Piet Junius

Junius was born in Rehoboth, South West Africa in 1941. Junius attended the Teachers Training College in Johannesburg, South Africa, graduating with a diploma. He went on to work as both a farmer and a teacher in Namibia.[1]

In 1971, alongside Ben Africa and John McNab, Junius founded the Rehoboth Baster Association (RBA). The RBA sought to represent Baster interests in the Rehoboth region.[1] In 1977, the RBA merged with the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance to create the Popular Democratic Movement.[2]

Junius served as the Deputy Minister for National Education and Public Service in the cabinet of the Transitional Government of National Unity between 1985 and 1989.[1][3]

Throughout the same period, Junius served as vice-chairman of the Democratic Turnhalle Association (DTA). He was expelled from the RBA in 1986, becoming the leader of the Progressive People's Party in the same year.[1] In 1989, Junius founded, and became president of, the Christian Democratic Party.[4] At the same time, he became a member of the Namibian Constituent Assembly. From 1990 to 2003, Junius was a member of the Namibian lower house, the National Assembly, representing the DTA.

In 2018, Junius was elected as the president of the United People's Movement - the political organization of the Baster people.[5] On 3 April 2021, Junius died from a coronavirus-induced heart attack, in Windhoek, at the age of 79.[3] He was buried on his Kurunab farmstead, about 37 miles south of Rehoboth.