Somerset East (House of Assembly of South Africa constituency)

Somerset East
Somerset-Oos
Former constituency for the South African House of Assembly
Province	Cape of Good Hope
Electorate	10,049 (1970)
Former constituency
Created	1910
Abolished	1981
Number of members	1
Last MHA	S. J. H. van der Spuy (NP)

Somerset East (Afrikaans: Somerset-Oos; known until 1938 simply as Somerset) was a constituency in the Cape Province of South Africa, which existed from 1910 to 1981. It covered a rural area of the Eastern Cape centred on the town of Somerset East. Throughout its existence it elected one member to the House of Assembly and one to the Cape 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. The Cape Colony had implemented a “colour-blind” franchise known as the Cape Qualified Franchise, which included all adult literate men owning more than £75 worth of property (controversially raised from £25 in 1892), and this initially remained in effect after the colony became the Cape Province. As of 1908, 22,784 out of 152,221 electors in the Cape Colony were “Native or Coloured”. Eligibility to serve in Parliament and the Provincial Council, however, was restricted to whites from 1910 onward.

The first challenge to the Cape Qualified Franchise came with the Women's Enfranchisement Act, 1930 and the Franchise Laws Amendment Act, 1931, which extended the vote to women and removed property qualifications for the white population only – non-white voters remained subject to the earlier restrictions. In 1936, the Representation of Natives Act removed all black voters from the common electoral roll and introduced three “Native Representative Members”, white MPs elected by the black voters of the province and meant to represent their interests in particular. A similar provision was made for Coloured voters with the Separate Representation of Voters Act, 1951, and although this law was challenged by the courts, it went into effect in time for the 1958 general election, which was thus held with all-white voter rolls for the first time in South African history. The all-white franchise would continue until the end of apartheid and the introduction of universal suffrage in 1994. ^[1]

History

Like many rural constituencies across the Cape, Somerset East was a conservative seat with a largely Afrikaans-speaking electorate. Aside from the first decade after unification, the seat was held throughout its existence by the National Party. L. J. Vosloo, first elected in 1926, was one of the 19 Nationalist MPs who joined D. F. Malan’s Purified National Party, and stayed in office until 1953. By then, the seat was thoroughly safe for the NP, which held it unopposed for the last decade of its existence.

Members

Election		Member	Party
	1910	A. J. Vosloo	South African
	1915	Andries Stockenström
	1920	A. P. J. Fourie	National
	1921
	1924
	1926 by	L. J. Vosloo
	1929
	1933
	1934		GNP
	1938
	1943		HNP
	1948
	1953	A. H. Vosloo	National
	1958
	1961
	1966
	1970	S. J. H. van der Spuy
	1974
	1977
	1981	constituency abolished

^{[2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]}

Detailed results

Elections in the 1910s

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

General election 1910: Somerset

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	South African	A. J. Vosloo	Unopposed
	South African win (new seat)

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

General election 1915: Somerset

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	South African	Andries Stockenström	1,398	52.2	N/A
	National	H. J. Moolman	1,278	47.8	New
Majority			120	4.4	N/A
Turnout			2,676	86.7	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 § Somerset.[ edit ]

General election 1920: Somerset

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	A. P. J. Fourie	1,630	56.6	+8.8
	South African	Andries Stockenström	1,250	43.4	−8.8
Majority			380	13.2	N/A
Turnout			2,880	79.6	−7.1
	National gain from South African		Swing	+8.8

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

General election 1921: Somerset

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	A. P. J. Fourie	1,631	54.7	−1.9
	South African	P. J. J. Coetzee	1,351	45.3	+1.9
Majority			280	9.4	−3.8
Turnout			2,982	78.1	−1.5
	National hold		Swing	-1.9

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. Government Gazette of South Africa, No. 6705. 19 October 1979. Pretoria: Government of South Africa.
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.
8. Government Gazette of South Africa, No. 12206. 8 December 1989. Pretoria: Government of South Africa.