François Christiaan Erasmus
Minister of Justice
In office
12 December 1959 (1959-12-12) – 10 August 1961 (1961-08-10)
Prime MinisterHendrik Verwoerd
Preceded byCharles Robberts Swart
Succeeded byB. J. Vorster
Minister of Defence
In office
4 June 1948 (1948-06-04) – 12 December 1959 (1959-12-12)
Prime Minister
Preceded byJan Smuts
Succeeded byJacobus Johannes Fouché
Personal details
Born(1896-01-19)19 January 1896
Houtenbeck, Merweville District, Cape Colony
Died1 July 1967(1967-07-01) (aged 71)
De Mond, Bredasdorp District, South Africa
NationalitySouth African
Political partyNational
Spouses
  • Christina Wiese
Cornelia Margaretha (Corrie) Naudé
​
​
(m. 1946)​
[1]

François Christiaan Erasmus (19 January 1896 – 1 July 1967) was a South African National Party politician and Minister of Defence from June 1948 to 1959 as well as Minister of Justice from 1959 to August 1961.

Early life

He was born on 19 January 1896 at Houtenbeck in the Merweville district of the Cape Colony to Marthinus Frederik Erasmus and his wife Hester Maria Jacoba Maritz.[1] He was educated at the University of Cape Town and obtained a Bachelor of Laws degree.[2]

Career

In 1927 he was appointed Deputy Attorney-General of South West Africa.[2] In 1928, he returned to South Africa and became the assistant-secretary of the National Party in the Cape Province.[2] In 1930, he was appointed organising secretary of the same party.[2] Afterwards he entered politics and was elected to Parliament in 1933 as the member for Moorreesburg.[2][3] He joined D F Malan's cabinet as the Minister of Defence in 1948.[4] He modernised the South African Defence Force by establishing the training gymnasiums for officers in the army, navy and air force.[2] He was also involved in the establishment of the South African Military Academy.[2] He negotiated the Simonstown Agreement, the return of the naval base from Royal Navy control.[2]

He was widely considered to be incompetent[5] and was very unpopular[5] because of his broad changes to the military to remove what he called the "British Influence".[5] This included the removal of items such as the Red Tabs (Rooi Luise)[6] and the retrenchment or firing of numerous English-speaking officers and the appointment of Afrikaner ones in their place.

He was appointed Minister of Justice in 1959, in the Hendrik Verwoerd cabinet.[2] After his term as Minister of Justice, which ended upon acceptance of his own request for retirement, he was appointed Ambassador to Italy from 1961 until 1965.[2] He retired from public service at that time due to his declining health.[2][3]

Marriage

Erasmus first married Christina Wiese of Melsetter in the then Southern Rhodesia. They had a son and a daughter. On 9 January 1946 he married Cornelia Margaretha (Corrie) Naudé of Lydenburg. They had three daughters.[1]

Honours

A Strike Craft SAS Frans Erasmus of the South African Navy was named after him.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Erasmus, François Christiaan". Dictionary of South African Biography. Vol. V. Human Sciences Research Council. 1987. pp. 246–8. ISBN 0-7969-0420-0.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Pienaar, S. W. (1971). "Erasmus, François Christiaan". Standard encyclopaedia of Southern Africa / 4 Dev - For. Vol. 4. Cape Town: Nasou. pp. 382–383. ISBN 978-0-625-00320-4 – via Internet Archive.
  3. ^ a b Boulter, Roger (2011). A biography of F.C. Erasmus, South African defence minister, 1948-1959. Lewiston: Edwin Mellen Press. ISBN 978-0-7734-2586-6.
  4. ^ C.J. Nöthling; E.M. Meyers (1982). "Leaders through the years (1912-1982)". Scientaria Militaria. 12 (2): 92.
  5. ^ a b c Warwick, Dr Rodney (5 December 2014). "Let's not forget SA's role in WW2". politicsweb.co.za. Retrieved 13 December 2014. The NP government from 1948 cautiously distanced itself from the OB, however its main concern with the UDF was to Afrikanerize it as thoroughly and quickly as practical. This task was taken on by the unpopular and incompetent defence minister Frans Erasmus; supported by lackeys like the war "refusenik" Afrikaner nationalist Rudolph Hiemstra, who ultimately rose to the SADF Commandant-General position during 1965-73.
  6. ^ Dickens, Peter (6 April 2016). "The Red Oath". The Observation Post. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
  7. ^ Wessels, Andre. "FLAG-SHOWING CRUISES BY SOUTH AFRICAN WARSHIPS, 1922-2002". SA Navy. Retrieved 23 May 2014.
Political offices Preceded byJan Smuts Minister of Defence (South Africa) 1948–1959 Succeeded byJacobus Johannes Fouché Preceded byCharles Robberts Swart Minister of Justice 12 December 1959–10 August 1961 Succeeded byB. J. Vorster



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