Smithfield (House of Assembly of South Africa constituency)

Smithfield
Former constituency for the South African House of Assembly
Location of Smithfield within South Africa (1981)
Province	Orange Free State
Electorate	13,130 (1989)
Former constituency
Created	1910
Abolished	1994
Number of members	1
Last MHA	A.P. Oosthuizen (CP)
Replaced by	Free State

Smithfield (known between 1929 and 1938 as Smithfield-Rouxville) was a constituency in the Orange Free State Province of South Africa, which existed from 1910 to 1994. Named after the town of Smithfield, the seat covered a large rural area in the south of the province, bordering the Cape Province as well as Lesotho. Throughout its existence it elected one member to the House of Assembly.

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 Orange River Colony, and its predecessor the Orange Free State, the vote was restricted to white men, and as such, elections in the Orange Free State 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

Smithfield, like most of the Orange Free State, was a highly conservative seat throughout its existence and had a largely Afrikaans-speaking electorate. Its most notable MP was J. B. M. Hertzog, who represented the seat from 1910 until his retirement from politics in 1939. Hertzog's National Party, who became South Africa's governing party in 1948 and stayed in power until 1994, held Smithfield until its fall (along with several other rural Free State seats) to the Conservative Party in the 1989 general election, the last held under apartheid.

Members

Election		Member	Party
	1910	J. B. M. Hertzog	Orangia Unie
	1915		National
	1920
	1921
	1924
	1929
	1933
	1934		United
	1938
	1939		HNP
	1941 by	Jim Fouché
	1943
	1948
	1950 by	J. J. Fouché Jr.	National
	1953
	1958
	1961
	1966	J. S. Pansegrouw
	1970
	1974
	1975 by	C. H. W. Simkin
	1977
	1981
	1987	H. J. Smith
	1989	A. P. Oosthuizen	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 § Smithfield.[ edit ]

General election 1910: Smithfield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Orangia Unie	J. B. M. Hertzog	Unopposed
	Orangia Unie win (new seat)

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

General election 1915: Smithfield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	J. B. M. Hertzog	1,315	82.8	N/A
	South African	G. C. Botha	272	17.2	New
Majority			1,043	65.6	N/A
Turnout			1,587	74.9	N/A
	National hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1920s

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

General election 1920: Smithfield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	J. B. M. Hertzog	1,613	89.1	+6.3
	South African	J. L. Botha	198	10.9	−6.3
Majority			1,415	78.2	+12.6
Turnout			1,811	69.1	−5.8
	National hold		Swing	+6.3

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

General election 1921: Smithfield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	J. B. M. Hertzog	Unopposed
	National hold

General election 1924: Smithfield ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	J. B. M. Hertzog	1,701	83.1	N/A
	South African	G. L. Steytler	347	16.9	New
Majority			1,354	66.2	N/A
Turnout			2,048	75.5	N/A
	National hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1929: Smithfield-Rouxville ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	J. B. M. Hertzog	1,560	85.8	+2.7
	South African	J. A. Oberholzer	347	14.2	−2.7
Majority			1,213	71.6	+5.4
Turnout			1,819	73.9	−1.6
	National hold		Swing	+2.7

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1933: Smithfield-Rouxville ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	J. B. M. Hertzog	Unopposed
	National hold

General election 1938: Smithfield ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United	J. B. M. Hertzog	3,566	54.0	N/A
	Purified National	Jim Fouché	3,040	46.0	New
Majority			526	8.0	N/A
Turnout			6,606	94.1	N/A
	United hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1940s

Smithfield by-election, 19 March 1941 ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Reunited National	Jim Fouché	3,433	56.6	+10.6
	Afrikaner	J. G. Pansegrouw	2,636	43.4	New
Majority			797	13.2	N/A
Turnout			6,069	88.4	N/A
	Reunited National 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. 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.