1898 Transvaal presidential election

1898 Transvaal presidential election

←  1893 3 January–4 February 1898

Nominee Paul Kruger Schalk Willem Burger Piet Joubert Popular vote 12,858 3,753 2,001 Percentage 69.08% 20.16% 10.75%

President before election Paul Kruger Elected President Paul Kruger

Presidential elections were held in the South African Republic between 3 January and 4 February 1898. ^[1] The result was a victory for incumbent Paul Kruger. ^{[2] [3]}

Background

The incumbent president Paul Kruger was involved in a constitutional battle with Chief Justice John Gilbert Kotzé. After trying to unsuccessfully remove Kotzé though legislation, he waited until after the election to dismiss him. ^[4]

Candidates

Kruger ran for re-election alongside two challengers.

A distinguished member of the Volksraad and commandant of the Lydenburg Commando, Schalk Willem Burger was popular with the British and the capitalists of Johannesburg. ^[5] This was due to the South African Industrial Report of 1897, produced by a committee under his leadership, which called for the lowering of tariffs, among other suggestions. ^[6] Despite the conclusions of the report, Burger was an ardent patriot; however, the conclusions of the report and support from anti-ZAR newspapers led some voters to distrust him. ^[5]

Vice-President and Commandant-General Piet Joubert had previously run against Kruger three times without success. ^{[7] [2]} He had narrowly lost against him in 1893, losing by around 900 votes, with allegations of electoral manipulation in favour of Kruger and reports of voter turnout being greater than 100%. ^[8]

Claims were made that former Cape Colony Prime Minister Cecil Rhodes colluded against Kruger during the election campaign. ^[9]

Results

Candidate	Votes	%
Paul Kruger	12,858	69.08
Schalk Willem Burger	3,753	20.16
Piet Joubert	2,001	10.75
Total	18,612	100.00
Source: Annual Register [1]

Aftermath

After his re-election Kruger removed Kotzé from office. ^[4]

References

1. Annual Register for the Year 1898. Longmans, Green, and co. 1899. p. 353. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
2. "Joubert, Petrus Jacobus"  . Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 15 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 522.
3. Dunning, Wm. A. (1898). "Record of Political Events" . Political Science Quarterly. 13 (2): 387–388. doi:10.2307/2140186. JSTOR   2140186.
4. Saturday review of politics, literature, science and art: Volume LXXXV. John W. Parker and Son. 1898. pp. 381–382. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
5. Rompel, Frederik (1903). Heroes of the Boer War. Review of Reviews Office. p. 81. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
6. Kruger, Paul (1902). The memoirs of Paul Kruger, four times president of the South African republic. The Century Co. p. 252. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
7. Souza, Francis Hugh De (2004). A Question Of Treason. Kiaat Creations. ISBN   978-0-620-32030-6.
8. Annual Register for the Year 1893. Longmans, Green, and co. 1894. p. 442. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
9. "CECIL RHODES'S SCHEME.; Alleged Plan to Defeat Krueger in the Coming Transvaal Election" . The New York Times. 14 November 1897. Retrieved 24 January 2021.