Christiana (House of Assembly of South Africa constituency)

Christiana
Former constituency for the South African House of Assembly
Province	Transvaal
Electorate	10,318 (1970)
Former constituency
Created	1920
Abolished	1974
Number of members	1
Last MHA	H. J. D. van der Walt (NP)
Replaced by	Schweizer-Reneke

Christiana was a constituency in the Transvaal Province of South Africa, which existed from 1920 to 1974. Named after the town of Christiana, it covered a rural area in the western Transvaal. 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, Christiana had a largely Afrikaans-speaking electorate. It was held for nearly its entire existence by the National Party, the exception being the period from 1934 to 1943, after J. B. M. Hertzog and Jan Smuts joined forces to create the United Party. Christiana MP Jan Johannes Wentzel joined the new party and successfully defended his seat in 1938, but retired at the 1943 general election, at which point the Herenigde Nasionale Party took the seat. In 1953, however, Wentzel came back, this time standing for the governing NP, and held the seat until 1970. In 1974, the constituency was replaced by one based in nearby Schweizer-Reneke, and Christiana's final MP, Hendrik Johannes Douw van der Walt, was elected to represent the new seat.

Members

Election		Member	Party
	1920	A. S. van Hees	National
	1921
	1924	H. H. Moll
	1929
	1933	J. J. Wentzel
	1934		United
	1938
	1943	W. D. Brink	HNP
	1948
	1953	J. J. Wentzel	National
	1958
	1961
	1966
	1970	H. J. D. van der Walt
	1974	Constituency abolished

^{[2] [3]}

Detailed results

Elections in the 1920s

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

General election 1920: Christiana

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	A. S. van Hees	1,277	66.4	New
	South African	J. F. de Beer	617	32.1	New
	Independent	A. J. van der Merwe	29	1.5	New
Majority			610	34.3	N/A
Turnout			1,923	65.1	N/A
	National win (new seat)

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

General election 1921: Christiana

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	A. S. van Hees	1,368	68.2	+1.8
	South African	F. F. Pienaar	639	31.8	−0.3
Majority			610	36.4	+2.1
Turnout			2,007	61.5	−3.6
	National hold		Swing	+1.1

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 1924 South African general election § Christiana.[ edit ]

General election 1924: Christiana

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	H. H. Moll	834	64.2	−4.0
	South African	A. J. Marais	455	35.0	New
Rejected ballots			10	0.8	N/A
Majority			379	29.2	N/A
Turnout			1,299	57.8	−3.7
	National hold		Swing	N/A

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

General election 1929: Christiana

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	H. H. Moll	1,239	63.2	−1.0
	South African	H. I. Powell	704	35.9	+0.9
Rejected ballots			17	0.9	+0.1
Majority			535	27.3	−1.9
Turnout			1,960	77.6	+19.8
	National hold		Swing	-1.0

Elections in the 1930s

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

General election 1933: Christiana

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	J. J. Wentzel	3,061	73.0	+9.8
	Roos	H. H. Moll	1,068	25.5	New
Rejected ballots			67	1.5	+0.6
Majority			1,993	47.5	N/A
Turnout			4,196	75.2	−2.4
	National hold		Swing	N/A

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 1938 South African general election § Christiana.[ edit ]

General election 1938: Christiana

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United	J. J. Wentzel	2,794	56.1	−16.9
	Purified National	J. L. Brill	2,148	43.1	New
Rejected ballots			40	0.8	-0.7
Majority			646	13.0	N/A
Turnout			4,982	85.8	+10.6
	United 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).