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In 1948 the Dutch Reformed minister D.F. Malan led the National Party to victory and set up the policy of apartheid. Today grimfaced photographs of NP leaders like Malan and his successors have come to symbolise a system of racial oppression. Yet, when Malan was asked on his deathbed what he considered the most important service he had rendered during his political career, he answered, 'that I could serve my nation; that I could unite my people'. This biography tries to understand this contradiction: how a man who earnestly sought to build a nation could also contribute to a legacy that continues to scar a country. Malan's personal and political life developed against the backdrop of the rise in Afrikaner nationalism in the years following the South African War. To understand Malan the man is also to understand the people who elected him as their leader.

In 1948 het die NG dominee D.F. Malan die Nasionale Party tot politieke oorwinning gelei. Vir die meeste Afrikaners was dit die verwesenliking van 'n jare lange droom. Om Malan as mens te verstaan, is om te verstaan hoe die Afrikaners hulself uit die as van die Anglo-Boereoorlog in 'n nasie omskep het. Toe hy op sy sterwensbed gevra is wat vir hom die belangrikste van sy loopbaan was, het hy ges "e;dat ek my volk kon dien; dat ek my volk bymekaar kon bring"e;. Sy verhaal is die verhaal van die mense wat hom tot hul leier verkies het. Die Malan-bewind het egter ook die apartheidsera ingelui. Hoe kyk ons dan vandag na Malan? Hierdie skets van 'n man en sy tyd - die eerste van 'n Nasionale Party eerste minister n 1994 - probeer ook di vraag te beantwoord.