Frederik Van Zyl Slabbert - Political Career

Political Career

During his academic studies, van Zyl Slabbert developed an active interest in politics, which led him to reject apartheid and to stand for a seat on Stellenbosch University's Students' Representative Council. He lost the election as he was considered to be too liberal.

In the 1974 South African general election, Slabbert stood as a parliamentary candidate for the constituency of Rondebosch on behalf of the Progressive Party (PP). Although he was not expected to win the seat, he beat the United Party (UP) candidate by 1,600 votes. Van Zyl Slabbbert defended and retained this seat in the parliamentary elections of 1979 and 1981.

Van Zyl Slabbert rose through the ranks of the PP and came to play an important role in the development of the party's ideology, particularly as the chairman of its Constitutional Committee. Using his influence, he helped to position the PP and its later incarnations as a liberal movement which advocated the creation of a non-racial democracy in South Africa. A respect for individual liberty became a cornerstone of the PP because of the work of van Zyl Slabbert and others.

In 1979, he became leader of the Progressive Federal Party (PFP), a grouping formed after the PP merged with various other liberal elements, most notably Harry Schwarz's Reform Party. The PFP fared well in the elections of 1979 and 1981, and van Zyl Slabbert thus served as leader of the opposition for 12 years.

In 1986, van Zyl Slabbert resigned from his position as leader of the opposition because he felt that Parliament was becoming an irrelevant institution in the context of South Africa's political problems. He published a book at this time entitled The Last White Parliament in which he explained his actions, and his predictions for the future of South Africa.

Following his resignation, van Zyl Slabbert and Alex Borraine, a fellow PFP MP, formed the progressive think tank IDASA (Institute for Democracy in Africa). As head of IDASA, van Zyl Slabbert played a leading role in initiating dialgoue between white South Africans and the African National Congress (ANC). His efforts led to the Dakar conference of 1987, which took place between the anti-apartheid movement and leading (mainly Afrikaner) politicians, academics and businessmen in Senegal. This conference represented the first step towards dismantling apartheid and informed subsequent negotiations (CODESA) which changed the course of South Africa's history.

In 2002, van Zyl Slabbert was appointed by the then Minister of Home Affairs, with the approval of Cabinet, as the chair of the Electoral Task Team. The team had the responsibility of coming up with a new Electoral Act for South Africa. The task team completed its work by early 2003, and presented a report to Cabinet, including draft legislation, recommending a closed-list, mixed member proportional electoral system. However, the team's recommendations were never implemented.