Rustenburg (House of Assembly of South Africa constituency)

Rustenburg
Former constituency for the South African House of Assembly
Location of Rustenburg within South Africa (1981)
Province	Transvaal
Electorate	24,094 (1989)
Former constituency
Created	1910
Abolished	1994
Number of members	1
Last MHA	Willie Botha (CP)
Replaced by	North West

Rustenburg was a constituency in the Transvaal Province of South Africa, which existed from 1910 to 1994. It covered a rural area in the western Transvaal centred on the town of Rustenburg. 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

Rustenburg, like most of the rural Transvaal, had a largely Afrikaans-speaking electorate and was a conservative seat throughout its existence. For much of its history, it was a bellwether, being held by the governing party (or one of the governing parties) in every election from 1910 until 1987, with the exception of 1921. The 1921 general election appeared to go the way of the governing South African Party as well, with official returns showing a one-vote majority, but was overturned on appeal and the seat handed to the National Party candidate, P. G. W. Grobler. Grobler served in cabinet under J. B. M. Hertzog, and followed Hertzog into the United Party in 1934, but retired at the following general election due to poor health.

It fell to the Herenigde Nasionale Party in 1948, alongside many other Transvaal seats, and over the following decades became a safe Government seat. This streak was broken at the final whites-only election in 1989, in which, again like many other seats in the Transvaal, it fell to the Conservative Party. Its final MP, Willie Botha, joined the Freedom Front after the CP decided to boycott the non-racial 1994 general election, and served in the post-apartheid parliament for a single five-year term.

Members

Election		Member	Party
	1910	P. G. W. Grobler	Het Volk
	1915	B. I. J. van Heerden	South African
	1920	H. N. J. van der Merwe
	1921	P. G. W. Grobler	National
	1924
	1929
	1933
	1934		United
	1938	J. M. Conradie
	1943
	1948	J. H. Fouché	HNP
	1953		National
	1958	L. J. C. Bootha
	1961
	1966	Paul Bodenstein
	1970
	1974
	1977
	1979 by	M. H. Veldman
	1981
	1987
	1989	Willie Botha	Conservative
	1994	Constituency abolished

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

Detailed results

Elections in the 1910s

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 1910 South African general election § Rustenburg.[ edit ]

General election 1910: Rustenburg

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Het Volk	P. G. W. Grobler	Unopposed
	Het Volk win (new seat)

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 1915 South African general election § Rustenburg.[ edit ]

General election 1915: Rustenburg

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	South African	B. I. J. van Heerden	1,353	61.9	−16.5
	National	T. C. Stoffberg	834	38.1	New
Majority			519	23.8	N/A
Turnout			2,187	79.1	N/A
	South African hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1920s

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

General election 1920: Rustenburg

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	South African	H. N. J. van der Merwe	1,072	50.8	−11.1
	National	P. G. W. Grobler	1,038	49.2	+11.1
Majority			34	1.6	−22.2
Turnout			2,110	69.6	−9.5
	South African hold		Swing	-11.1

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

General election 1921: Rustenburg

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	South African	H. N. J. van der Merwe	1,151	50.0	−0.8
	National	P. G. W. Grobler	1,150	50.0	+0.8
Majority			1	0.0	−1.6
Turnout			2,301	70.5	−0.9
	South African hold		Swing	-0.8

The election was overturned on appeal and Grobler was declared elected.

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. South Africa 1980/81: Official Yearbook of the Republic of South Africa. Johannesburg: Chris van Rensburg Publications.
4. South Africa 1983: Official Yearbook of the Republic of South Africa. Johannesburg: Chris van Rensburg Publications.
5. Government Gazette of South Africa, No. 10751. 22 May 1987. Pretoria: Government of South Africa.
6. Government Gazette of South Africa, No. 12109. 20 September 1989. Pretoria: Government of South Africa.