Legislative Assembly of Rhodesia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| History | |
| Founded | 30 May 1924 |
| Disbanded | 10 April 1970 |
| Preceded by | Legislative Council |
| Succeeded by | Parliament of Rhodesia |
| Leadership | |
| Seats | 30 1924–1962 65 1962–1970 |
| Elections | |
| First-past-the-post with limited suffrage | |
Last election | 1965 |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| Legislative Assembly building, Salisbury | |
 |
|---|
The Legislative Assembly of Rhodesia was the legislature of Southern Rhodesia and then Rhodesia from 1924 to 1970.
In 1898, the Southern Rhodesian Legislative Council, Southern Rhodesia's first elected representative body, was founded. Much of the decisions regarding the administration of Southern Rhodesia was made by the British South Africa Company (BSAC). When BSAC rule was terminated in 1923 and Responsible Government achieved, the Legislative Council was replaced by the Legislative Assembly. [1] Under the Constitution, there was provision for the establishment of an upper house to be known as the Legislative Council, but none was ever established, meaning that the Legislative Assembly remained a unicameral legislature. [2]
Modelled after the British House of Commons, [1] the Assembly had limitations placed on its powers of legislation, as the British Crown reserved the right to block legislation and allowed only legislation on internal matters to be discussed in the parliament. [1]
The Letters Patent granting the colony the right to self-government in 1923 made no change to the pre-existing franchise. The law provided that voters must have been resident in Southern Rhodesia for at least six months, and have the ability to complete the claim form for the electoral register in their own handwriting if the registrar required, and to write from dictation 50 words in the English language. In addition, voters had to meet one of three criteria for their financial means: either occupy property worth £150 in their Electoral District, or own a registered mining claim within the colony (for which residence was not required), or receive annual salary of £100 in the colony.
No change was made to the basic electoral procedure, which continued to be the first past the post system, cast by means of the secret ballot.
The Letters Patent created a Legislative Assembly with 30 members, and for simplicity the 15 electoral districts set the previous year for the Legislative Council were used for the new assembly, but with each district returning two members. Voters were therefore entitled to two votes. Until 1961 there were technically no restrictions on the ability for native Africans to vote, but a high property qualification ensured that few were entitled to vote. [1] This was altered in 1958, when a special voters' roll was created for Africans, although Africans were limited to voting for 15 Assembly members while Europeans were entitled to elect 50 members. [1]
The following table reflects only those members elected from general roll electoral divisions.
| Term | Election | Party | Seats Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 29 April 1924 | ||
| Rhodesian Party | 26 | ||
| Independent | 4 | ||
| 2nd | 19 September 1928 | ||
| Rhodesian Party | 22 | ||
| Progressive Party | 4 | ||
| Labour Party | 3 | ||
| Independent | 1 | ||
| 3rd | 6 September 1933 | ||
| Reform Party | 16 | ||
| Rhodesian Party | 9 | ||
| Labour Party | 5 | ||
| 4th | 7 November 1934 | ||
| United Party | 24 | ||
| Labour Party | 5 | ||
| Reform Party | 1 | ||
| 5th | 14 April 1939 | ||
| United Party | 23 | ||
| Labour Party | 7 | ||
| 6th | 25 April 1946 | ||
| United Party | 13 | ||
| Liberal Party | 12 | ||
| Labour Party | 3 | ||
| Southern Rhodesia Labour Party | 2 | ||
| 7th | 15 September 1948 | ||
| United Party | 24 | ||
| Liberal Party | 5 | ||
| Labour Party | 1 | ||
| 8th | 27 January 1954 | ||
| United Rhodesia Party | 26 | ||
| Independent | 2 | ||
| Independent Labour | 1 | ||
| Independent Rhodesia Party | 1 | ||
| 9th | 5 June 1958 | ||
| United Federal Party | 17 | ||
| Dominion Party | 13 | ||
| 10th | 14 December 1962 | ||
| Rhodesian Front | 35 | ||
| United Federal Party | 29 | ||
| Independent | 1 | ||
| 11th | 7 May 1965 | ||
| Rhodesian Front | 50 | ||
| National People's Party | 10 | ||
| Independent | 5 | ||
Northern Rhodesia was a British protectorate in Southern Africa, now the independent country of Zambia. It was formed in 1911 by amalgamating the two earlier protectorates of Barotziland-North-Western Rhodesia and North-Eastern Rhodesia. It was initially administered, as were the two earlier protectorates, by the British South Africa Company (BSAC), a chartered company, on behalf of the British Government. From 1924, it was administered by the British Government as a protectorate, under similar conditions to other British-administered protectorates, and the special provisions required when it was administered by BSAC were terminated.
Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally known as south Zambesia until annexed by Britain at the behest of Cecil Rhodes's British South Africa Company, for whom the colony was named. The bounding territories were Bechuanaland (Botswana), Northern Rhodesia (Zambia), Portuguese Mozambique (Mozambique), and the Transvaal Republic.
The British South Africa Company was chartered in 1889 following the amalgamation of Cecil Rhodes' Central Search Association and the London-based Exploring Company Ltd, which had originally competed to capitalize on the expected mineral wealth of Mashonaland but united because of common economic interests and to secure British government backing. The company received a Royal Charter modelled on that of the British East India Company. Its first directors included The 2nd Duke of Abercorn, Rhodes himself, and the South African financier Alfred Beit. Rhodes hoped BSAC would promote colonisation and economic exploitation across much of south-central Africa, as part of the "Scramble for Africa". However, his main focus was south of the Zambezi, in Mashonaland and the coastal areas to its east, from which he believed the Portuguese could be removed by payment or force, and in the Transvaal, which he hoped would return to British control.
Elections in South Africa are held for the National Assembly, provincial legislatures and municipal councils. Elections follow a five-year cycle, with national and provincial elections held simultaneously and municipal elections held two years later. The electoral system is based on party-list proportional representation, which means that parties are represented in proportion to their electoral support. For municipal councils there is a mixed-member system in which wards elect individual councillors alongside those named from party lists.
Elections in Zambia take place within the framework of a multi-party democracy and a presidential system. The President and National Assembly are simultaneously elected for five-year terms.
Elections in Southern Rhodesia were used from 1899 to 1923 to elect part of the Legislative Council and from 1924 to elect the whole of the Legislative Assembly which governed the colony. Since the granting of self-government in 1923, Southern Rhodesia used the Westminster parliamentary system as its basis of government. The Political party that had most of the seats in the Legislative Assembly became the government. The person in charge of this bloc was the Premier, later renamed Prime Minister, who then chose his cabinet from his elected colleagues.
Rhodesia had limited democracy in the sense that it had the Westminster parliamentary system with multiple political parties contesting the seats in parliament, but as the voting was dominated by the White settler minority, and Black Africans only had a minority level of representation at that time, it was regarded internationally as a racist country.
General elections were held in Southern Rhodesia on 14 December 1962. Voters elected 65 members of the Legislative Assembly. The election was notable for bringing to power the Rhodesian Front, initially under Winston Field, which set the colony on the course for its eventual Unilateral Declaration of Independence.
Legislative Council elections were held in Southern Rhodesia on 17 April 1899. They were the first elections to take place in the colony and followed the Southern Rhodesia Order in Council of 1898 which granted the colony a Legislative Council consisting of at least ten voting members: the Administrator of Southern Rhodesia ex officio, five members nominated by the British South Africa Company, and four members elected by registered voters. The Resident Commissioner of Southern Rhodesia, Sir Marshal James Clarke, also sat on the Legislative Council ex officio but without the right to vote.
The Southern Rhodesia Legislative Council election of March 17, 1902 was the second election to the Legislative Council of Southern Rhodesia. No change was made in the administration of the elections compared with the first elections three years previously, so the Legislative Council continued to comprise ten voting members: the Administrator of Southern Rhodesia ex officio, five members nominated by the British South Africa Company, and four members elected by registered voters from two electoral districts. The Resident Commissioner of Southern Rhodesia, Sir Marshal James Clarke, also sat on the Legislative Council ex officio but without the right to vote.
The Southern Rhodesia Legislative Council election of 12 April 1911 was the fifth election to the Legislative Council of Southern Rhodesia. The Legislative Council had, since 1907, comprised thirteen voting members: the Administrator of Southern Rhodesia ex officio, five members nominated by the British South Africa Company, and seven members elected by registered voters from four electoral districts. The Resident Commissioner of Southern Rhodesia, Robert Burns-Begg also sat on the Legislative Council ex officio but without the right to vote.
A referendum on the status of Southern Rhodesia was held in the colony on 27 October 1922. Voters, almost all of them White, were given the options of establishing responsible government or joining the Union of South Africa. After 59% voted in favour of responsible government, it was officially granted on 1 October 1923 with the implementation of the First Cabinet of Southern Rhodesia.
General elections were held in Southern Rhodesia on 29 April 1924, the first elections to the new Legislative Assembly following the granting of responsible government to the colony. The result was a comprehensive victory for the Rhodesia Party, which had been formed by the supporters of responsible government, who won 26 out of the 30 seats.
General elections were held in Southern Rhodesia on 19 September 1928, the second elections to the Legislative Assembly. The Rhodesia Party, which had won an overwhelming victory in the previous elections in 1924, was re-elected with a slightly reduced majority.
The South Africa Act 1909 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that created the Union of South Africa out of the former Cape, Natal, Orange River, and Transvaal colonies. The Act also allowed for potential admission of Rhodesia into the Union, a proposal rejected by Rhodesian colonists in a 1922 referendum. The draft proposal was supported by the four colonial parliaments, but was opposed by Cape Colony premier W. P. Schreiner, who raised concerns that it would strip rights from non-white South Africans.
The colonial history of Southern Rhodesia is considered to be a time period from the British government's establishment of the government of Southern Rhodesia on 1 October 1923, to Prime Minister Ian Smith's unilateral declaration of independence in 1965. The territory of 'Southern Rhodesia' was originally referred to as 'South Zambezia' but the name 'Rhodesia' came into use in 1895. The designation 'Southern' was adopted in 1901 and dropped from normal usage in 1964 on the break-up of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, and Rhodesia became the name of the country until the creation of Zimbabwe Rhodesia in 1979. Legally, from the British perspective, the name Southern Rhodesia continued to be used until 18 April 1980, when the name Republic of Zimbabwe was formally proclaimed.
The Southern Rhodesian Legislative Council was the inaugural governing body for the British South Africa Company (BSAC) territory of Southern Rhodesia before its replacement by the Southern Rhodesian Legislative Assembly in 1923, when the country achieved responsible government, and duly became a self-governing colony within the British Empire.
The provincial councils were the legislatures of the four original provinces of South Africa. They were created at the foundation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, and abolished in 1986 when they were replaced by a strengthened executive appointed by the State President. The four provincial councils were the Cape Provincial Council, the Natal Provincial Council, the Transvaal Provincial Council and the Orange Free State Provincial Council.
Advisory Council elections were held in Northern Rhodesia for the first time in July 1918.
The flag of the British South Africa Company was the flag used by the British South Africa Company (BSAC) and Rhodesia under company rule. It was adopted in 1892 and was used until 1923 when the south of Rhodesia voted to become Southern Rhodesia and the north was surrendered to the Colonial Office to become Northern Rhodesia. The flag remained as the company's commercial flag until 1965. The flag consisted of a British Union Flag with the company's logo of a lion and tusk on a white circle in the centre with "B.S.A.C." underneath it.