Pretoria Central (House of Assembly of South Africa constituency)

Pretoria Central
Pretoria-Sentraal
Former constituency for the South African House of Assembly
Location of Pretoria Central within Pretoria (1915)
Province	Transvaal
Electorate	18,882 (1989)
Former constituency
Created	1915
Abolished	1994
Number of members	1
Last MHA	Gert Oosthuizen (NP)
Replaced by	Gauteng

Pretoria Central (Afrikaans: Pretoria-Sentraal) was a constituency in the Transvaal Province of South Africa, which existed from 1915 to 1994. It covered the city centre of Pretoria, the administrative capital of South Africa. 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

Pretoria Central was first created in 1915, as part of a general increase in representation for the Transvaal. It was the third constituency in Pretoria, alongside Pretoria West and East, and several others would be created over the years. Its first MP, Edward Rooth, was elected for the Unionist Party, but defected to the governing South African Party well ahead of the parties' formal merger. From then until 1948, the seat generally favoured the SAP and its successor, the United Party, but the Herenigde Nasionale Party captured the seat in 1948 as part of their nationwide victory. The NP held the seat for the remainder of its existence, in spite of challenges from the UP in the early years and the Conservative Party towards the end. Its final MP, Gert Oosthuizen, had a long political career after the end of apartheid, eventually joining the ANC and serving as a deputy minister until 2019.

Members

Election		Member	Party
	1915	Edward Rooth	Unionist
	1920		South African
	1921
	1924	Charles Te Water	National
	1929	P. V. Pocock	South African
	1933
	1934		United
	1938
	1943	E. P. Pieterse
	1948	D. J. G. van den Heever	HNP
	1953		National
	1958
	1961
	1966
	1970	D. J. L. Nel
	1974
	1977
	1981
	1987	Gert Oosthuizen
	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 1915 South African general election § Pretoria Central.[ edit ]

General election 1915: Pretoria Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Edward Rooth	1,182	61.7	New
	National	L. E. Brandt	416	21.7	New
	Labour	M. G. Nicholson	318	16.6	New
Majority			766	40.0	N/A
Turnout			1,916	77.4	N/A
	Unionist win (new seat)

Elections in the 1920s

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

General election 1920: Pretoria Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	South African	Edward Rooth	1,263	59.2	−2.5
	National	H. Reitz	551	25.8	+4.1
	Labour	P. M. van Leer	320	15.0	−1.6
	Independent	R. A. Kerr	2	0.1	New
Majority			712	33.4	−6.6
Turnout			2,136	63.6	−13.8
	South African hold		Swing	-3.3

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

General election 1921: Pretoria Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	South African	Edward Rooth	Unopposed
	South African hold

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.