Ben Schoeman

Ben Schoeman
Minister of Transport
In office 30 November 1954 – 1974
Preceded by	Paul Sauer
Succeeded by	Lourens Muller
Constituency	Maraisburg
Minister of Labour
In office 4 June 1948 – 30 November 1954
Preceded by	Colin Fraser Steyn
Succeeded by	Johannes de Klerk
Constituency	Maraisburg
Member of Parliament
In office 1938–1943
Constituency	Fordsburg
Personal details
Born	19 January 1905 Johannesburg, South Africa
Died	April 1986
Political party	National Party (1948–1974) United Party (1938–1943)

Barend Johannes "Ben" Schoeman^[1] (19 January 1905 – April 1986) was a South African politician of the National Party prominent during the apartheid era. He served as the Minister of Labour from 1948 to 1954, and the Minister of Transport from 1954 until 1974.

History

Schoeman in the 1930s, posing in front of a steam train he worked on as a fireman

Schoeman was born in Johannesburg in the British Colony of the Transvaal on 19 January 1905, the son of train driver Barend Jacobus Schoeman, and Abelina Jacoba Schoeman (née Theunissen).^[2] After completing his studies at high school, he joined the railway industry, and worked as both a driver and a fireman.^[3] He progressed up the hierarchy, and after 16 years he achieved the position of station master.

Prior to entering politics, Schoeman was a member of the elitist and sometimes militant Afrikaner organisation Ossewabrandwag;^[4] during which period he was arrested.^[5] He entered politics as a member of the United Party, being elected as Member of Parliament for Fordsburg in the 1938 general election, gaining a majority of 1,127 over TC Robertson of the Labour Party.^[6] Aged 33, Schoeman was the youngest member of the House of Assembly. At the outbreak of the Second World War, Schoeman supported Prime Minister J. B. M. Hertzog's stance of neutrality. When Hertzog resigned as Prime Minister and switched his allegiance to the National Party,^[7] Schoeman similarly switched parties, and in 1940 he became the head of the National Party in the Witwatersrand, and a member of the party's Executive Committee. He openly supported Germany in the war, saying in 1940: "The whole future of Afrikanerdom is dependent on a German victory. We may as well say that openly, because it is a fact."^[8]

Leadership election

After the assassination of Prime Minister Henrik Verwoerd in September 1966, Schoeman was widely considered to be the favourite to assume leadership of both the National Party and the country. However, the day before the election, he withdrew from the race, granting victory to the only other candidate; John Vorster. In an interview conducted shortly after his withdrawal, Schoeman, who looked as though he had been crying, revealed that he had made the decision due to "gossip, even about my wife."^[9] In their 2003 book Unfinished business: South Africa, Apartheid and Truth, Terry Bell and Dumisa Buhle Ntsebeza suggest that Schoeman was blackmailed by Vorster, though offer no evidence for their theory.^[9]

Personality and politics

Phil Weber, an editor of Die Burger, believed that Schoeman was the "most sober thinker" of D. F. Malan's cabinet regarding the government's stance on apartheid.^[10]

Publications

• Schoeman, Ben (1973). Jagavonture (in Afrikaans). Doornfontein: Perskor. ISBN 0-628-00338-2. OCLC 3569588.
• Schoeman, Ben (1978). My lewe in die politiek [My life in politics] (in Afrikaans). Johannesburg: Perskor. ISBN 0-628-01466-X. OCLC 5945369.

References

1. "Records of the Garment Workers Union". Johannesburg, South Africa: The Library, University of the Witwatersrand. 2007. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
2. A. M. Van Schoor (1973). Die Nasionale boek [The National Book]. Edupress. p. 145.
3. Holland, D.F. (1972). Steam Locomotives of the South African Railways, Volume 2: 1910-1955 (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, Devon: David & Charles. p. 34. ISBN 978-0-7153-5427-8.
4. South African Democracy Education Trust (SADET) (2004). The Road to Democracy in South Africa: 1960-1970. Cape Town: Zebra Press. p. 9. ISBN 1-86872-906-0.
5. Best, Roger B. (2000). The History of South Africa. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 121. ISBN 0-313-30730-X. ISSN 1096-2905.
6. Schoeman, B. M. (1977). Parlementêre verkiesings in Suid-Afrika, 1910-1976 [Parliamentary elections in South Africa, 1910-1976]. Pretoria: Aktuele Publikasies.
7. "Second World War and its impact, 1939-1948". South African History Online. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
8. Budlender, Geoff (15 April 1973). "Civil Rights and the University" (PDF) (2).
9. Bell, Terry; Ntsebeza, Dumisa Buhle (2003). Unfinished business: South Africa, Apartheid and Truth. London: Verso. p. 55. ISBN 1-85984-545-2.
10. Koorts, Lindie (November 2010). "An ageing anachronism: D.F. Malan as prime minister, 1948-1954". Kronos. Cape Town. 36 (1). ISSN 0259-0190.