[1][2] He was described as "fiery", "colourful", an "individualist", and as the "chameleon" of South African politics for his shifting partisan allegiances.
In 1960, he co-founded the South West Party with Ferdinand Lempp, former editor of Allgemeine Zeitung, the German language daily newspaper in the territory.
[4] Basson was elected as MP for Bezuidenhout in Johannesburg in 1961,[5] before merging it with the United Party, for which he served as its foreign affairs spokesman.
[7] In 1980, in the wake of disagreements with the PFP over support for the constitutional reforms of the government of P. W. Botha, he was expelled from the party caucus.
[8] This was because he had stated that he was prepared to serve on the President's Council, a body established by the Botha government to advise on a new constitution.