Hanekom was born on 30 March 1930 in Redelinghuys in South Africa's Western Cape.

[1] He attended school there and graduated from the University of South Africa as a chartered accountant.

[3] Although initially a member of the Afrikaner nationalist National Party (NP),[2] Hanekom disassociated with its apartheid policies over time.

[4] Hanekom worked with SWAPO shortly before Namibian independence and joined the party in 1990.

[5] Hanekom joined the National Assembly in 1990 by appointment of president Sam Nujoma as Namibia's first Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development.