Edenburg (House of Assembly of South Africa constituency)

Edenburg
Former constituency for the South African House of Assembly
Province	Orange Free State
Electorate	2,641 (1929)
Former constituency
Created	1910
Abolished	1933
Number of members	1
Last MHA	J. J. Serfontein (NP)

Edenburg was a constituency in the Orange Free State Province of South Africa, which existed from 1910 to 1933. Named after the town of Edenburg, the seat covered a rural area in the south of the province. 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

Edenburg, like most of the Orange Free State, was a highly conservative seat throughout its existence and had a largely Afrikaans-speaking electorate. It was held throughout its existence (apart from the 1910 election) by the National Party, and for most of that time was represented by a single MP: Fredrik William Beyers, who was first elected in a by-election in 1918 and served in cabinet under J. B. M. Hertzog between 1924 and 1929. He left parliament after the 1929 general election, and shortly thereafter was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court, and became notable as the first judge in that court to deliver opinions in Afrikaans. Edenburg's final parliamentary term would be chaotic, as Beyers' replacement, C. W. M. du Toit, also resigned in 1932 to contest a by-election in Colesberg, a considerably more marginal seat in the Cape Province. The resulting by-election in Edenburg was won unopposed by Jan Jonathan Serfontein, who served until the seat's abolition and later served as MP for Boshof and Fauresmith.

Members

Election		Member	Party
	1910	E. N. Grobler	Orangia Unie
	1915	E. W. Fichardt	National
	1918 by	F. W. Beyers
	1920
	1921
	1924
	1929
	1929 by	C. W. M. du Toit
	1932 by	J. J. Serfontein
	1933	constituency abolished

^{[2] [3]}

Detailed results

Elections in the 1910s

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 1910 South African general election § Edenburg.[ edit ]

General election 1910: Edenburg

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Orangia Unie	E. N. Grobler	Unopposed
	Orangia Unie win (new seat)

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 1915 South African general election § Edenburg.[ edit ]

General election 1915: Edenburg

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	E. W. Fichardt	1,096	65.1	New
	South African	F. E. T. Krause	587	34.9	N/A
Majority			509	30.2	N/A
Turnout			1,683	77.1	N/A
	National gain from South African		Swing	N/A

Edenburg by-election, 4 July 1918 ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	F. W. Beyers	Unopposed
	National hold

Elections in the 1920s

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

General election 1920: Edenburg

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	F. W. Beyers	1,287	75.8	+10.7
	South African	C. J. Visser	412	24.2	−10.7
Majority			875	51.6	+21.4
Turnout			1,699	62.9	N/A
	National hold		Swing	+10.7

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

General election 1921: Edenburg

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	F. W. Beyers	1,300	77.0	+1.2
	South African	C. J. Visser	388	23.0	−1.2
Majority			912	54.0	+2.4
Turnout			1,688	60.0	−2.9
	National hold		Swing	+1.2

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).