Jan Kemp

Jan Christoffel Greyling Kemp (10 June 1872 – 31 December 1946) was a South African Boer officer, rebel general, and politician.

Early life Jan Kemp was born in the present Amersfoort district, Transvaal on 10 June 1872, the younger son of Jurie Johannes Kemp and Maria Aletta Greyling.

Personal life On 10 June 1903 he married Anna Emma Bodenstein, the daughter of a former landdrost of Krugersdorp, JC Bodenstein and his wife, MC Combrink. They had two daughters and a son. When, as Minister of Lands, Kemp, was asked in 1936 to set aside a special reserve for the endangered Cape mountain zebra, he gave his now infamous reply: "No! They're just a lot of donkeys in football jerseys." Fortunately for the species, he was persuaded otherwise, and the Mountain Zebra National Park at Cradock, Eastern Cape was established in 1938. A Union Defence Force era regiment on the east rand was named in his honour. Regiment Kemp was eventually amalgamated into Regiment Oos Rand.

Memoirs Vir Vryheid En Vir Reg – Generaal J.C.G. Kemp. 1941 NASIONALE PERS English translation: "For Freedom & Justice". Anglo-Boer War memoir of one of the ablest Boer Generals (1st of 2 volumes – this vol. ends with the Peace of Vereeniging).

Die Pad Van Die Veroweraar – Generaal J.C.G. Kemp. 1942 NASIONALE PERS English translation: "The Road of the Conqueror". Anglo-Boer War memoir of one of the ablest Boer Generals (2nd of 2 volumes – this vol. starts with the Peace of Vereeniging, covers the 1914 rebellion and ends with Kemp as cabinet minister).