Constand Viljoen

General Constand Laubscher Viljoen (28 October 1933 – 3 April 2020) was a South African Army officer and politician. As the Chief of the South African Defense Forces from 1980 – 1985, he oversaw military attacks on the anti-apartheid movement both within South Africa and neighbouring countries. During South Africa's transition from apartheid to democracy, he co-founded the Afrikaner Volksfront, a separatist group, and planned to lead an armed insurgency. After participating in discussions with Nelson Mandela and leading a failed armed incursion in Bophuthatswana, Viljoen left the Volksfront and founded the Freedom Front political party. His decision to participate in the first universal elections was instrumental in quashing the plans of white separatists to pursue armed insurgency. He served seven years in parliament and, due to the conditions of the transitional constitution of 1993, served as the first Leader of Opposition until the departure of De Klerk from the government in 1996.