Pietersburg (House of Assembly of South Africa constituency)

Pietersburg
Former constituency for the South African House of Assembly
Location of Pietersburg within South Africa (1981)
Province	Transvaal
Electorate	22,800 (1989)
Former constituency
Created	1920
Abolished	1994
Number of members	1
Last MHA	W. J. Snyman (CP)
Replaced by	Limpopo

Pietersburg was a constituency in the Transvaal Province of South Africa, which existed from 1920 to 1994. Named after the town of Pietersburg (now Polokwane), it covered a rural area in the northern 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, Pietersburg had a largely Afrikaans-speaking electorate. For most of its history, it was a stronghold of the National Party, and for the first forty years of its existence, it was represented by a single MP - Tom Naudé, who was first elected on the seat's creation in 1920 and only left on his elevation to the Senate in 1960. During his time in the lower house, he served as Chief Whip, Speaker, and finally as a cabinet minister in all Nationalist governments from 1950 until 1961. He finished his career as President of the Senate, in which role he acted as State President following the death of State President-elect Eben Dönges in 1967.

Following Naudé's retirement, Pietersburg stayed a loyal Nationalist seat, but in 1982, its MP, Willem Jacobus Snyman, joined Andries Treurnicht's new Conservative Party, and was re-elected under that label at every subsequent election until the fall of apartheid.

Members

Election		Member	Party
	1920	Tom Naudé	National
	1921
	1924
	1929
	1933
	1934		United
	1938
	1939		HNP
	1943
	1948
	1953		National
	1958
	1961	F. J. Niemand
	1966	A. S. D. Erasmus
	1970
	1974
	1975 by	W. J. Snyman
	1977
	1981
	1982		Conservative
	1987
	1989
	1994	Constituency abolished

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

Detailed results

Elections in the 1920s

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

General election 1920: Pietersburg

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Tom Naudé	996	55.6	New
	South African	T. J. Kleinenberg	796	44.4	New
Majority			200	11.2	N/A
Turnout			1,792	67.9	N/A
	National win (new seat)

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

General election 1921: Pietersburg

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Tom Naudé	1,108	55.0	−0.6
	South African	G. P. C. Kotzé	905	45.0	+0.6
Majority			203	10.0	−1.2
Turnout			2,013	69.2	+1.3
	National hold		Swing	-0.6

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

General election 1924: Pietersburg

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Tom Naudé	1,293	56.4	+1.4
	South African	P. J. Naudé	990	43.2	−1.8
Rejected ballots			11	0.4	N/A
Majority			303	13.2	+3.2
Turnout			2,294	76.9	+7.7
	National hold		Swing	+1.6

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

General election 1929: Pietersburg

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Tom Naudé	1,297	59.0	+2.6
	South African	B. G. L. Enslin	890	40.5	−2.7
Rejected ballots			13	0.5	+0.1
Majority			407	18.5	+5.3
Turnout			2,200	85.3	+8.4
	National hold		Swing	+2.7

Elections in the 1930s

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

General election 1933: Pietersburg

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Tom Naudé	2,500	68.2	+9.2
	Independent	S. T. Davis	1,133	30.9	New
Rejected ballots			35	0.9	+0.4
Majority			1,367	37.3	N/A
Turnout			3,668	71.5	−13.8
	National hold		Swing	N/A

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

General election 1938: Pietersburg

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United	Tom Naudé	2,391	53.8	−14.4
	Purified National	C. Hofmeyr	2,004	45.1	New
Rejected ballots			47	1.1	+0.2
Majority			387	8.7	N/A
Turnout			4,442	83.4	+11.9
	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.