De Villiers Graaff

Who was De Villiers Graaff?

Sir De Villiers Graaff, 2nd Baronet known as Div Graaff, was a South African politician who succeeded his father, Sir David Pieter de Villiers Graaff, 1st Baronet, to his baronetcy in 1931. He died in 1999 and was succeeded by his son, Sir David de Villiers Graaff, 3rd Baronet.

He became a member of Parliament in 1948, the year his United Party was ousted from government by the conservative National Party, which promised to enact a de jure system of apartheid. Victory in De Villiers' constituency was the only UP pickup in the election; nevertheless, Graaff took over leadership of the United Party in 1956 from J.G.N. Strauss. He led the opposition to the governments of three apartheid prime ministers, Johannes Strijdom, Hendrik Verwoerd, and B.J. Vorster. In 1977, the United Party was dissolved and the New Republic Party was founded, of which he briefly served as interim leader before retiring. Graaff succeeded his father as baronet in 1931 and the following year played two first-class cricket matches for Western Province.

The M1 highway, which was originally part of a ring road around the southern end of the Central Business District of Johannesburg to the affluent northern suburbs, was named the De Villiers Graaff Motorway in his honour.