[1] His father was a Dutch Reformed Church minister who had played rugby for Stellenbosch University against Bill Maclagan's 1891 British team.
When his father was at Victoria West, Daneel attended the local school, but had to leave in his final year as he was the only senior pupil left and that the standards were not quite up to scratch.
After arriving at the University of Cape Town (UCT) with the intention of studying theology, he came to the realization that he had no future at scrum-half and subsequently switched to number 8.
On the 1931–32 Springbok tour of the UK and Ireland, he came into contact with Frank Buchman's Oxford Group and decided to give up rugby to be a part of the Moral Re-Armament, although he still coached on occasion.
Later he followed in his father's footsteps and himself became a religious minister and served as chief chaplain to the South African Forces during World War II.