Barend Jacobus du Plessis, (born 19 January 1940 in Johannesburg

Johannesburg

Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...

) is a South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

n politician and a former member of the now-dissolved National Party

National Party (South Africa)

The National Party is a former political party in South Africa. Founded in 1914, it was the governing party of the country from 4 June 1948 until 9 May 1994. Members of the National Party were sometimes known as Nationalists or Nats. Its policies included apartheid, the establishment of a...

, as well as Minister of Finance in 1984–1992. Born in an Afrikaner

Afrikaner

Afrikaners are an ethnic group in Southern Africa descended from almost equal numbers of Dutch, French and German settlers whose native tongue is Afrikaans: a Germanic language which derives primarily from 17th century Dutch, and a variety of other languages.-Related ethno-linguistic groups:The...

 family in Transvaal

Transvaal Province

Transvaal Province was a province of the Union of South Africa from 1910 to 1961, and of its successor, the Republic of South Africa, from 1961 until the end of apartheid in 1994 when a new constitution subdivided it.-History:...

, he pursued studies at Potchefstroom and in Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 and the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

, campaigning for the Nationalists in the 1960 referendum to instate a republic. He officially joined the NP in 1966 and was employed by IBM

IBM

International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...

 in South Africa from 1968 until 1974, when he was elected to the House of Assembly

House of Assembly

House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level....

 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

Frederik Willem de Klerk

Frederik Willem de Klerk , often known as F. W. de Klerk, is the former seventh and last State President of apartheid-era South Africa, serving from September 1989 to May 1994...

, advancing to Minister of Finance instead. As Minister of Education, he occasionally met with archbishop Desmond Tutu

Desmond Tutu

Desmond Mpilo Tutu is a South African activist and retired Anglican bishop who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent of apartheid...

 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

Chris Heunis

Jan Christiaan Heunis was a South African Afrikaner lawyer, politician, member of the National Party and former minister in the governments of John Vorster and P.W. Botha....

 and Foreign Minister Pik Botha

Pik Botha

Roelof Frederik "Pik" Botha is a former South African politician who served as the country's foreign minister in the last years of the apartheid era...

 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.