Sir Cornelius Hermanus Wessels (Rietfontein, Winburg, Orange River Sovereignty 26 April 1851 – Bloemfontein, Orange Free State 1 March 1924) was a South African politician and statesman.Wessels stemmed from an important Orange Free State family clan, dedicated to farming and the Boer way of life. Mainly self-educated, he turned to politics in his early thirties.