Dr Pieter Mulder is a South African politician and the leader of the Freedom Front Plus. He has been the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (South Africa)

The Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is a Minister of the Cabinet of South Africa, with political executive responsibility for the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and for the Agricultural Research Council, the National Agricultural Marketing Council, Onderstepoort...

 in the cabinet of President Jacob Zuma

Jacob Zuma

Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma is the President of South Africa, elected by parliament following his party's victory in the 2009 general election....

 since May 2009.

Early life and politics

He was born in Randfontein and grew up in Randfontein and Cape Town

Cape Town

Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...

. He completed his high school education at the Riebeeck High School in Randfontein, where he was headboy and Victor Ludorum in athletics. The son of former cabinet minister Connie Mulder

Connie Mulder

Connie Mulder, born Petrus Cornelius Mulder , was a South African politician and father of present cabinet minister and leader of the Freedom Front Plus Pieter Mulder....

, the young Mulder first worked as a lecturer at the Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education

Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education

The Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education was a medium-sized South African university located in Potchefstroom. Tuition was mainly in Afrikaans...

, before being promoted to head of the university's communications department. He represented the town of Potchefstroom in Parliament

Parliament of South Africa

The Parliament of South Africa is South Africa's legislature and under the country's current Constitution is composed of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces....

 since 1988.

Freedom Front Plus

Prior to South Africa's first multi-racial elections in 1994

South African general election, 1994

The South African general election of 1994 was an election held in South Africa to mark the end of apartheid, therefore also the first held with universal adult suffrage. The election was conducted under the direction of the Independent Electoral Commission .Millions queued in lines over a three...

, Mulder co-founded the Freedom Front with General

General

A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....

 Constand Viljoen

Constand Viljoen

General Constand Viljoen SSA SD SOE SM is a former South African military commander and politician. He is partly credited with preventing the outbreak of armed violence by disaffected Afrikaners prior to the 1994 elections.-Military service:Viljoen received a degree in military science in 1955...

, a former head of the South African Defence Force

South African Defence Force

The South African Defence Force was the South African armed forces from 1957 until 1994. The former Union Defence Force was renamed to the South African Defence Force in the Defence Act of 1957...

. During the elections of 1994, the Freedom Front managed to obtain nine seats in the National Assembly. This number was slashed to just four during the 1999 elections

South African general election, 1999

South Africa's second non-racial general election, held on 2 June 1999 was won by the African National Congress , who increased their number of seats by 14. Notable was the sharp decline of the New National Party, previously the National Party , who without former president F.W. de Klerk lost more...

. Viljoen, who acted as leader since the party's founding, retired from politics in 2001 and left Mulder in charge.

Deputy Minister and Leader of the Freedom Front

In 2004, under Mulder's reign, the Freedom Front absorbed the Conservative Party

Conservative Party (South Africa)

The Conservative Party of South Africa was a conservative party formed in 1982 as a breakaway from the ruling National Party...

, the Afrikaner Eenheids Beweging (Afrikaner Unity Movement), who lost its only seat in the National Assembly due to floor-crossing, and the Federale Alliansie of dr. Louis Luyt. During the elections in 2004

South African general election, 2004

Legislative elections were held in South Africa on Wednesday, 14 April 2004. The African National Congress of President Thabo Mbeki, which came to power after the end of the apartheid system in 1994, was re-elected with an increased majority....

, the FF+ managed to hold on to its four seats in the National Assembly.

On 10 May 2009 President Jacob Zuma announced his appointment of Mulder as the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.