Positions last held in government
Minister of Agriculture in government of national Unity (GNU) from 1994 until 1996.
Academic Qualifications
Dr van Niekerk obtained a Ph.D.in Agriculture from the University of Stellenbosch.
Career/Positions/Memberships/Other Activities
Dr van Niekerk obtained a Ph.D. in Agriculture at the University of Stellenbosch, and went on to work in several research positions before settling down in Rugseer near Kenhardt as a sheep farmer. He embarked on a political career with the National Party and he was elected MP for Prieska in 1981.
He became Deputy Minister of Agriculture under Pieter Willem Botha in 1986. Frederik Willem de Klerk appointed him Minister of Agriculture in 1990. He was the only minister of the last apartheid government to keep his post in the Government of National Unity under Nelson Mandela until the end of the GNU in 1996.
For some time, Dr van Niekerk was the National Party's Chairman in the Northern Cape. He retired from parliament in 1997 to join Louis Luyt's Federal Alliance before the elections of 1999. After the elections, he became part of the two-member caucus of the FA, which entered an alliance with the Democratic Alliance then.
After the elections 2004 Dr van Niekerk became Spokesperson on Agriculture of the DA caucus in the National Assembly. Van Niekerk, who is a member of AgriSA, has represented not less than three parties in the South African parliament.
