Bloemfontein South (House of Assembly of South Africa constituency)

Bloemfontein South
Bloemfontein-Suid
Former constituency for the South African House of Assembly
Province	Orange Free State
Electorate	8,421 (1933)
Former constituency
Created	1920
Abolished	1938
Number of members	1
Last MHA	J. J. Haywood (GNP)
Created from	Bloemfontein Bloemfontein District
Replaced by	Bloemfontein Bloemfontein District

Bloemfontein South (Afrikaans: Bloemfontein-Suid) was a constituency in the Orange Free State Province of South Africa, which existed from 1920 to 1938. It covered the southern parts of Bloemfontein, the provincial capital and the judicial capital of South Africa. Throughout its existence it elected one member to the House of Assembly.

Franchise notes

When the Union of South Africa was formed in 1910, the electoral qualifications in use in each pre-existing colony were kept in place. In the Orange River Colony, and its predecessor the Orange Free State, the vote was restricted to white men, and as such, elections in the Orange Free State Province were held on a whites-only franchise from the beginning. The franchise was also restricted by property and education qualifications until the 1933 general election, following the passage of the Women's Enfranchisement Act, 1930 and the Franchise Laws Amendment Act, 1931. From then on, the franchise was given to all white citizens aged 21 or over. Non-whites remained disenfranchised until the end of apartheid and the introduction of universal suffrage in 1994. ^[1]

History

While slightly more liberal than the rest of the Free State, Bloemfontein was still the most conservative of South Africa's major cities. It was first split into North and South constituencies in 1920, after a decade as a single seat, and after a brief period represented by Deneys Reitz of the South African Party, Bloemfontein South would only elect National Party MPs for the remainder of its existence. In 1921, Colin Fraser Steyn successfully stood for election both in Bloemfontein South and the rural seat of Vredefort, and chose to represent Bloemfontein South so as to avoid a by-election in the marginal seat. He was re-elected by a far bigger margin in 1924, and stood down in 1929. His replacement, Jan Jacobus Haywood, continued to hold the seat comfortably, even in 1933 when Steyn ran against him as a candidate for Tielman Roos' new party. Shortly after the 1933 election, Nationalist Prime Minister J. B. M. Hertzog announced a merger with Jan Smuts' SAP to form the new United Party, a move that was deeply controversial among his conservative Afrikaner base. Haywood was one of the nineteen MPs who "refounded" the Purified National Party under the leadership of D. F. Malan, and when the City-District division returned in 1938, he was successfully elected for the District seat under that label.

Members

Election		Member	Party
	1920	Deneys Reitz	South African
	1921	Colin Fraser Steyn	National
	1924
	1929	J. J. Haywood
	1933
	1934		GNP
	1938	constituency abolished

^{[2] [3]}

Detailed results

Elections in the 1920s

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 1920 South African general election § Bloemfontein South.[ edit ]

General election 1920: Bloemfontein South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	South African	Deneys Reitz	967	52.8	New
	National	Colin Fraser Steyn	866	47.2	New
Majority			101	5.6	N/A
Turnout			1,833	59.7	N/A
	South African win (new seat)

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 1921 South African general election § Bloemfontein South.[ edit ]

General election 1921: Bloemfontein South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Colin Fraser Steyn	1,189	51.0	+3.8
	South African	Deneys Reitz	1,142	49.0	−3.8
Majority			47	2.0	N/A
Turnout			2,331	70.1	+10.4
	National gain from		Swing	+3.8

References

1. "EISA South Africa: Historical franchise arrangements". Eisa.org.za. Archived from the original on 9 May 2013. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
2. Schoeman, B.M. (1977). Parlementêre verkiesings in Suid-Afrika 1910-1976. Pretoria: Aktuele Publikasies.
3. Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa (1972). "House of Assembly" (vol. 5, pp. 617–636). Cape Town: Nasionale Opvoedkundige Uitgewery (Nasou).