Johannes van Sieben

Johannes van Sieben (March 23, 1914 - June 18, 1979) was the eleventh President of the South African Republic from his inauguration on February 10, 1973 to his assassination on June 18, 1979.

Early Life
Van Sieben was born on March 23, 1914 in Atteridgeville as a second generation Transvaal Afrikaaner, and a descendent of a Transylvanian Dutch family, evident by his surname, van Sieben ("of Siebenburg" (Transylvania)). Van Sieben's parents migrated to the Transvaal Republic in 1903, shortly after the end of the Second Boer War, and worked as Gold miners in the Transvaal section of the Witwatersrand.

Political activity
Van Sieben was a Liberal politician and an opponent of apartheid.

Assassination
On June 15, 1979; Van Sieben was shot seven times by right-wing political activist Maartyn Klein Broeuf shortly after delivering a speech at Lyttleton Lake Park in Lyttleton. He was rushed to Wilgers Hospital in Pretoria where he received treatment, but was pronounced dead two days later. Broeuf was later captured by police while attempting to flee the country, and was charged with the assassination, resulting in his eventual execution in 1992.