Niel Barnard
| Niël Barnard | |
|---|---|
| Allegiance | Republic of South Africa |
| Service | National Intelligence Service |
| Active | 1979 - 1992 |
| Rank | Director-General |
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| Birth name | Lukas Daniel Barnard |
| Born | 1949 Otjiwarongo, South-West Africa |
| Nationality | South African |
| Parents | Nicolas Evehardes Barnard Magdalena Catharine Beukes |
| Spouse | Engela Brand |
| Children | Nico Barnard Hannes Barnard |
| Occupation | University professor and Intelligence Service Head |
| Alma mater | University of the Orange Free State |
Dr Lukas Daniel 'Niël' Barnard (born 1949) is a former head of South Africa's National Intelligence Service and was notable for his behind-the-scenes role in preparing Nelson Mandela and South African presidents P.W. Botha and F. W. de Klerk for Mandela's eventual and, as he saw it, inevitable, release from prison and rise to political power.
Niël Barnard was born in 1949 in Otjiwarongo, South-West Africa. His father was headmaster and chief-inspector of education in SWA/Namibia. Barnard was in his teens at the time of the Rivonia Trial of 1963, in which Nelson Mandela and several other African National Congress leaders were convicted of treason and sentenced to life in prison. He did his compulsory military service in the commando system and reached the rank of captain and then was part if the Citizen Force in Bloemfontein. He met his wife, Engela Brand in 1968 and they married on 1 April 1972.
Barnard begun his education at the University of the Orange Free State in 1968 obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and History. He followed this up by completing a Master of Arts in 1972 and a PhD in 1975. By 1973 Barnard was a Political Science lecturer at the same university. In 1977 he was a Senior lecturer and by 1978 a professor of Political Studies.
He first came to the attention of P.W. Botha after he had written a PhD thesis at the University of Free State though Barnard would claim in a 1992 newspaper interview that he was unsure as to why he was chosen, not having an intelligence background. In the wake of the Info scandal in which the Bureau of State Security (BOSS) had become mired, Botha appointed Barnard in November 1979 to form a new intelligence service. He started at the Department of National Security (DONS) as Chief Deputy Secretary on 3 December 1979. He would take over at DONS on 1 June 1980 after the retirement of the existing head Alec van Wyk. The Department of National Security was the new name of the Bureau of State Security (B.O.S.S.) and was renamed in September 1978 after the retirement of its head Hendrik van den Berg in June 1978. The National Intelligence Service came into operation in 1980.
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