as national chairman in 1978, and as its national leader later in the same year. Raw discredited the party in a string of by-election defeats from 1977 to 1980, by making "extravagant" claims of support and predicting victory in areas where the party had no prospects. He nevertheless continued in his capacity as leader until 1984. He served for many years in the whites-only parliament as the Member of Parliament for Durban's Point constituency. In 1985, he was awarded the

Decoration for Meritorious Services The Decoration for Meritorious Services was an honour conferred until 1987 by the Government of the Republic of South Africa, usually for political services to the country. The appointments were made by the State President of South Africa. Pos ...

; he was the first serving opposition MP to receive it. He was also a lifelong honorary colonel of

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. He retired from Parliament just before the 1987 general election.

Death

He died in March 2001 after a long illness. Twice married, he was the father of seven children.

Early life

Politics

Death

References

Further reading