Verwoerd’s Orania-linked grandson set to become MP

Sol Plaatje municipality councillor and occasional Orania resident Dr Wynand Boshoff will be taking on a new role as a member of parliament when the first sitting of the National Assembly takes place later this month.

News24 reports that Boshoff is the son of Orania founder Prof. Carel Boshoff and his mother, Anna, was the daughter of Dr HF Verwoerd, who served as prime minister of South Africa from 1958 to 1966.

Verwoed is also commonly referred to as the “architect of apartheid” due to his strict enforcement of institutionalised racial segregation and separate development during his time in power.

Boshoff has maintained his family’s political legacy by becoming the FF Plus leader in the Northern Cape and thanks to his party’s recent boom in support, he will be one of the party’s new MPs.

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He splits his time between Kimberley, where he serves as a councillor, and Orania, where he has lived since 1993. The “whites only” town has become Boshoff’s weekend home which he retreats to when he’s not on duty.

Coincidentally, his brother, who is also named Carel, is the “president” of Orania and he was recently accused of illegally purchasing a Mercedes-Benz for R102,000, and for hiking his salary by 45%.

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According to Netwerk24, Boshoff said he wanted to be judged on his own merits and not on those of his granddad and would thus focus on representing minority groups of all kinds in parliament.

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