Willem Odendaal
Willem Odendaal | |
|---|---|
| Member of the National Assembly | |
| In office 9 May 1994 – April 2004 | |
| Constituency | Free State |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Willem Adriaan Odendaal 7 December 1944 |
| Citizenship | South Africa |
| Political party | New National Party National Party |
Willem Adriaan Odendaal (born 7 December 1944)[1] is a retired South African politician from the Free State. He represented the National Party (NP) and New National Party (NNP) in the National Assembly from 1994 to 2004.
Legislative career
[edit]Odendaal was elected to an NP seat in the National Assembly in the 1994 general election[2] and gained re-election in 1999, representing the Free State constituency.[1] In 1997, he apologised[3] for remarks he had made in a parliamentary debate: he had asked Andrew Feinstein of the African National Congress whether he was Jewish and then explained his question with the comment, "A Jew and a Communist together – that spells trouble."[4]
In 2000, Odendaal's party, by then restyled as the NNP, joined the multi-party Democratic Alliance (DA) and DA leader Tony Leon appointed Odendaal to his shadow cabinet as the alliance's spokesman on public accounts.[5] In a reshuffle in March 2001, he was succeeded in that portfolio by Raenette Taljaard and became spokesman on transport.[6] After the NNP's acrimonious departure from the DA, he served as the NNP's spokesman on land affairs[7] and later on finance.[8]
Odendaal retired at the 2004 general election. In his final speech to the house before the National Assembly closed for the election, he recapitulated the NNP's opposition to social grants and concluded by describing the DA as the "racist, ugly face of capitalism".[9]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "General Notice: Notice 1319 of 1999 – Electoral Commission: Representatives Elected to the Various Legislatures" (PDF). Government Gazette of South Africa. Vol. 408, no. 20203. Pretoria, South Africa: Government of South Africa. 11 June 1999. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
- ^ South Africa: Campaign and Election Report April 26–29, 1994. International Republican Institute. 1994. Retrieved 13 April 2023 – via Yumpu.
- ^ Israel, Mark; Adams, Simon (2000). "'That Spells Trouble': Jews and the Communist Party of South Africa". Journal of Southern African Studies. 26 (1): 145–162. ISSN 0305-7070.
- ^ "IBA staff anger at 'luxury'". The Mail & Guardian. 13 May 1997. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
- ^ "DA appoints joint parly spokespersons". News24. 23 August 2000. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
- ^ "Leon reshuffles 'shadow cabinet'". News24. 8 March 2001. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
- ^ Moos, Ainsley (18 September 2002). "New land move sparks outcry". News24. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
- ^ "'ANC does not need pre-election budget'". The Mail & Guardian. 25 November 2003. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
- ^ "National Assembly closes with a bang". IOL. 27 February 2004. Retrieved 16 May 2023.