Jan Kemp (general)

Jan Kemp was born in the present Amersfoort district, Transvaal on 10 June 1872, the younger son of Jurie Johannes Kemp and Maria Aletta Greyling. His maternal grandfather, Abraham Carel Greyling, a stepson of the Voortrekker leader, Piet Retief, was killed with Retief in 1838. His paternal grandfather, Petrus Johannes Kemp, emigrated from Belgium between 1830 and 1840. He was educated at the Staatsgymnasium (State Gymnasium) in Pretoria. He became a clerk in the Transvaal department of education in 1889. He soon transferred to the mining commissioner's office in Krugersdorp and achieved the position of chief clerk by 1899. ==Military career==

He served in the Magato War, against the Basuto chief, in 1895 and helped to suppress the Jameson Raid. ==Personal life==

On 10 June 1903 he married Anna Emma Bodenstein, the daughter of a former landdrost of Krugersdorp, JC Bodenstein and his wife, MC Combrink. They had two daughters and a son. His wife died in March 1941 and his already failing health deteriorated rapidly. Despite this he remained active in parliament. He published two volumes of memoirs, the first, published in 1941, dealt with events before 1902 and the second, published in 1942, covered the subsequent period. His physical and moral courage cannot be doubted. He was determined, direct, forceful, impetuous in the field and in politics and, above all, a fervent believer in the republican form of government for South Africa. He died at Piet Retief, Transvaal, on 31 December 1946. ==Legacy==

• The town of Jan Kempdorp in the Northern Cape Province is named after Kemp. • When, as Minister of Lands, Kemp, was asked in 1936 to set aside a special reserve for the endangered Cape mountain zebra, he gave his now infamous reply: "No! They're just a lot of donkeys in football jerseys." Fortunately for the species, he was persuaded otherwise, and the Mountain Zebra National Park at Cradock, Eastern Cape was established in 1938. • A Union Defence Force era regiment on the east rand was named in his honour. Regiment Kemp was eventually amalgamated into Regiment Oos Rand. ==Memoirs==

Vir Vryheid En Vir Reg – Generaal J.C.G. Kemp. 1941 NASIONALE PERS • English translation: "For Freedom & Justice". Anglo-Boer War memoir of one of the ablest Boer Generals (1st of 2 volumes – this vol. ends with the Peace of Vereeniging). Die Pad Van Die Veroweraar – Generaal J.C.G. Kemp. 1942 NASIONALE PERS • English translation: "The Road of the Conqueror". Anglo-Boer War memoir of one of the ablest Boer Generals (2nd of 2 volumes – this vol. starts with the Peace of Vereeniging, covers the 1914 rebellion and ends with Kemp as cabinet minister). ==References==