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, Potchefstroom had a largely Afrikaans-speaking electorate. In its early days, it was a marginal seat, seeing tight contests between the National and South African parties, before going through a brief period of United Party dominance in the 1930s and 40s. In 1948, it was captured by Johan Heinrich Steyn of the Afrikaner Party, who soon joined the governing National Party - from then on, it became a safe seat for the NP. Its longest-serving MP, Louis le Grange, was first elected in 1966, and served as a cabinet minister under John Vorster and P. W. Botha before being made Speaker of the House of Assembly in 1987. He died in office in 1991, and the resulting by-election was won by the Conservative Party - coming shortly before the referendum on ending apartheid, this was seen as a major setback for the governing party.
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