Heidelberg (House of Assembly of South Africa constituency)

Heidelberg
Former constituency for the South African House of Assembly
Province	Transvaal
Electorate	13,208 (1970)
Former constituency
Created	1910
Abolished	1974
Number of members	1
Last MHA	W. L. van der Merwe (NP)
Replaced by	Meyerton

Heidelberg was a constituency in the Transvaal Province of South Africa, which existed from 1910 to 1974. Named after the town of Heidelberg, it covered a rural area in the southern 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, Heidelberg had a largely Afrikaans-speaking electorate. It was a marginal seat early in its history, but as with most of rural South Africa, it became more and more safe for the National Party over time. Its most famous MP by far, representing the seat from 1958 until his assassination in 1966, was Hendrik Verwoerd, "architect of apartheid" and Prime Minister for nearly his entire time representing the constituency. His replacement, Willem Lodewicus van der Merwe, only represented Heidelberg for two terms before it was abolished, moving to the new seat of Meyerton in 1974.

Members

Election		Member	Party
	1910	Andries Stockenström	Het Volk
	1912 by	W. W. J. J. Bezuidenhout	South African
	1915
	1920
	1921
	1924	S. D. de Wet	National
	1929
	1933
	1934		United
	1937 by	D. A. S. de Bruyn
	1938
	1943	H. J. L. van Niekerk
	1948	S. H. Eyssen	HNP
	1953		National
	1958	Hendrik Verwoerd
	1961
	1966
	1966 by	W. L. van der Merwe
	1970
	1974	Constituency abolished

^{[2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]}

Detailed results

Elections in the 1910s

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

General election 1910: Heidelberg

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Het Volk	Andries Stockenström	1,061	61.8	New
	Independent	F. J. Bezuidenhout	657	38.2	New
Majority			404	23.6	N/A
	Het Volk win (new seat)

Heidelberg by-election, 30 September 1912 ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	South African	W. W. J. J. Bezuidenhout	Unopposed
	South African hold

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

General election 1915: Heidelberg

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	South African	W. W. J. J. Bezuidenhout	1,459	67.3	+5.5
	National	J. H. Gey van Pittius	709	32.7	New
Majority			750	34.6	N/A
Turnout			2,168	72.1	N/A
	South African hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1920s

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

General election 1920: Heidelberg

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	South African	W. W. J. J. Bezuidenhout	940	51.1	−16.2
	National	M. J. Bekker	684	37.2	+4.5
	Labour	A. D. Berkowitz	214	11.6	New
Majority			750	13.9	−20.7
Turnout			1,838	64.2	−7.9
	South African hold		Swing	-10.4

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

General election 1921: Heidelberg

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	South African	W. W. J. J. Bezuidenhout	1,073	52.8	+1.7
	National	S. D. de Wet	959	47.2	+10.0
Majority			750	5.6	−8.3
Turnout			2,032	62.5	−1.7
	South African hold		Swing	-4.2

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

General election 1924: Heidelberg

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	S. D. de Wet	1,086	52.7	+5.5
	South African	F. W. R. Robertson	965	46.8	−6.0
Rejected ballots			11	0.5	N/A
Majority			750	5.9	N/A
Turnout			2,062	80.4	+17.9
	National gain from South African		Swing	+5.8

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

General election 1929: Heidelberg

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	S. D. de Wet	1,384	58.3	+5.6
	South African	F. W. R. Robertson	981	41.3	−5.5
Rejected ballots			11	0.6	+0.1
Majority			403	17.0	+11.1
Turnout			2,376	88.7	+8.3
	National hold		Swing	+5.6

Elections in the 1930s

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

General election 1933: Heidelberg

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	S. D. de Wet	Unopposed
	National hold

Heidelberg by-election, 10 March 1937 ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United	D. A. S. de Bruyn	1,638	39.7	New
	Purified National	E. J. J. van der Horst	1,258	30.5	New
	Independent	J. G. Meyer	1,197	29.0	New
Rejected ballots			30	0.8	-0.7
Majority			380	9.2	N/A
Turnout			4,123	64.6	N/A
	United gain from National		Swing	N/A

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

General election 1938: Heidelberg

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United	D. A. S. de Bruyn	2,876	59.8	N/A
	Purified National	L. J. Buys	1,878	39.1	New
Rejected ballots			54	1.1	N/A
Majority			998	20.8	N/A
Turnout			4,808	77.2	N/A
	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).
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.