Harry Heinz Schwarz (born
May
13,
1924) is a former
South African politician, diplomat, jurist and
prominent leader in the
anti-apartheid
movement.
Despite the poverty that he experienced when he was a child as a
German Jewish refugee,
Harry Schwarz rose to become an esteemed lawyer and soon became a
member of the
Transvaal
Provincial Council, where from 1963-74, he would be
Leader of the Opposition. In the
1964
Rivonia Trial he was a defense
attorney.
As Leader of the United Party in the Transvaal
, he led the liberal "Young Turks" to breakaway from
the United Party and created the Reform Party of which he was the
leader. As an opposition leader in Parliament
he held the posts of Shadow Finance Minister and
Shadow Defense Minister. He was a founding member of the
Democratic Party.
During
South Africa's transition into democracy he was South African
ambassador to the United States, and was also accredited as the
first South African ambassador to Barbados
. He
was in the minority opposition for over 40 years and was a
prominent opponent of the
National Party.
He was one of the founders of the
Torch
Commando, an ex-soldiers' movement to protest against the
disenfranchisement of the coloured people in South Africa. He was
also on the South African Jewish Board of Deputies and was one of
the Jewish community's foremost leaders. He is regarded as one of
the great South African public speakers and debaters of his time.
In his political career spanning 43 years, in which he gained
respect from across the political spectrum, he never lost an
election.
He is a World War
II veteran, having served as a navigator in the South African
Air Force
. In 1988 he received the
Order for Meritorious Service
and has several
Honorary
Doctorates.
He was
described by the University of Stellenbosch
as "one of the conceptual and moral fathers of the
new South Africa" in the sense that Schwarz had not only been one
of apartheid's most prominent opponents, but his ideas and the
initiatives he had taken had played an important role in the
development of the concept of a negotiated democracy in South Africa, based on the principles
of freedom and justice.
Nelson Mandela, a friend of his who
he visited while in prison, described him as a "champion of the
poor".
Refugee from Germany
Harry
Heinz Schwarz was born to Fritz Schwarz and Alma Schwarz in
Cologne, Germany
. He
arrived in South Africa as a
Jewish refugee
from Germany in 1934. He traveled onboard the
SS Giulio Cesare. To get to the Giulio
Cesare, he and his family had to cross the border into Switzerland.
They then got on a train to Milan and then to Genoa.
When they arrived in
Cape
Town
they stayed in one room in a house in Kloof
Street. The descrimination and financial difficulties of his
family left a strong impression and helped shape his political
philosophy with its emphasis on social justice and the rule of
law
He
attended Tamboerskloof School and South African
College Schools
in Cape Town and then Jeppe High School for Boys in
Johannesburg.
Military Service
In 1942, aged 17, he joined the South African Air Force during
World War II. He served as a navigator.
He fought in North Africa and Italy. He was in 15 squadron and
seconded to the RAF. In 1984 he was made an Honorary Colonel of the
15th Squadron.
Wits University
In 1946
Harry went to University of the Witwatersrand
in Johannesburg, where he first befriended fellow
students and future anti-apartheid political activists Nelson Mandela and Joe
Slovo. He joined the United Party and assisted in the
1948 election. However, as a result of the National Party victory,
he was determined to become more active and was elected Chairman of
the United Party branch at the university. He argued that the
National Party's victory in 1948 was reversible and anyone who
opposed them should concentrate on defeating them. He was awarded a
BA, with distinctions in both history and economical history, and
later an LLB.
In 1949 he was admitted as an attorney, and
later as a barrister (Member of Middle Temple) in London, United
Kingdom
and, in 1953, became an advocate at the South
African Bar. He was at the Bar at the same time as Joe
Slovo.
Rivonia Trial
In 1964
Nelson Mandela and many other
political opponents were arrested. They were brought to court in
the
Rivonia Trial. Harry Schwarz was
one of the defence barristers in the trial defending Accused No. 8
Jimmy Kantor, who was a close friend of
his. Kantor was Mandela's lawyer in the trial until he too was
arrested and charged with the same crimes as Mandela. After being
the subject of vicious taunting and many attempts to place him as a
vital cog of MK by
Percy Yutar, finally
Judge
Quartus de Wet discharged him,
stating Accused No 8 has no case to answer.
Schwarz was refused
access to Mandela while he was imprisoned on Robben Island
, however he was granted access to visit him after
1988 when he was transfered to Victor Verster Prison. After
the trial he stopped being a barrister and became a solicitor so
that he could concentrate on fighting apartheid.
Provincial Politics
Harry Schwarz was a City Councillor in Johannesburg from 1951 to
1957 for Booysens.
In 1958 in a by-election he was elected into
the Transvaal provincial council for Hillbrow
. In 1963 he became leader of the opposition
in the Transvaal Provincial Council, a post he would hold until
1974.
Tensions within United Party
Schwarz was known as the leader of the liberal "Young Turks" in the
United Party who were fundamentally opposed to apartheid, unlike
the party's national leader
De
Villiers Graaff. Schwarz achieved prominence as a race
relations and economic reformist in the party. In 1971 he became
deputy leader of the UP in the Transvaal, a post specially created
for him. However, internal divisions in the Party between liberals
and conservatives came to a head in August 1972 when Schwarz
replaced Marais Steyn as the leader of the
United Party in the Transvaal. Steyn had been a
MP for almost 25 years and for 15 years had been a close adviser to
De Villiers Graaff. After he lost
the election he defected to the National Party. His victory was a
visible sign of strength from the liberals within the party.
On January 4 1974, Harry Schwarz met with
Mangosuthu Buthelezi. They agreed on a
five-point 5 point plan for racial peace in South Africa that
became known as the "Mahlabatini Declaration". Its purpose was to
provide a blueprint for
government by
consent and racial peace in a multi-racial society, stressing
opportunity for all, consultation, the federal concept, and a
bill of rights. It was much closer to
the
Progressive
Party than the United Party policy. It caused a split in the
United Party later that year. Despite
not being a member of Parliament, Schwarz was called before its
caucus
On March 29 1974, Chief Minister
Cedric
Phatudi of
Lebowa signed the ‘Seshego
Declaration’ with Harry Schwarz and the United Party M.P. for
Durban North aiming at peaceful change, a federal system and a
stake in society for black people.
Parliamentary career
Realigning opposition
Harry Schwarz played a key role in the realignment of the
opposition in South Africa.
In the 1974 general election,
Schwarz was elected into Parliament for Yeoville
, beating Marais Steyn who had defected to the
National Party after he was ousted by Schwarz as Transvaal chairman
of the United Party. In 1975 he along with three other MPs
was expelled from the United Party for signing the Mahlabatini
Declaration and not following the "party line". On February 11 he
formed the
Reform Party,
which he led. The Reform Party had four MP's, a senator and ten
members of the Transvaal Provincial Council. This made it the
official opposition in the Transvaal Provincial Council. On the
25 July the Reform Party merged with the
Progressive Party
to form the
Progressive Reform
Party. Schwarz became the party's spokesman on finance and
Chairman of the Federal Executive. In 1977 the party was renamed
the Progressive Federal party. This proved to realign the
opposition in South Africa, as the PFP became the official
opposition party in South Africa.
Leader of the Opposition
Schwarz, as the party's finance spokesman (1975-91), defence
spokesman (1975-84) and Chairman of the Federal Executive
(1975-79), became one of the parties foremost leaders and a
prominent leader of the opposition. He was a member and
chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on
Finance and a member of the Parliamentary
Public Accounts Committee. While distinctly on the left of South
African politics, he was perceived to be on the right wing of the
PFP mainly due to his favoring strong military defense and his
insistence that political change must take place without the
disruption of law and order.
During the budget debate in 1979, Schwarz called for urgent steps
to be taken to tackle unemployment. He stated that South Africa
needed to create at least three jobs every minute of every 40-hour
working week to deal with its unemployment problem. He stated that
unemployment was a political time-bomb.
Democratic Party
Schwarz was one of the founding members of the Democratic Party.
During the late 1980s and early 1990's, he formulated its social
market policy. Given South Africa's complex character, Mr Schwarz
advocated a federal system similar to that of the United States, as
well as a justiciable Bill of Rights to protect the rights of
minorities as well as the majority, a measure which he attempted to
persuade parliament to accept. His economic philosophy is summed up
in a phrase he often used: "Freedom is incomplete if it is
exercised in poverty".
On February 6, 1991 he ended his career in parliament. His farewell
speech to parliament was entitled "Look after my people while I'm
gone".
South African Ambassador to United States
Harry Schwarz was the first serving politician from the
opposition ranks to be appointed to a senior
ambassadorial post in
South African
history.
He was also accredited as the first South
African ambassador to Barbados. Schwarz agreed to the appointment of
ambassador because of the Government's commitment to the
fundamental reforms that he had fought for, as well as on the terms
that the National Party would not try and take his seat in Yeoville. His appointment was widely acknowledged in
South Africa as a further demonstration of President F. W de
Klerk's determination to introduce a new democratic system.
While in
office in Washington,
D.C.
, he worked on marketing the process towards
democracy in South Africa and on lifting sanctions.
Schwarz,
played a significant role in convincing many Americans
that the de Klerk government was committed to
ending apartheid. In 1991, after international pressure on
South Africa, Harry Schwarz signed the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty. After the 1994 General election, he stayed on as
ambassador, following a request by Nelson Mandela to stay on in the
government of national unity.
Schwarz returned to South Africa in November 1994, following his
three and-a-half-year tenure as South African ambassador to the
United States. At an event sponsored by the South African Jewish
Board of Deputies in his honor, Schwarz urged the Jewish community
to make the best of the changes taking place in South Africa and to
contribute actively to the success of the country.
Jewish Board of Deputies
Beginning in the mid-seventies, Schwarz played an increasingly
important role on the
Jewish
Board of Deputies, serving as chairman of its committee on
international relations and often acting as spokesman for the board
to
Jewish agencies abroad. He argued that
violent change could ultimately lead to a nondemocratic government,
incompatible with Jewish ethics and with the interests of the
Jewish community.
He emphasized that Jews needed not only a
democratic society for all, but also "The right to follow [their]
own religion and love for Israel
freely." He was assured in private meetings by
Israeli Prime Minister's Shimon
Peres and Yitzhak Shamir that
Jews in South Africa would not become isolated and links with
Israel would be maintained.
Awards and honors
Harry Schwarz was awarded Order for Meritorious Service (Gold) in
1988, which is awarded to citizens who have displayed exceptional
meritorious and dedicated service to South Africa.
In 1995 he was
awarded an Honorary Doctorate,
from the University of Judaism
(now the American Jewish University
). That year he also received an Honorary
Degree from the University of Stellenbosch. He has also been given the Society of
Advocates Prize and Transvaal Law Society Prize.
In 1984 he was made
an Honorary Colonel of the 15th Squadron in the South African
Air Force, which he served in during the Second World
War. In 2002 he was appointed Honorary Life Vice-President
of the Gauteng Council.
In April 2005, he was named an honorary
fellow of the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem
. Sir John Adamson High's School's hall was
named, and still is, after Schwarz who was the first Chairperson of
the School's Governing Body.
Present life
Harry Schwarz has now returned to law. His areas of legal practice
are primarily corporate and commercial with special interests in
banking, insurance, diplomacy and advocacy. After Schwarz left
Washington, he and his wife set up a charity trust called the
Schwarz Upliftment Trust. In 2000 he left the
Democratic Party because of
its alliance with the
New National Party.
He lives
in Johannesburg
with his wife Annette. She is the niece of
trade unionist
Jimmy Green. They have
been married for 57 years with three children and four
grandchildren.
Quotes
"I want to abolish discrimination, not merely
cosmetically but in reality."
"It is important that in the process of change,
existing institutions of value and means of production are not
destroyed. The fabric of society, however critical one may be of
its present structures, should be adopted and modified where
required, but not destroyed."
"Poverty corrodes freedom."
"We are opposed to the homeland concept and we believe
the way to solve our problems is to call a national convention of
all races to change to a more multiracial basis."
"Democracy is impossible in a climate of violence,
intimidation andfear."
"We are a country with a people who are removing the
shackles of apartheid and will create a just economic system and a
true democracy"
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