JG Strijdom was Prime Minister of South Africa from 30 November 1954 to 24 August 1958 . Strijdom was an ardent republican himself, and was very devoted to South Africa becoming a Republic, even though this was achieved in his time. In 1956 he had the Coloureds removed from the common voters roll. He went about introducing various measures to make South Africa less dependent on Britain. In 1957 he abandoned the two-pole flag policy, making the South African flag the only flag, always to be flown without the Union Jack. He also gave South Africa only one national anthem, ‘Die Stem’, which was translated and sung in English for the first time in April 1957. Until 1957 the British had had control over the naval base in Simonstown, and with the changes in status and control in South Africa, Britain lost dominion over even this small area. In 1958 the letters ‘OHMS’ (On His Majesty’s Service) on official documents were scrapped in favour of ‘OFFICIAL’. Strijdom appointed CR Swart as the new Governor General. Swart was also very pro-republic and later became the first president.
Under Strijdom the ideals of the republic were therefore achieved. South Africa now had one flag, one anthem and undivided citizenship. |
JG Strijdom |
