Rowan Cronjé

Rowan Cronjé (22 September 1937 – 8 March 2014) was a Rhodesian politician who served in the cabinet under prime ministers Ian Smith and Abel Muzorewa, and was later a Zimbabwean MP. He emigrated to South Africa in 1985 and served in the government of Bophuthatswana.

From 1966 to 1979, nearly the entirety of Rhodesia's independent history, he served as Minister of Health and Minister of Labour and Social Welfare. From 1977 to 1979, he held the newly created office of Minister of Manpower and Social Affairs, and from 1978, was the joint Minister of Education. He was a Member of Parliament from 1970 to 1985, serving in the parliaments of both Rhodesia and Zimbabwe. He was briefly Deputy Minister of Lands, Natural Resources, and Rural Development of Zimbabwe Rhodesia in 1979. In the 1980s, Cronjé relocated to South Africa, serving as Minister of Defense, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Minister of Aviation in Bophuthatswana in the early 1990s.

Early life

Cronjé was born in the Union of South Africa to parents of Afrikaner descent, before emigrating to Southern Rhodesia, which was then governed as a British colony.

Political career

Rhodesia

In 1966, less than a year after Rhodesia declared independence, Cronjé was appointed Minister of Health and Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, succeeding Ian McLean in both offices. He served in these positions until Rhodesia was dissolved and replaced by Zimbabwe in 1979. As labour minister, he oversaw a period in which Rhodesia was experiencing a shortage of workers on its farms. In 1975, he cited 36,000 vacancies for farm jobs, saying, "There is no unemployment in Rhodesia. The fact is we have a labor shortage." He also dismissed sanctions or the Rhodesian Bush War as a threat to the Rhodesian economy, insisting as late as 1978 that population growth was the greater problem.

In 1970, Cronjé ran for the Rhodesian Parliament for the Charter constituency. Running unopposed, he was elected with 1,715 votes. He ran for reelection in 1974 against Neil Diarmid Campbell Housman Herbert Wilson, winning with 1,147 votes, or 92%. He ran for a third term in 1977 against Independent candidate Leonard George Idensohn, winning with 1,023 votes, or 90%. During his time in Parliament, Cronjé was leader of the moderate faction of the Rhodesian Front party.

In 1977, Cronjé was appointed minister of the newly created Ministry of Manpower, Industrial Relations, and Social Affairs of Rhodesia. The next year, he succeeded Denis Walker as the third Minister of Education of Rhodesia. He served in both positions until Rhodesia dissolved in 1979. In 1978, Gibson Magarombe was appointed to serve with Cronjé as co-Minister of Health and co-Minister of Education.

As Minister of Manpower and Social Affairs, he oversaw the elections process as Rhodesia transitioned from white minority rule to multiracial democracy. In February 1978, Cronjé was involved in the reaching of an agreement between the Rhodesian government and black leaders on the future of the Rhodesian military. In regard to the rebels fighting the government in the Rhodesian Bush War, the leaders agreed that amnesty would be declared and that guerrillas would be offered retraining for entry into the existing army. and he served as a Member of Parliament until 1985, when he chose not to run for reelection and emigrated to South Africa shortly after.

Bophuthatswana

In 1985, Cronjé left Zimbabwe and emigrated to South Africa, where he became involved in the Afrikaner volkstaat movement, which proposed a separate state with self-determination for the Afrikaner population in South Africa. He was also, during the 1980s, a personal advisor to the Ciskei government.

In 1986, President Mangope appointed Cronjé Minister of Defence, Minister of Aviation, (or Minister of State) of Bophuthatswana. He served in those three positions until Bophuthatswana's dissolution in 1994. As a member of the Bophuthatswana cabinet, and in his capacity as defense minister, Cronjé was at the forefront of the bantustan's effort to remain independent of the post-apartheid South Africa, serving as chief negotiator with South African officials.

Cronjé said in 1993 about the self-government of Bophuthatswana, "We've got kids who are 16 years old who never knew apartheid. It has restored the self-dignity of blacks here."

Personal life

Cronjé was an ordained minister of the Dutch Reformed Church in Rhodesia. His brother-in-law was South African Conservative Member of Parliament Tom Langley.

Electoral history