Brakpan (House of Assembly of South Africa constituency)

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Brakpan
Former constituency
for the South African House of Assembly
Rand-1981-Brakpan.png
Location of Brakpan within the Witwatersrand (1981)
Province Transvaal
Electorate21,727 (1989)
Former constituency
Created 1920
Abolished 1994
Number of members1
Last MHA  F. J. le Roux (CP)
Replaced by Gauteng

Brakpan was a constituency in the Transvaal Province of South Africa, which existed from 1915 to 1994. It covered a part of the East Rand centred on the town of Brakpan. Throughout its existence it elected one member to the House of Assembly and one to the Transvaal Provincial Council.

Contents

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 Transvaal Colony, and its predecessor the South African Republic, the vote was restricted to white men, and as such, elections in the Transvaal 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

The mines of the Witwatersrand were an early stronghold of South African trade unionism, and this made Brakpan fertile ground for the Labour Party - though not quite as safe as neighbouring seats like Benoni or Jeppes. It was held by the party from 1921 to 1929, and then became a swing seat between the National and United parties. Its United Party MP from 1938 to 1953, Alfred Ernest Trollip, later defected to the National Party and became one of its first English-speaking cabinet ministers.

In 1953, the NP took the seat, and it was safe for them for the next thirty years. In 1982, however, a hardline pro-apartheid faction around Transvaal NP leader and former cabinet minister Andries Treurnicht broke off to form the Conservative Party, and Brakpan MP François Jacobus le Roux defected to the new party. He held it in 1987 and 1989, against strong challenges from his former party, and represented the seat until the end of apartheid.

Members

ElectionMemberParty
1920 J. H. Munnik National
1921 R. B. Waterson Labour
1924
1929 A. S. van Hees National
1933 P. J. G. Zeeman
1938 A. E. Trollip United
1943
1948
1953 P. W. du Plessis National
1958
1961 G. P. C. Bezuidenhout
1966
1970
1972 byF. J. le Roux
1974
1977
1981
1982 Conservative
1987
1989
1994 Constituency abolished

[2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

Detailed results

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1920: Brakpan
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
National J. H. Munnik 1,158 50.2 New
Labour W. Hills80835.0New
South African D. S. Leech34314.9New
Majority 35015.2N/A
Turnout 2,30971.2N/A
National win (new seat)
General election 1921: Brakpan
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour R. B. Waterson 1,326 50.2 +15.2
National J. H. Munnik1,31449.8−0.4
Majority 120.4N/A
Turnout 2,64069.7−1.5
Labour gain from National Swing +7.8

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).
  4. South Africa 1980/81: Official Yearbook of the Republic of South Africa. Johannesburg: Chris van Rensburg Publications.
  5. South Africa 1983: Official Yearbook of the Republic of South Africa. Johannesburg: Chris van Rensburg Publications.
  6. Government Gazette of South Africa, No. 10751. 22 May 1987. Pretoria: Government of South Africa.
  7. Government Gazette of South Africa, No. 12109. 20 September 1989. Pretoria: Government of South Africa.