Facts: - death place: rustenburg , south african republic - order: 2nd african republic president of the executive council of the south - successor: marthinus wessel pretorius - restingplace: heroes africa ' acre , pretoria , gauteng , south - death date: 13 july 1865 - predecessor: stephanus schoeman - spouse: elizabeth maria jacoba du plessis - term end: 10 may 1864 - term start: 18 april 1862 - birth date: 16 may 1818 - name: willem cornelis janse van rensburg - birth place: beaufort west , cape colony Based on these bullet points, write a short biography describing the life of willem cornelis janse van rensburg .
Answer:
willem cornelis janse van rensburg -lrb- 16 may 1818 -- 13 august 1865 -rrb- was the second president of the executive council of the south african republic of the south african republic , from 1863 to 1864 .he was born near the town of beaufort west , the son of hendrik janse van rensburg and his second wife , martha magdalena oosthuizen .van rensburg married elizabeth maria jacoba du plessis -lrb- 31 october 1819 - 6 august 1895 -rrb- in 1838 .initially he travelled with a party of voortrekkers to natal , and was one of the party of van rensburgs who survived an attack by a group of zulus at rensburg '' koppie '' -lrb- rensburg hill -rrb- .he subsequently travelled to the transvaal and settled on a farm in the rustenburg area in 1848 .van rensburg was elected as a member of the south african republic 's -lrb- zar -rrb- '' volksraad '' -lrb- people 's assembly -rrb- in 1850 , a post which he held until june 1855 .during this period there was a major political conflict between the zar 's first president and writer of its constitution , marthinus wessel pretorius , and its commandant-general , stephanus schoeman , who rejected the constitution .van rensburg supported schoeman and in return the latter appointed van rensburg as a provisional commandant .van rensburg subsequently represented schoeman in negotiations with pretorius 's faction .in 1858 , when schoeman fell ill , van rensburg was appointed as acting commandant-general .van rensburg went on to play an essential role in uniting the former lydenburg republic with the zar and also supported pretorius when he tried to unite the zar and the orange free state republic .in february 1860 , during pretorius 's absence , the '' volksraad '' offered van rensburg the post of state president , which he refused .following substantial political maneuvering , van rensburg was elected as the second president of the zar in april 1863 .however , van rensburg refused to be sworn in and a second election had to be held .during this election van rensburg...