Roos made his name as as the leader of a group of young members of the South African Party who were opposed to the creation of the Union of South Africa by Louis Botha. Roos and his followers fell in with Daniel François Malan and he was a founding member of the National Party. He would serve as Justice Minister from 1924 to 1929.
Roos spent three years as a judge in the Supreme Court of Appeal but resigned after criticizing Prime Minister of South Africa James Barry Munnik Hertzog due to a lack of plans to come off the gold standard. He then used this issue to relaunch his political career. Roos proposed aa alliance with Jan Smuts to ensure he got his way, although the former PM was unwilling as Roos wanted the Premiership for himself. Ultimately however Roos personal popularity ensured that his demands were agreed to with Finance Minister N.C. Havenga taking the country off gold in a move that led to a widespread economic up-turn.
This success of sorts was to be Roos' final contribution to South African politics as, although it had initially been his campaign, support dwindled after the country came off gold. Roos would die soon afterwards.
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Last updated on Thursday July 24, 2008 at 09:11:30 PDT (GMT -0700)
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