Pretoria District South (House of Assembly of South Africa constituency)

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Pretoria District South
Pretoria-Distrik-Suid
Former constituency
for the South African House of Assembly
Province Transvaal
Electorate2,274 (1925 by)
Former constituency
Created 1910
Abolished 1929
Number of members1
Last MHA  H. D. van Broekhuizen (NP)
Replaced byPretoria District

Pretoria District South (Afrikaans: Pretoria-Distrik-Suid) was a constituency in the Transvaal Province of South Africa, which existed from 1910 to 1929. It covered a rural area to the south 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.

Contents

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 District South, like most of the rural Transvaal, had a largely Afrikaans-speaking electorate, but it was influenced by its proximity to the capital. The result was a strongly marginal seat, with fierce contests between the South African and National parties. Two of its MPs, C. F. Beyers and Chris Muller, had been involved in the Maritz rebellion - Beyers died in action during the rebellion, while Muller survived and was elected to parliament after the end of World War I. He resigned in 1925, and the resulting by-election was won by Herman van Broekhuizen, who moved to neighbouring Wonderboom on the seat's abolition in 1929.

Members

ElectionMemberParty
1910 C. F. Beyers Het Volk
1912 byJacobus van der Walt South African
1915
1920 Chris Muller National
1921
1924
1925 byH. D. van Broekhuizen
1929 constituency abolished

[2] [3]

Detailed results

Elections in the 1910s

General election 1910: Pretoria District South
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Het Volk C. F. Beyers Unopposed
Het Volk win (new seat)
Pretoria District South by-election, 30 September 1912 [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
South African Jacobus van der WaltUnopposed
South African hold
General election 1915: Pretoria District South
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
South African Jacobus van der Walt 1,104 48.5 N/A
National H. S. Webb1,03445.4New
Labour W. P. Thorn1406.1New
Majority 703.1N/A
Turnout 2,27880.6N/A
South African hold Swing N/A

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1920: Pretoria District South
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
National Chris Muller 987 51.0 +5.6
South African Jacobus van der Walt94849.0+0.5
Majority 392.0N/A
Turnout 1,93566.6−14.0
National gain from South African Swing +2.6
General election 1921: Pretoria District South
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
National Chris Muller 1,227 52.2 +1.2
South African J. F. Ludorf1,12347.8−1.2
Majority 1044.4+2.4
Turnout 2,35072.0+5.4
National hold Swing +1.2

References

  1. "EISA South Africa: Historical franchise arrangements". Eisa.org.za. Archived from the original on 9 May 2013. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
  2. 1 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).