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Rowan Cronjé

The Reverend
Rowan Cronjé
MP
Rowan Cronjé.jpg
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bophuthatswana
In office
1986 – 27 April 1994
President Lucas Mangope
Succeeded by Office abolished
Minister of Defence of Bophuthatswana
In office
1986 – 27 April 1994
President Lucas Mangope
Succeeded by Office abolished
Minister of Aviation of Bophuthatswana
In office
1986 – 27 April 1994
President Lucas Mangope
Succeeded by Office abolished
Deputy Minister of Lands, Natural Resources, and Rural Development of Zimbabwe Rhodesia
In office
1 June 1979 – 12 December 1979
Prime Minister Abel Muzorewa
Minister George Bodzo Nyandoro
Preceded by Office created
Succeeded by Office abolished
Member of Parliament
In office
1979–1985
Succeeded by Antonius Frans Berkhout
Constituency Central
In office
1970–1979
Succeeded by Constituency abolished
Constituency Charter
3rd Minister of Education of Rhodesia
In office
1978 – 1 June 1979
Prime Minister Ian Smith
Preceded by Denis Walker
Succeeded by Office abolished
1st Minister of Manpower, Industrial Relations, and Social Affairs of Rhodesia
In office
1977 – 1 June 1979
Prime Minister Ian Smith
Preceded by Office created
Succeeded by Office abolished
2nd Minister of Labour and Social Welfare of Rhodesia
In office
1966 – 1 June 1979
Prime Minister Ian Smith
Preceded by Ian McLean
Succeeded by Office abolished
2nd Minister of Health of Rhodesia
In office
1966 – 1 June 1979
Prime Minister Ian Smith
Preceded by Ian McLean
Succeeded by Office abolished
Personal details
Born 22 September 1937
South Africa
Died 11 March 2014 (aged 76)
Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
Political party Rhodesian Front (before 1981)
Freedom Alliance (after 1981)
Occupation Politician; minister
Religion Dutch Reformed Church in Rhodesia

Rowan Cronjé (22 September 1937 – 8 March 2014) was a Rhodesian and Zimbabwean politician and cabinet member during the tenure of Prime Minister Ian Smith. Later, he emigrated to South Africa and served in the government of Bophuthatswana.

From 1966 to 1979, nearly the entirety of Rhodesia's independent history, he served as Minister of Health and Minister of Labour and Social Welfare. From 1977 to 1979, he held the newly created office of Minister of Manpower and Social Affairs, and from 1978, was the joint Minister of Education. He was a Member of Parliament from 1970 to 1985, serving in the parliaments of both Rhodesia and Zimbabwe. He was briefly Deputy Minister of Lands, Natural Resources, and Rural Development of Zimbabwe Rhodesia in 1979. In the 1980s, Cronjé relocated to South Africa, serving as Minister of Defense, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Minister of Aviation in Bophuthatswana in the early 1990s.

Cronjé was born in South Africa to parents of Afrikaner descent, before emigrating to Southern Rhodesia, which was then governed as a British colony.

In 1966, less than a year after Rhodesia declared independence, Cronjé was appointed Minister of Health and Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, succeeding Ian McLean in both offices. He served in these positions until Rhodesia was dissolved and replaced by Zimbabwe in 1979. As labour minister, he oversaw a period in which Rhodesia was experiencing a shortage of workers on its farms. In 1975, he cited 36,000 vacancies for farm jobs, saying, "There is no unemployment in Rhodesia. The fact is we have a labor shortage." He also dismissed sanctions or the Rhodesian Bush War as a threat to the Rhodesian economy, insisting as late as 1978 that population growth was the greater problem.

In 1970, Cronjé ran for the Rhodesian Parliament for the Charter constituency. Running unopposed, he was elected with 1,715 votes. He ran for reelection in 1974 against Neil Diarmid Campbell Housman Herbert Wilson, winning with 1,147 votes, or 92%. He ran for a third term in 1977 against Independent candidate Leonard George Idensohn, winning with 1,023 votes, or 90%. During his time in Parliament, Cronjé was leader of the moderate faction of the Rhodesian Front party.


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