Middelburg (House of Assembly of South Africa constituency)

Middelburg
Former constituency for the South African House of Assembly
Location of Middelburg within South Africa (1981)
Province	Transvaal
Electorate	24,251 (1989)
Former constituency
Created	1910 1966
Abolished	1948 1994
Number of members	1
Last MHA	H. J. Coetzee (CP)
Created from	Bethal-Middelburg (1966)
Replaced by	Bethal-Middelburg (1948) Mpumalanga (1994)

Middelburg was a constituency in the Transvaal Province of South Africa, which existed from 1910 to 1948 and from 1966 to 1994. Named after the town of Middelburg, it covered a part of the eastern Transvaal along the border with Eswatini. 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, Middelburg had a largely Afrikaans-speaking electorate. Its longest-serving MP, Jan Dirk Heyns, was initially elected for the National Party, but followed J. B. M. Hertzog into the United Party in 1934. Middelburg remained a UP seat until its abolition in 1948, even with Heyns retiring in 1938 and Hertzog bolting from the party in 1939, but the popularity of Jan Smuts in the Transvaal likely helped his party retain the seat.

In 1948, Middelburg was merged with the neighbouring seat of Bethal, but the two were separated again in 1966, and the recreated Middelburg constituency was safe for the NP. The governing party faced opposition mainly from the right, and in 1987, the Conservative Party managed to muster enough strength to capture the seat - they held it until the end of apartheid.

Members

Election		Member	Party
	1910	G. J. W. du Toit	Het Volk
	1915	J. L. Hamman	South African
	1920	J. D. Heyns	National
	1921
	1924
	1929
	1933
	1934		United
	1938	P. J. Bosman
	1943	H. O. Eksteen
	1948	Constituency abolished

Election		Member	Party
	1966	J. W. Rall	National
	1970
	1974
	1977	J. W. Ligthelm
	1981
	1987	H. J. Coetzee	Conservative
	1989
	1994	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 § Middelburg.[ edit ]

General election 1910: Middelburg

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Het Volk	G. J. W. du Toit	Unopposed
	Het Volk win (new seat)

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

General election 1915: Middelburg

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	South African	J. L. Hamman	1,351	56.1	N/A
	National	N. H. van der Walt	1,057	43.9	New
Majority			294	12.2	N/A
Turnout			2,408	76.6	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 § Middelburg.[ edit ]

General election 1920: Middelburg

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	J. D. Heyns	1,091	50.6	+6.7
	South African	J. L. Hamman	1,065	49.4	−6.7
Majority			26	1.2	N/A
Turnout			2,156	74.9	−1.7
	National gain from South African		Swing	+6.7

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

General election 1921: Middelburg

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	J. D. Heyns	1,222	51.4	+0.8
	South African	J. L. Hamman	1,157	48.6	−0.8
Majority			65	2.8	+1.6
Turnout			2,379	75.7	+0.8
	National hold		Swing	+0.8

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.