Hendrik Verwoerd - 1966 Election and Assassination

1966 Election and Assassination

The National Party under Verwoerd won the 1966 general election. During this period, the National Party government continued to foster the development of a military industrial complex, that successfully pioneered developments in native armaments manufacturing, including aircraft, small arms, armoured vehicles, and even nuclear and biological weapons.

Three days before his death, Verwoerd had held talks with the Prime Minister of Lesotho, Chief Leabua Jonathan, at the Union Buildings in Pretoria. Following the meeting, a joint communique was issued by the two governments with special emphasis on "co-operation without interference in each others' internal affairs".

On 6 September 1966, Verwoerd was assassinated in Cape Town, shortly after entering the House of Assembly at 2:15 pm. A uniformed parliamentary messenger named Dimitri Tsafendas stabbed Verwoerd in the neck and chest four times before being subdued by other members of the Assembly. Members who were also trained as medical practitioners rushed to the aid of Verwoerd and started administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Verwoerd was rushed to Groote Schuur Hospital, but was declared dead upon arrival.

Tsafendas escaped the death penalty on the grounds of insanity. Judge Beyers ordered Tsafendas to be imprisoned indefinitely at the "State President's pleasure."

Verwoerd's funeral, attended by a quarter of a million people, was held in Pretoria on 10 September 1966. He was buried in the Hero's Acre in front of the Union Buildings.

The still blood-stained carpet where Hendrik Verwoerd lay after the murder remained in Parliament until it was removed in 2004.

The town of Orania in the Northern Cape province houses the Verwoerd collection – memorabilia collected during Verwoerd’s lifetime and now on display in the house where his widow lived for the last years before her death in 2000 (2001, according to Eskom), at the age of 98.