Dr D.F. Malan, leader of the National Party (NP) and first prime minister of the NP government that came into power in May 1948, retired from his position and withdrew from politics at the age of eighty. He was replaced by Advocate J.G. Strijdom as prime minister and leader of the party. Malan, a former minister of religion and editor of Die Burger before his political career started, was known as a sound thinker and eloquent orator.
