Carolina (House of Assembly of South Africa constituency)

Carolina
Former constituency for the South African House of Assembly
Province	Transvaal
Electorate	5,204 (1938)
Former constituency
Created	1929
Abolished	1943
Number of members	1
Last MHA	J. P. Fourie (UP)
Created from	Barberton

Carolina was a constituency in the Transvaal Province of South Africa, which existed from 1929 to 1943. It covered a rural area in the eastern Transvaal, centred on the town of Carolina. Throughout its existence it elected one member to the House of Assembly and one to the Transvaal Provincial Council.

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

Like most of the rural Transvaal, Carolina was a conservative seat with a largely Afrikaans-speaking electorate. It was held for nearly its entire existence by the National Party, with the exception of its last few years, after J. B. M. Hertzog and Jan Smuts joined forces to create the United Party in 1934. Carolina's Nationalist MP, Willem Hendrik Rood, joined the new party, and his party colleague successfully defended the seat in 1938 against Purified National Party opposition.

Members

Election		Member	Party
	1929	W. H. Rood	National
	1933
	1934		United
	1938	J. P. Fourie
	1943	Constituency abolished

^{[2] [3]}

Detailed results

Elections in the 1920s

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 1929 South African general election § Carolina.[ edit ]

General election 1929: Carolina

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	W. H. Rood	1,239	51.8	New
	South African	L. P. H. Botha	1,127	47.1	New
Rejected ballots			26	1.1	N/A
Majority			112	4.7	N/A
Turnout			2,392	85.9	N/A
	National win (new seat)

Elections in the 1930s

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 1933 South African general election § Carolina.[ edit ]

General election 1933: Carolina

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	W. H. Rood	2,245	52.0	+0.2
	Independent	H. F. Prinsloo	2,037	47.2	New
Rejected ballots			32	0.8	-0.3
Majority			208	4.8	N/A
Turnout			4,314	77.5	−8.4
	National hold		Swing	N/A

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).