Pietermaritzburg City (House of Assembly of South Africa constituency)

Pietermaritzburg City
Pietermaritzburg-Stad
Former constituency for the South African House of Assembly
Province	Natal
Electorate	14,154 (1970)
Former constituency
Created	1938
Abolished	1974
Number of members	1
Last MHA	W. J. B. Smith (UP)
Created from	Pietermaritzburg North
Replaced by	Pietermaritzburg North Pietermaritzburg South

Pietermaritzburg City (Afrikaans: Pietermaritzburg-Stad) was a constituency in the Natal Province of South Africa, which existed from 1938 to 1974. As the name implies, it covered the inner parts of Pietermaritzburg, the provincial capital. 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

Despite its Afrikaans name, Pietermaritzburg's white population (and consequently, its pre-1994 electorate) is predominantly English-speaking, and like the rest of Natal, its politics were largely supportive of the pro-British side of South African politics. The city was initially divided into a North and a South seat, but in 1929, it was reconfigured and the District seat created. Unusually, for its first nine years, the District seat coexisted with Pietermaritzburg North, and no City seat existed, but this was created in 1938 and Pietermaritzburg's constituencies were brought into line with those of other mid-sized South African cities like Bloemfontein and Kimberley.

Pietermaritzburg City's first MP, William Arthur Deane, had previously represented the abolished seat of Pietermaritzburg North, and like most Natal MPs of the era, was a member of the United Party. This party would hold the seat at every election, but not quite throughout its existence: Howard George Oliver Odell, elected for the UP in 1961, defected to the governing National Party sometime during his term, and attempted to recontest the seat under their banner in 1966. He was narrowly defeated by the UP candidate, William John Brafield Smith, who held the seat until its abolition in 1974. As with all other mid-sized South African cities except Germiston, Pietermaritzburg's constituencies were reconfigured in that year to abolish the City and District seats and return to compass-point constituencies - in this case, the North and South seats were recreated. Odell returned in 1974 to contest the newly-recreated Pietermaritzburg North seat, but again failed in his bid.

Members

Election		Member	Party
	1938	W. A. Deane	United
	1943	O. L. Shearer
	1948
	1953
	1958
	1961	H. G. O. Odell
			National
	1966	W. J. B. Smith	United
	1970
	1974	Constituency abolished

^{[3] [4]}

Detailed results

Elections in the 1930s

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

General election 1938: Pietermaritzburg City

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United	W. A. Deane	2,848	61.5	New
	Independent	R. Dunlop	1,721	37.2	New
Rejected ballots			59	1.3	N/A
Majority			1,127	24.4	N/A
Turnout			4,628	70.8	N/A
	United win (new seat)

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).