Piet Joubert facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Petrus Jacobus Joubert
Commandant General P. J. Joubert
Member of the Triumvirate
In office 8 August 1881 – 9 May 1883 Serving with M.W. Pretorius and Paul Kruger
Preceded by	The Viscount Wolseley As Governor of the Transvaal
Succeeded by	Paul Kruger As President of the South African Republic
Member of the Volksraad
Constituency	Wakkerstroom
Personal details
Born	Petrus Jacobus Joubert 20 January 1831 Farm Cango, Oudtshoorn, British Cape Colony
Died	28 March 1900(1900-03-28) (aged 69) Pretoria, South African Republic
Cause of death	Peritonitis
Occupation	Soldier, politician
Military service
Allegiance	South African Republic
Rank	Commandant-general
Battles/wars	Battle of Laing's Nek Battle of Schuinshoogte Battle of Majuba Hill Malaboch War Siege of Ladysmith First Boer War

Petrus Jacobus Joubert (born 20 January 1831, died 28 March 1900) was a very important leader in the South African Republic. Most people knew him as Piet Joubert. They even called him Slim Piet, which means Smart Pete! He was the top military commander, known as the Commandant-General, from 1880 to 1900. He also worked as the Vice-President alongside Paul Kruger from 1881 to 1883. Piet Joubert played a big role in important conflicts like the First Boer War, the Second Boer War, and the Malaboch War.

Piet Joubert's Early Life

Piet Joubert was born in the area of Prince Albert. This was in the British Cape Colony. His family were Huguenots, French Protestants who had to leave France. They came to South Africa after King Louis XIV changed the rules about religion.

Piet became an orphan when he was young. He then moved to the Transvaal. He settled in the Wakkerstroom area. This was close to Laing's Nek and the north-east part of the Colony of Natal. There, he became a very successful farmer. He also started to study law.

Piet Joubert's Political Career

People respected Piet Joubert for how smart he was. He was good at farming and understood legal matters. Because of this, he was chosen to be a member of the Volksraad. This was the parliament of the South African Republic. He became a member for Wakkerstroom in the early 1860s. At that time, Marthinus Pretorius was serving his second term as president.

In 1870, Joubert was elected again. He used his knowledge of law to become the attorney-general of the republic. In 1875, he even acted as president. This happened when the actual president, T. F. Burgers, was away in Europe.

Piet Joubert and the First Boer War

When the British took control of the Transvaal for the first time, Joubert did not agree with it. He refused to work for the British government. This was different from Paul Kruger and other important Boer leaders. Instead of taking a well-paying job, he helped lead the protests. These protests eventually led to the First Boer War (1880–1881).

During the war, he became the commandant-general of the Boer forces. He was also part of a group of three leaders. This group managed the temporary Boer government. It was set up in December 1880 in Heidelberg.

Joubert was in charge of the Boer forces during key battles. These included Laings Nek, Ingogo, and Majuba Hill. After these battles, he helped with the peace talks. These talks led to the Pretoria Convention, which ended the war.

Later Political Life

In 1883, Piet Joubert ran for president of the Transvaal. He was running against Paul Kruger. Kruger won with 3,431 votes, while Joubert received 1,171 votes. He lost to Kruger again in the 1888 elections.

He tried for president a third time in the 1893 elections. He represented a group of Boers who wanted to make things better for the Uitlander population. These were foreigners who had moved to the Rand area for gold. The election results showed Kruger with 7,911 votes and Joubert with 7,246 votes. Some people believed the voting lists might have been changed. Even so, Joubert accepted Kruger's win.

He ran for president one more time in 1898. By this time, the Jameson raid had happened. This event made many Boers distrustful of anyone seen as sympathetic to the British or Uitlanders. Kruger won by a lot, with 12,858 votes compared to Joubert's 2,001 votes. Joubert's standing had become weaker because some people accused him of being a traitor. They also thought he supported the Uitlander protests. Piet Joubert was also a South African Freemason.

He served as the Vice President twice under President Kruger. First, from May 1883 until the 1888 elections. Second, after the death of Nicolaas Smit, from May 1896 until his own death on 28 March 1900.

Piet Joubert and the Second Boer War

Piet Joubert did not play a big part in the talks that led to the ultimatum. This was the final demand sent by Kruger to Great Britain in 1899. When the war started, he was officially in command of the Boer forces. However, he let others take the lead in directing the war. This was because he found it hard to make his own decisions or enforce them.

His careful nature had earned him the nickname Slim Piet (Clever Piet) when he was younger. But he also lacked strong determination. This meant he mostly focused on defending positions. The Boer attacks, like those at Elandslaagte and Willow Grange, do not seem to have been planned or carried out by him.

His Death

On 28 November 1899, Joubert was on a raid south of the Tugela river in Natal. He was thrown from his horse and suffered internal injuries. As the war continued, he became physically weaker. He mostly retired from his duties. Although he was still reported to be in supreme command two days before, he died in Pretoria on 28 March 1900. His death was caused by peritonitis, an infection in his abdomen.

Sir George White, who defended Ladysmith, spoke highly of Joubert. He called him "a soldier and a gentleman, and a brave and honourable opponent."

Honours and Legacy

The town of Pietersburg was named after Piet Joubert. This town is now called Polokwane. It is in the northern part of what was then the Transvaal Republic. Today, it is in the Limpopo province.

The famous writer Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem about Piet Joubert after he died. In the poem, Kipling said that Joubert was not to blame for starting the war. He believed Joubert's colleagues were responsible. Here is a small part of the poem:

With those that bred, with those that loosed the strife,
  He had no part whose hands were clear of gain;
But subtle, strong, and stubborn, gave his life
  To a lost cause, and knew the gift was vain.

See Also

• Fritz Joubert Duquesne claimed to be Piet Joubert's nephew. He became a Boer spy and later a famous German spy during both World Wars.