Private Life
JG Strijdom was known for being very dedicated, absolutely honest and incorruptible, but also stubborn and not open for change of course. He was nicknamed The Lion of the North, because he could be rather frightening as a political opponent.
He was briefly married to the actress Margaretha van Hulsteyn, but they divorced within a year. His second wife was Susan de Klerk, aunt of future President F W de Klerk. Two children were born to Strijdom by his second wife, Johannes and Estelle. Susan Strijdom died in 1999 and Estelle (Crowson) in 2009.
There are still various monuments dedicated to him in South Africa. One monument in central Pretoria, which featured his bust, collapsed in 2001 injuring two people. His house in Modimolle (formerly Nylstroom) is now a museum, which holds parts of the collapsed bust. Perhaps most notably the Hillbrow Tower in Johannesburg was officially named the J.G. Strijdom Tower until 1995 shortly after the conclusion of apartheid when it was renamed the Telkom Hillbrow Tower.
In the western suburb of Johannesburg, i.e. the suburb of Weltevreeden Park, there is a road named JG Strijdom Road, which is named after him.
Read more about this topic: Johannes Gerhardus Strijdom
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