PIONEER
Pieter Willem Adriaan Mulder
Politician | Freedom Front Plus leader | Negotiator
Born: 26 July 1951
“The Freedom Front participated in the constitutional process and focused specifically on the inclusion of the principles of self-determination and minority rights in the Constitution."
Who is
Pieter Willem Adriaan Mulder?
Politician and the former leader of the Freedom Front Plus (FF+), who served as the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
Professions
and Roles
Politician, leader of FF+, negotiator and drafter of the Constitution.
Best Known For
Former leader of the FF+. He was part of his party’s negotiation team in the Multi-Party Negotiating Forum (MPNF) and served as an alternate member of the Constitutional Committee of the Constitutional Assembly.
Life highlights
- Mulder worked as a lecturer in Communication at Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education, and became Professor and Head of the Communications Department in 1984.
- He was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Conservative Party in 1988.
- Mulder founded the political party, Freedom Front, together with General Constand Viljoen ahead of the 1994 elections.
- He took over as leader of the Freedom Front in 2001 and renamed the party the FF+.
- Mulder was appointed as the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries from 2009 to 2014. He served as a member on parliamentary committees including the Portfolio Committee on Arts and Culture, Communication and International Relations.
- Mulder stepped down as leader of the FF+ in 2016 and retired from Parliament in 2017.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
“The Freedom Front participated in the constitutional process and focused specifically on the inclusion of the principles of self-determination and minority rights in the Constitution.
In 1996, the negotiators were united in their motivation to find win-win solutions that would accommodate everyone in South Africa – leading to positive debates … The 1996 negotiations on the Constitution entailed daily discussion and debates – mostly in small groups about South Africa’s future, and our take on it. We were compelled to listen to each other and had to try and understand the other person’s viewpoints – whether you agreed or not.”
– Pieter Mulder
Mulder enjoys playing squash, reading, and is a keen recreational astronomer and historian.
References
