Barend Jacobus du Plessis, (born 19 January 1940 in Johannesburg) is a South African politician and a former member of the now-dissolved National Party, as well as Minister of Finance in 1984–1992. Born in an Afrikaner family in Transvaal, he pursued studies at Potchefstroom and in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, campaigning for the Nationalists in the 1960 referendum to instate a republic. He officially joined the NP in 1966 and was employed by IBM in South Africa from 1968 until 1974, when he was elected to the House of Assembly for a Johannesburg constituency. In 1983 he entered the government as Minister for Education in P W Botha's cabinet, being succeeded the following year by Frederik Willem de Klerk, advancing to Minister of Finance instead. As Minister of Education, he occasionally met with archbishop Desmond Tutu in order to calm the situation on South Africa's universities, with black students protesting against racial discrimination. After P W Botha fell ill in 1989, he successfully contested interim president Chris Heunis and Foreign Minister Pik Botha in the struggle for the leadershp of the National Party but was beaten in the final round by de Klerk, son of former interim president Jan de Klerk by a 69-61 figure. de Plessis was recalled to de Klerk's cabinet but left his post in 1992. He is married to Antoinette van den Berg and has four children.[1]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Owen Horwood |
Minister of Finance 1984–1992 |
Succeeded by Derek Keys |