South Peninsula (House of Assembly of South Africa constituency)

South Peninsula
Suid-Skiereiland
Former constituency for the South African House of Assembly
Province	Cape of Good Hope
Electorate	3,928 (1929)
Former constituency
Created	1910
Abolished	1958
Number of members	1
Last MHA	L. C. Gay (UP)
Replaced by	Simonstown

South Peninsula was a constituency in the Cape Province of South Africa, which existed from 1910 to 1958. As the name implies, it covered roughly the southern half of the Cape Peninsula, and initially also much of the Cape Flats. 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

When South Peninsula was first created, it almost completely surrounded Cape Town, stretching from Camps Bay in the west to Athlone in the north and the Eerste River in the east. ^[2] Suburban growth gradually cut the seat down in size, however, and after the creation of Cape Flats in 1929, it was more or less contained to the South Peninsula itself. Hout Bay was moved out of the seat in 1953, ^[3] and in the following election, it was renamed Simonstown to reflect its more compact geography.

Like the rest of the Cape Town area, South Peninsula was a stronghold for the liberal, pro-British side of South African politics. Nevertheless, its politics were highly pluralistic – in 1915, it was the only constituency in South Africa with candidates from all four major political parties of the time (the Unionists, the SAP, the Nationals and Labour). The Unionist candidate, Murray Bisset, won by a wide margin, and would continue to represent the seat until 1924. In 1929, future cabinet minister Sidney Frank Waterson won his first election to the House of Assembly from the seat, and represented it until he moved to Claremont in 1943. By this point, South Peninsula was a safe seat for the United Party, whose candidates would win it in every election until its disappearance in 1958. Its last MP, Lewis Charles Gay, stood for and was elected unopposed in the new seat of Simonstown.

Members

Election		Member	Party
	1910	William Runciman	Unionist
	1915	Murray Bisset
	1920
	1921		South African
	1924	Drummond Chaplin
	1929	Sidney Frank Waterson
	1933
	1934		United
	1938
	1938 by	Max Sonnenberg
	1943
	1948
	1949 by	L. C. Gay
	1953
	1958	Constituency abolished

^[4]

Detailed results

Elections in the 1910s

General election 1910: South Peninsula ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	William Runciman	1,153	58.4	New
	Independent	H. Cloete	754	38.2	New
	South African	C. W. B. Molteno	68	3.4	New
Majority			399	20.2	N/A
Turnout			1,975		N/A
	Unionist win (new seat)

General election 1915: South Peninsula ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Murray Bisset	1,440	55.4	−3.0
	South African	A. J. Chiappini	734	28.3	+23.9
	National	R. Cloete	280	10.8	New
	Labour	C. Hughes	144	5.5	New
Majority			706	27.1	N/A
Turnout			2,598	70.4	N/A
	Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1920: South Peninsula ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Murray Bisset	1,203	65.2	+9.8
	Labour	C. H. Haggar	385	20.9	+15.4
	Independent	W. H. Lategan	257	13.9	New
Majority			818	44.3	N/A
Turnout			1,845	45.9	−24.5
	Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1921: South Peninsula ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	South African	Murray Bisset	1,469	77.8	+9.8
	Independent	W. H. Lategan	419	22.2	+8.3
Majority			1,050	55.6	N/A
Turnout			1,888	46.7	+0.8
	South African hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1924: South Peninsula ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	South African	Drummond Chaplin	1,690	61.6	−16.2
	National	W. H. Lategan	1,053	38.4	+16.2
Majority			637	23.2	−32.4
Turnout			2,743	63.9	+16.2
	South African hold		Swing	-16.2

General election 1929: South Peninsula ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	South African	Sidney Frank Waterson	2,073	71.7	+10.1
	National	W. H. Lategan	820	28.3	−10.1
Majority			1,253	43.4	+20.2
Turnout			2,893	73.6	+9.7
	South African hold		Swing	+10.1

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1933: South Peninsula ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	South African	Sidney Frank Waterson	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. Report of the second delimitation commission appointed under the South Africa Act, 1909 (1913). Pretoria: Government Printing and Stationery Office. Commons
3. Government Gazette of South Africa, No. 5009. 20 February 1953. Pretoria: Government of South Africa.
4. Schoeman, B.M. (1977). Parlementêre verkiesings in Suid-Afrika 1910-1976. Pretoria: Aktuele Publikasies.