Colesberg (House of Assembly of South Africa constituency)

Last updated
Colesberg
Former constituency
for the South African House of Assembly
Province Cape of Good Hope
Electorate9,302 (1970)
Former constituency
Created 1910
1966
Abolished 1938
1974
Number of members1
Last MHA  R. F. van Heerden (NP)
Created from De Aar-Colesberg (1966)
Replaced by Albert-Colesberg (1938)
De Aar (1974)

Colesberg was a constituency in the Cape Province of South Africa, which existed from 1910 to 1938 and again from 1966 to 1974. It covered a rural area near the Orange River, centred on the town of Colesberg. Throughout its existence it elected one member to the House of Assembly and one to the Cape 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. The Cape Colony had implemented a "colour-blind" franchise known as the Cape Qualified Franchise, which included all adult literate men owning more than £75 worth of property (controversially raised from £25 in 1892), and this initially remained in effect after the colony became the Cape Province. As of 1908, 22,784 out of 152,221 electors in the Cape Colony were "Native or Coloured". Eligibility to serve in Parliament and the Provincial Council, however, was restricted to whites from 1910 onward.

The first challenge to the Cape Qualified Franchise came with the Women's Enfranchisement Act, 1930 and the Franchise Laws Amendment Act, 1931, which extended the vote to women and removed property qualifications for the white population only – non-white voters remained subject to the earlier restrictions. In 1936, the Representation of Natives Act removed all black voters from the common electoral roll and introduced three "Native Representative Members", white MPs elected by the black voters of the province and meant to represent their interests in particular. A similar provision was made for Coloured voters with the Separate Representation of Voters Act, 1951, and although this law was challenged by the courts, it went into effect in time for the 1958 general election, which was thus held with all-white voter rolls for the first time in South African history. The all-white franchise would continue until the end of apartheid and the introduction of universal suffrage in 1994. [1]

History

Like many constituencies in the rural Cape, the electorate of Colesberg was largely Afrikaans-speaking, but in its first incarnation the seat was more marginal than many of its neighbours. This seems to have been in large part due to its first MP, George Albertijn Louw of the South African Party, who successfully defended the seat against the National Party in several close contests, finally losing out to Dutch Reformed minister Hendrik Adriaan Lamprecht in 1929. Lamprecht died in 1932, but his party colleague C. W. M. du Toit would hold the seat until its abolition in 1938, and was elected to represent the Transvaal seat of Marico in a by-election soon thereafter.

Colesberg was recreated in 1966, out of part of the De Aar-Colesberg seat, and in this incarnation was a safe seat for the ruling National Party. Its first MP, Michiel Jacobus de la Rey Venter, had previously represented the seat of De Aar-Colesberg since 1950, and the by-election to replace him in 1973 was won unopposed by his party colleague R. F. van Heerden, who would go on to represent the De Aar seat after Colesberg's abolition the following year.

Members

ElectionMemberParty
1910 G. A. Louw SAP
1915
1920
1921
1924
1929 H. A. Lamprecht National
1932 byC. W. M. du Toit
1933
1934 United
1938 constituency abolished
ElectionMemberParty
1966 M. J. de la Rey Venter National
1970
1973 byR. F. van Heerden
1974 constituency abolished

[2]

Detailed results

Elections in the 1910s

General election 1910: Colesberg
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
South African G. A. LouwUnopposed
South African win (new seat)
General election 1915: Colesberg
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
South African G. A. Louw 1,424 55.3 N/A
National J. A. Venter1,15144.7New
Majority 27310.6N/A
Turnout 2,57585.2N/A
South African hold Swing N/A

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1920: Colesberg
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
South African G. A. Louw 1,350 46.0 −9.3
National D. J. Jooste1,34445.8+1.1
Labour M. M. Sutherland2418.2New
Majority 60.2−10.4
Turnout 2,93576.7−5.5
South African hold Swing -5.2
General election 1921: Colesberg
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
South African G. A. Louw 1,788 55.1 +9.1
National D. J. Jooste1,45844.9−0.9
Majority 33010.2+10.0
Turnout 3,24677.3+0.6
South African hold Swing +5.0
General election 1924: Colesberg [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
South African G. A. Louw 1,582 51.7 −3.4
National F. J. du Toit1,47848.3+3.4
Majority 1043.4−6.8
Turnout 3,06085.3+8.0
South African hold Swing -3.4
General election 1929: Colesberg [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
National H. A. Lamprecht 1,731 55.0 +6.7
South African G. A. Louw1,41545.0−6.7
Majority 10410.0N/A
Turnout 3,14686.9+1.6
National gain from South African Swing +6.7

Elections in the 1930s

Colesberg by-election, 6 July 1932 [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
National C. W. M. du Toit 3,090 51.7 −3.3
South African J. J. de Villiers2,88948.3+3.3
Majority 2013.4−6.6
Turnout 5,97992.9+6.0
National hold Swing -3.3
General election 1933: Colesberg [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
National C. W. M. du ToitUnopposed
National hold

References

  1. "EISA South Africa: Historical franchise arrangements". Eisa.org.za. Archived from the original on 9 May 2013. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Schoeman, B.M. (1977). Parlementêre verkiesings in Suid-Afrika 1910-1976. Pretoria: Aktuele Publikasies.