Illovo (House of Assembly of South Africa constituency)

Illovo
Former constituency for the South African House of Assembly
Province	Natal
Electorate	5,378 (1938)
Former constituency
Created	1920
Abolished	1943
Number of members	1
Last MHA	J. S. Marwick (Dom)
Created from	Umzimkulu
Replaced by	Natal South Coast

Illovo was a constituency in the Natal Province of South Africa, which existed from 1920 to 1943. It covered a coastal area south of Durban, centred on its namesake town. 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. The franchise used in the Natal Colony, while theoretically not restricted by race, was significantly less liberal than that of the Cape, and no more than a few hundred non-white electors ever qualified. In 1908, an estimated 200 of the 22,786 electors in the colony were of non-European descent, and by 1935, only one remained. ^[1] By 1958, when the last non-white voters in the Cape were taken off the rolls, Natal too had an all-white electorate. 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, which remained the case until the end of apartheid and the introduction of universal suffrage in 1994. ^[2]

History

As in the rest of Natal, Illovo's electorate was largely English-speaking and conservative. Its sole MP, representing the seat for all 23 years of its existence, was John Sydney Marwick, who was initially elected for the Unionist Party in 1920. The following year, the Unionists merged into the governing South African Party, and Marwick was re-elected unopposed under the SAP banner in the 1921 snap general election. He continued to represent the SAP all through the 1920s, facing only an independent challenger in 1924 and standing unopposed again in 1929 and 1933, but when the SAP merged into the United Party in 1934, Marwick was one of a number of pro-British MPs who objected to the formation of the new party, in particular the fact that it was led by J. B. M. Hertzog. This group instead formed the Dominion Party, and while this new party would never become a major player nationally, it was quite influential in Natal. Marwick was able to benefit from incumbency, successfully defending the seat from a UP challenger in 1938, and moving to the affluent Durban seat of Pinetown on the constituency's disappearance in 1943.

Members

Election		Member	Party
	1920	J. S. Marwick	Unionist
	1921		South African
	1924
	1929
	1933
	1934		Dominion
	1938
	1943	Constituency abolished

^{[3] [4]}

Detailed results

Elections in the 1920s

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

General election 1920: Illovo

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	J. S. Marwick	647	59.4	New
	South African	Alfred Fawcus	442	40.6	+26.6
Majority			205	18.8	N/A
Turnout			1,089	61.6	N/A
	Unionist win (new seat)

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

General election 1921: Illovo

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	South African	J. S. Marwick	Unopposed
	South African hold

References

1. May, H.J. (1955). The South African Constitution. 3rd ed. Cape Town: Juta & Co.
2. "EISA South Africa: Historical franchise arrangements". Eisa.org.za. Archived from the original on 9 May 2013. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
3. Schoeman, B.M. (1977). Parlementêre verkiesings in Suid-Afrika 1910-1976. Pretoria: Aktuele Publikasies.
4. Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa (1972). "House of Assembly" (vol. 5, pp. 617–636). Cape Town: Nasionale Opvoedkundige Uitgewery (Nasou).