[1] Following his war service he returned to study and qualified as a lawyer, whilst also joining the South African Party and representing the group in the Orange Free State provincial council from 1910.

[3] Havenga had formerly been a harsh critic of this move, reflecting populist opinions that gold-producing South Africa should refuse to follow the United Kingdom off the gold standard, supposedly as a piece of nationalist posturing against the British.

[7] He had initially suggested an alliance with Malan but his opponent reasoned, correctly as it proved, that he did not need Afrikaner Party support to win the election and so rejected the offer.

[16] After this scheme fell apart Havenga continued as Finance Minister and in this role garnered a reputation for fostering close economic co-operation with the United Kingdom, despite his earlier associations with anti-British sentiments.

[17] Despite his earlier attempts to break the coalition, following Malan's retirement in 1954 he indicated that Havenga, whose Afrikaner Party had by then merged with the HNP, was his preferred choice of successor.