Tobie Meyer

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Tobie Meyer
Deputy Minister of Land Affairs
In office
11 May 1994 – 1996
PresidentNelson Mandela
MinisterDerek Hanekom
Member of the National Assembly
In office
9 May 1994 – 1996
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs
In office
1991–1994
PresidentF. W. de Klerk
MinisterKraai van Niekerk
Member of the House of Assembly
Assembly Member
for Cradock
In office
1987–1994
Personal details
Born
Anthon Tobias Meyer
CitizenshipSouth Africa
Political partyNational Party
RelationsRoelf Meyer (brother)

Anthon Tobias "Tobie" Meyer is a South African politician who was Deputy Minister of Land Affairs from 1991 to 1996. He represented the National Party (NP) in Parliament from 1987 until 1996, when he resigned from politics to concentrate on his commercial farming interests.

Apartheid-era career[edit]

The elder brother of prominent NP politician Roelf Meyer,[1] Meyer rose to prominence as secretary and then chairperson of the NP's branch in Cradock in the Cape Province, an area that became famous in 1985 for the deaths of the Cradock Four.[2] He was also a director at Volkskas Bank and a member of the control board of the South African Broadcasting Corporation, and since 1956 he had managed farming interests in Ficksburg, Humansdorp, and Tsitsikamma.[2]

In the 1987 general election, he was elected to represent the NP in the all-white House of Assembly as MP for Cradock.[2][3] In addition, in March 1991, President F. W. de Klerk appointed him as Deputy Minister of Agriculture, a newly created position in which he deputised Kraai van Niekerk.[4] Responsibility for land affairs was added to his portfolio later in 1991.[2]

Post-apartheid career[edit]

In South Africa's first post-apartheid elections in 1994, Meyer was elected to continue in Parliament, now in the multi-racial National Assembly.[5] President Nelson Mandela also retained him as a deputy minister in the new Government of National Unity, appointing him as Deputy Minister of Land Affairs.[6] In early 1996, Meyer announced that he was resigning from politics in order to manage his farming business full time.[7]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Kanyane, Chris (8 April 2015). "Roelf Meyer: Man of Ideas". News24. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d "No surprises in ministerial appointments" (PDF). AFRA News: 8–10. May 1994. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  3. ^ "The shadow of Goniwe in the era of De Klerk". The Mail & Guardian. 21 September 1989. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  4. ^ "De Klerk reshuffles Cabinet to promote land reform". UPI. 14 March 1991. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  5. ^ "Minutes of proceedings of the Constitutional Assembly" (PDF). Department of Justice and Constitutional Development. 24 May 1994. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  6. ^ "Glance At Mandela's Cabinet With AM-South Africa". AP News. 11 May 1994. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  7. ^ "MPs plan a mass exodus". The Mail & Guardian. 8 March 1996. Retrieved 29 May 2023.