Petrus Jacobus Joubert (20 January 1834 – 28 March 1900), better known as Piet Joubert was Commandant-General of the South African Republic from 1880 to 1900.

During the first British annexation of the Transvaal, Joubert earned for himself the reputation of a consistent irreconcilable by refusing to hold office under the government, as Paul Kruger and other prominent Boers were doing. Instead of accepting the lucrative post offered him, he took a leading part in creating and directing the agitation which led to the war of 1880-1881, eventually becoming, as commandant-general of the Boer forces, a member of the triumvirate that administered the provisional Boer government set up in December 1880 at Heidelberg.

During the First Boer War, he was in command of the Boer forces at Laings Nek, Ingogo, and Majuba Hill, subsequently conducting the earlier peace negotiations that led to the conclusion of the Pretoria Convention.

He took little part in the negotiations that culminated in the ultimatum sent to Great Britain by Kruger in 1899, and though he immediately assumed nominal command of the operations on the outbreak of hostilities, he gave up to others the chief share in the direction of the war, through his inability or neglect to impose upon them his own will. His cautious nature, which had in early life gained him the sobriquet of Slim Piet (Clever Piet), joined to a lack of determination and assertiveness that characterized his whole career, led him to act mainly on the defensive; and the strategically offensive movements of the Boer forces, such as Elandslaagte and Willow Grange, appear to have been neither planned nor executed by him.

As the war went on, physical weakness led to Jouberts virtual retirement, and, though two days earlier he was still reported as being in supreme command, he died at Pretoria from peritonitis. Sir George White, the defender of Ladysmith, summed up Jouberts character when he called him "a soldier and a gentleman, and a brave and honourable opponent".

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Joubert, Petrus Jacobus, kommandant-generaal van die Z.A.R. - 1831: Gebore naby Swartberg, Kaapkolonie, op 20 Januarie. - 1836: Trek sa am met sy ouers onder leiding van Piet Retief. - 1852: Neem deel aan die slag teen Sechele. - 1865: Neem in die Vrystaat deel aan 'n veldtog teen die Basoeto's. - 1866: Hy word gekies as volksraadslid vir Wakker-stroom. - 1875 en 1876: Hy tree as waarnemende president van die Z.A. Republiek op tydens die afwesigheid van president T. F. Burgers. - 1878: Hy vertrek as lid van die tweede deputasie na Engeland om die Britse regering te ooneed om die vryheid van Transvaal terug te gee. - 1880: Gekies as lid van die Driemanskap en benoem tot kommandant-generaal van die Boeremagte, wat hy tot sy dood gebly het. - 1883: Hy word vise-president van die Z.A.R. - 1899: Hy is opperbevelhebber van die Boeremagte wat die suidoosgrens moet verdedig. - 1900: Oorlede op 27 Maart en begrawe op sy plaas, Rustfontein, Wakkerstroom.

Afrikaanse Kinder Ensiklopedie Deel XI 1962

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f1 Petrus Jacobus * Swartberg 20.1.1831 = Swellendam † Pretoria 27.3.1900, kommandantgeneraal, ZAR x Potchefstroom 2.4.1851 Hendrina Johanna Susanna BOTHA * 27.9.1830 † 8.9.1916 (sien SABW I en B. Cilliers: Genealogieë van die Afrikaner families in Natal)

g1 Hendrina Susanna * Marico 12.2.1852 † 5.9.1859

g2 Josua Francois * 20.9.1854 = Bloemfontein 10.1.1856

g3 Johannes Petrus * 20.9.1857 = Wakkerstroom (deur ds. Van der Hof) † 29.9.1863

g4 Esther Maria Susanna * 14.12.1860

g5 Petrus Jacobus * 5.9.1862

g6 Hendrina Susanna Johanna * 11.8.1864

g7 Maria Elizabeth * 5.7.1868 † 5.1.1870

g8 Jan Abraham * 12.2.1872 † 5.3.1924 x Margaretha Magdalena MALAN * 4.2.1878 † 3.3.1946 d.v. David Johannes Malan en Maria Magdalena Cillie