Wynand Malan

Who is Wynand Malan?

Wynand Malan is a liberal Afrikaner South African politician.

A lawyer, Malan entered politics in the 1977 South African election when he was elected to the South Africa's all white parliament as the National Party MP for Randburg.

A member of the NP's reform wing, he was critical of P.W. Botha for being too timid in his constitutional reforms in the 1980s and was also critical of the state of emergency implemented by Botha. In the 1987 general election, he left the NP and was elected as a representative of the new Independent Party which he co-founded with Denis Worrall. He subsequently helped form the new liberal opposition Democratic Party becoming its co-leader and retaining his parliamentary seat in the 1989 general election by defeating former Ambassador to Canada Glenn Babb who was running for the NP. Malan remained in the DP's leadership until 1993.

In 1994, Malan was vice-chairperson of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which was chaired by Archbishiop Desmond Tutu.