The name change was an attempt to distance itself from its apartheid past, and reinvent itself as a moderate, mainstream conservative and non-racist federal party.

The NP entered the democratic era led by former president of South Africa F. W. de Klerk, the winner with Nelson Mandela of the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in dismantling apartheid.

He was succeeded by Marthinus van Schalkwyk until the eventual disbanding and merger of the party with the African National Congress (ANC).

The party was all but wiped out in most provinces and retained only limited pockets of large support in the Western Cape, where it was pushed into a distant third place behind the DA in its former stronghold.

With the former governing party now only the sixth-largest in the country, questions were asked about its long-term future, and the leadership of Van Schalkwyk.

Despite his party's poor performance in the polls, Van Schalkwyk was given the cabinet post of Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, seen as a reward for aligning the NNP with the ANC.