# Vause Raw > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Vause_Raw > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Vause_Raw.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vause_Raw > Source revision: 1349734771 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **Wyatt Vause Raw** (21 September 1921 – 13 March 2001) was a conservative opposition [South African](/source/South_Africa) [politician](/source/Politics_of_South_Africa) of the [Apartheid](/source/Apartheid) era. He was a prominent member of the [United Party](/source/United_Party_(South_Africa)) from the 1940s to the late 1970s, and the leader of the succeeding [New Republic Party](/source/New_Republic_Party_(South_Africa)) (NRP).[1] ## Early life Raw was born in [Durban](/source/Durban), [Natal](/source/Natal_Province) in 1921. He matriculated from [Pretoria Boys High](/source/Pretoria_Boys_High_School) and subsequently attended the [University of the Witwatersrand](/source/University_of_the_Witwatersrand) and the Johannesburg Teachers' Training College before enlisting with the [South African forces](/source/South_African_Army_order_of_battle_1940) in May 1940, and went on to serve in the military in [central Africa](/source/Central_Africa), [Egypt](/source/Egypt) and [Europe](/source/Europe).[2] He joined his father in a farming and trading venture from 1946 to 1950, served as secretary to the [Pretoria](/source/Pretoria) District Farmers' Union, and was appointed a director of the [Waterberg](/source/Waterberg_District_Municipality) Farmers' Co-operative. In 1954, he became sales manager of a textile knitting mill, and from 1956 to 1981 ran his own textile and clothing machinery agency.[2] ## Politics Raw was known for his support of ex-servicemen. He published *Flares*, a collection of war poems written during his military service.[2] He was vice chairman of the [United Party](/source/United_Party_(South_Africa))'s Pretoria District and was elected to the divisional committee in 1948, where he served until 1950. In 1951, he was appointed Natal secretary of the party. He became a [Senator](/source/Senate_of_South_Africa) for Natal in 1955, and won the [Durban Point](/source/Durban_Point) [parliamentary seat](/source/Electoral_district) for the party in 1958. He became the party's official spokesperson on defence and transport.[2] In that position, he cooperated well with the [National Party](/source/National_Party_(South_Africa))'s [Minister of Defence](/source/Minister_of_Defence_(South_Africa)), even managing to secure concessions such as amendments to bills.[3] [Helen Suzman](/source/Helen_Suzman) characterised Raw as a "very [right-wing](/source/Right-wing_politics) United Party member", and identified him as one of the reasons she left the party.[2] The [United Party](/source/United_Party_(South_Africa)) disbanded in 1977. Its successor, the NRP, elected Raw as national chairman in 1978,[1] and as its national leader later in the same year.[4] Raw discredited the party in a string of by-election defeats from 1977 to 1980, by making "extravagant" claims of support and predicting victory in areas where the party had no prospects.[5] He nevertheless continued in his capacity as leader until 1984.[citation needed] He served for many years in the whites-only parliament as the Member of Parliament for Durban's Point constituency.[1][6] In 1985, he was awarded the [Decoration for Meritorious Services](/source/Decoration_for_Meritorious_Services); he was the first serving opposition MP to receive it. He was also a lifelong honorary colonel of [38 Field Workshop Regiment](/source/38_Field_Workshop_Regiment). He retired from Parliament just before the 1987 general election.[2] ## Death He died in March 2001 after a long illness.[1] Twice married, he was the father of seven children.[citation needed] ## References 1. ["Vause Raw dies after illness"](http://www.dispatch.co.za/2001/03/14/southafrica/RAW.HTM). *The Dispatch*. 2001-03-14. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20020330010056/http://www.dispatch.co.za/2001/03/14/southafrica/RAW.HTM) 2002-03-30 at the Wayback Machine. 1. SAPA (2001-03-13). ["Vause Raw dies"](http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Vause-Raw-dies-20010313). *News24*. Retrieved 2017-05-19. 1. [Journal of African Studies, Volume 5, Issues 3-4](https://books.google.com/books?id=ByXjAAAAMAAJ&q=%22vause+raw%22), Heldref Publications, 1978 1. Mitchell, Thomas G. Indispensable traitors: Liberal Parties in Settler Conflicts, pp.21-22. Westport: Greenwood Press. 1. Mitchell, Thomas (2000). *Native vs ethnic conflict in Israel/Palestine, Northern Ireland, and South Africa*. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 75. ISBN 9780313313578. [OCLC 704472625](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/704472625) 1. ["Politics in Dundee in the 1950s and 1960s"](http://dundeenatal.com/11.html). dundeenatal.com. 2007-08-26. ## Further reading - Lemon, Anthony (October 1982). "Issues and Campaigns in the South African General Election of 1981". *African Affairs*. **81** (325): 511–526. [doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a097453](https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a097453) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Vause Raw](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vause_Raw) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vause_Raw?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.