(26 April 1802 – 2 July 1883) was a founding member of the Cape Parliament, in which he represented Graaff-Reinet, and was prominent in fighting the Eastern Province Separatist League.
His seat in the house famously necessitated a journey of 450 miles across the arid Karoo mountains, from Graaff-Reinet to Cape Town, for every parliamentary session.
[3] Ziervogel was a vocal champion of the concerns of the Cape's Afrikaner population, to such an extent that some of the English-language press labelled him as "parliament's chief obstructionist".
Mr Ziervogel played a prominent role in fighting the 1870 move by Governor Philip Wodehouse to weaken and reduce the Cape parliament into a powerless council.
After a long and bitter struggle the move was finally defeated, and the elderly Ziervogel reportedly ran out of parliament in delight and skipped through the streets "...like a young lamb".
[4] He also played a very prominent role in fighting the radical "Eastern Cape Separatist League", although it was partially because he abhorred the idea of a division whereby Graaff-Reinet would be ruled by jingoistic Grahamstown.
However Ziervogel opposed the closely allied "Voluntaryism" (separation of church & state) movement, led by Saul Solomon, in spite of it being almost indistinguishable from the responsible government party.
[6] After leaving parliament he immediately left the country and moved to Pretoria, in the Transvaal in 1873, where he established a branch of the Cape Commercial Bank and settled at "Oak Lodge" on Bosman street.