Connie Mulder, born Petrus Cornelius Mulder (5 June 1925–12 January 1988, 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...

), was 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 father of present cabinet minister and leader of the Freedom Front Plus Pieter Mulder

Pieter Mulder

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 in the cabinet of President Jacob Zuma since May 2009....

.

He was an Afrikaans

Afrikaans

Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...

 and German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

 history professor at Rand Afrikaans University

Rand Afrikaans University

The Rand Afrikaans University ' was a prominent South African institution of higher education and research that served the greater Johannesburg area and surrounds in from 1967 to 2004...

 and obtained his PhD from Witwatersrand University. Mulder was a married father of four. Two of his children, Pieter and Corné Mulder followed their father into politics. Both serves as of the 2009 election

South African general election, 2009

South Africa held national and provincial elections to elect a new National Assembly as well as the provincial legislature in each province on 22 April 2009....

 in the National Assembly of South Africa

National Assembly of South Africa

The National Assembly is the lower house of the Parliament of South Africa, located in Cape Town, Western Cape Province. It consists of no fewer than 350 and no more than 400 members...

 as Members of Parliament for the Freedom Front Plus.

Mulder was elected to the legislature in 1958 as a 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...

 member, having previously served as mayor of Randfontein. John Vorster named him Information Minister in 1968. In 1977, he was implicated as namesake of the Muldergate Scandal

Muldergate Scandal

The Muldergate scandal, also known as the Information Scandal, was a South African political scandal involving the Department of Information.South African Prime Minister BJ Vorster, Dr. Connie Mulder and Dr...

, in which he was accused of having established a government slush fund

Slush fund

A slush fund, colloquially, is an auxiliary monetary account or a reserve fund. However, in the context of corrupt dealings, such as those by governments or large corporations, a slush fund can have particular connotations of illegality, illegitimacy, or secrecy in regard to the use of this money...

 for financing The Citizen

The Citizen

- U.S. newspapers :*The Key West Citizen, the daily newspaper for Key West, Florida*The Citizen , the daily newspaper for Auburn, New York...

, for the purpose of bolstering support for Vorster's regime among English-speaking South Africans. Though the scandal eventually brought about Vorster's downfall and complete retirement from politics, Mulder only barely lost the ballot to succeed him, losing the final round to Pieter Willem Botha

Pieter Willem Botha

Pieter Willem Botha , commonly known as "P. W." and Die Groot Krokodil , was the prime minister of South Africa from 1978 to 1984 and the first executive state president from 1984 to 1989.First elected to Parliament in 1948, Botha was for eleven years head of the Afrikaner National Party and the...

 in a narrow 72-78 vote. He subsequently was retained in Botha's reshuffling of the government.

After the founding of 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...

, in which he participated, Mulder 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....

 in the election of 1987

South African general election, 1987

The 1987 South African general election was held on 6 May 1987. The State of Emergency existing in South Africa at that time cast a cloud over the elections. It was once again won by the National Party under the leadership of P. W...

, now age 63. By now suffering from fatal cancer

Cancer

Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...

he succumbed on 12 January 1988 before being able to take his seat.