Hofmeyr chose to oppose the government of the day and entered parliament in 1929 as the South African Party's member for Johannesburg North.
For his maiden speech he chose to speak out against an Immigration Quota Bill that had been tabled by D.F. Malan to restrict Jewish immigration into South Africa.
The Nationalist Party was already espousing anti-Semitic values that would eventually make them sympathetic to Adolf Hitler and to Nazi Germany.
Though delivered from memory Hofmeyr's speech was not a success; he was too long-winded and too academic, so that even though he championed the rights of his many Jewish constituents he appeared to be fence-sitting.

During the 1930s the South African parliament spent an enormous effort in legislating various issues surrounding what was called the Native Problem.
In effect, the cornerstone of what later became known as apartheid was already being laid.
This resulted in a series of Bills discriminating against indigenous peoples such as the Riotous Assemblies Bill, the Native Service Contract Bill, an abortive Mixed Marriages Bill, the Representation of Natives Bill, the Native Trust and Land Bill, and the Native Laws Amendment Bill.
There was also discriminatory legislation being tabled with regards to South Africa's growing Indian population: the Asiatic Bill, the Provincial Legislative Powers Extension Bill, and the European Women's Restriction of Employment Bill were all meant to prevent the Indian business owners from having white people in their employ.
Hofmeyr spoke out against most of these discriminatory laws, progressively becoming more liberal as the two governments of that decade became more reactionary.
A notable blemish on his record is his silence regarding the Native Laws Amendment Bill, which proposed to control the migration of black workers from rural areas into cities and towns, and also to control where the black workers inside cities and towns were allowed to live.
Nevertheless, his attitudes towards non-whites was at the vanguard of liberal opinion for that time.
Whenever he recognised injustice in parliament and in his country, he was one of only a handful of leaders who did not hesitate to speak out against it.

Nationalist politicians had hoped that Hofmeyr would sympathise with their aspirations for Afrikaner supremacy.
They were disappointed; even though Hofmeyr always remained cordial to Hertzog, the Nationalist Prime Minister, he was a staunch critic of D.F. Malan, who was then the Minister of Education.
When Malan introduced his Higher Education Control Bill into parliament, hoping to gain for himself a rigid control of university appointments and budgets throughout the nation, Hofmeyr attacked the Bill as a curtailment of academic freedom, saying that Malan was hoping to become "the Grand Inquisitor of institutions of higher education".

Long before his election Hofmeyr had been in demand as a public speaker.
When speaking about politics he was always asking for a realignment of South African politics away from the crass divides that polarised Afrikaners and English South Africans.
Thus in 1933 he helped negotiate a coalition between J.B.M. Hertzog and Jan Smuts, along with a fusion of their two parties.
Consequently, he spent the rest of his life as a member of the United Party.

Whilst a Cabinet Minister, Hofmeyr was the inaugural Patron of the Transvaal Inter-Race Cricket Board from 1936.
Hofmeyr chose to oppose the government of the day and entered parliament in 1929 as the South African Party's member for Johannesburg North. For his maiden speech he chose to speak out against an Immigration Quota Bill that had been tabled by D.F. Malan to restrict Jewish immigration into South Africa. The Nationalist Party was already espousing anti-Semitic values that would eventually make them sympathetic to Adolf Hitler and to Nazi Germany. Though delivered from memory Hofmeyr's speech was not a success; he was too long-winded and too academic, so that even though he championed the rights of his many Jewish constituents he appeared to be fence-sitting.
During the 1930s the South African parliament spent an enormous effort in legislating various issues surrounding what was called the Native Problem. In effect, the cornerstone of what later became known as apartheid was already being laid. This resulted in a series of Bills discriminating against indigenous peoples such as the Riotous Assemblies Bill, the Native Service Contract Bill, an abortive Mixed Marriages Bill, the Representation of Natives Bill, the Native Trust and Land Bill, and the Native Laws Amendment Bill. There was also discriminatory legislation being tabled with regards to South Africa's growing Indian population: the Asiatic Bill, the Provincial Legislative Powers Extension Bill, and the European Women's Restriction of Employment Bill were all meant to prevent the Indian business owners from having white people in their employ. Hofmeyr spoke out against most of these discriminatory laws, progressively becoming more liberal as the two governments of that decade became more reactionary. A notable blemish on his record is his silence regarding the Native Laws Amendment Bill, which proposed to control the migration of black workers from rural areas into cities and towns, and also to control where the black workers inside cities and towns were allowed to live. Nevertheless, his attitudes towards non-whites was at the vanguard of liberal opinion for that time. Whenever he recognised injustice in parliament and in his country, he was one of only a handful of leaders who did not hesitate to speak out against it.
Nationalist politicians had hoped that Hofmeyr would sympathise with their aspirations for Afrikaner supremacy. They were disappointed; even though Hofmeyr always remained cordial to Hertzog, the Nationalist Prime Minister, he was a staunch critic of D.F. Malan, who was then the Minister of Education. When Malan introduced his Higher Education Control Bill into parliament, hoping to gain for himself a rigid control of university appointments and budgets throughout the nation, Hofmeyr attacked the Bill as a curtailment of academic freedom, saying that Malan was hoping to become "the Grand Inquisitor of institutions of higher education".
Long before his election Hofmeyr had been in demand as a public speaker. When speaking about politics he was always asking for a realignment of South African politics away from the crass divides that polarised Afrikaners and English South Africans. Thus in 1933 he helped negotiate a coalition between J.B.M. Hertzog and Jan Smuts, along with a fusion of their two parties. Consequently, he spent the rest of his life as a member of the United Party.
Whilst a Cabinet Minister, Hofmeyr was the inaugural Patron of the Transvaal Inter-Race Cricket Board from 1936.
Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr (1894–1948)