Standerton (House of Assembly of South Africa constituency)

Standerton
Former constituency for the South African House of Assembly
Location of Standerton within South Africa (1981)
Province	Transvaal
Electorate	21,538 (1989)
Former constituency
Created	1910
Abolished	1994
Number of members	1
Last MHA	J. R. de Ville (CP)
Replaced by	Mpumalanga

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

Standerton, like most of the rural Transvaal, had a largely Afrikaans-speaking electorate and was a conservative seat throughout its existence. Its most notable MP by far, Jan Smuts, was first elected in the seat in a 1924 by-election, precipitated by his loss in Pretoria West during the 1924 general election. Standerton MP Gert Marthinus Claassen agreed to step down to make his seat available for Smuts, and the latter would go on to represent Standerton longer than any other seat. However, his popularity fell after World War II, and amidst his United Party's nationwide defeat at the 1948 general election, he lost his own seat.

From 1948 on, Standerton was a safe seat for the governing National Party, who never went unopposed there but generally won strong majorities. In 1987, however, it was one of many Transvaal seats to fall to Andries Treurnicht's new Conservative Party, whose promise of maintaining unconditional white supremacy resonated with Standerton's white, largely Afrikaner electorate. Jacobus Rosier de Ville, the Conservative MP elected in 1987, continued to represent the seat until the end of apartheid.

Members

Election		Member	Party
	1910	J. J. Alberts	Het Volk
	1915	G. M. Claassen	South African
	1920
	1921
	1924
	1924 by	Jan Smuts
	1929
	1933
	1934		United
	1938
	1943
	1948	W. C. du Plessis	HNP
	1953		National
	1954 by	L. I. Coertze
	1958
	1961
	1966	Hendrik Schoeman
	1970
	1974	W. J. Hefer
	1977
	1981
	1987	J. R. de Ville	Conservative
	1989
	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 § Standerton.[ edit ]

General election 1910: Standerton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Het Volk	J. J. Alberts	Unopposed
	Het Volk win (new seat)

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

General election 1915: Standerton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	South African	G. M. Claassen	Unopposed
	South African hold

Elections in the 1920s

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

General election 1920: Standerton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	South African	G. M. Claassen	1,045	70.8	N/A
	National	P. L. Erasmus	430	29.2	New
Majority			615	41.6	N/A
Turnout			1,475	51.7	N/A
	South African hold		Swing	N/A

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

General election 1921: Standerton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	South African	G. M. Claassen	1,215	68.1	−2.7
	National	P. W. de W. Bekker	568	31.9	+2.7
Majority			615	36.2	−5.4
Turnout			1,783	55.5	+3.8
	South African hold		Swing	-2.7

Standerton by-election, 1 July 1924 ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	South African	Jan Smuts	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. 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.