Umbilo (House of Assembly of South Africa constituency)

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Umbilo
Former constituency
for the South African House of Assembly
Durban-1981-Umbilo.png
Location of Umbilo within Durban (1981)
Province Natal
Electorate16,789 (1989)
Former constituency
Created 1910
Abolished 1994
Number of members1
Last MHA  C. H. Charlewood (DP)
Replaced by KwaZulu-Natal

Umbilo, known as Durban Umbilo (Afrikaans: Durban-Umbilo) until 1966, was a constituency in the Natal Province of South Africa, which existed from 1910 to 1994. Named for the Umbilo River, it covered the inner-southern suburbs of Durban surrounding the docks. Throughout its existence it elected one member to the House of Assembly.

Contents

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 franchise used in the Natal Colony, while theoretically not restricted by race, was significantly less liberal than that of the Cape, and no more than a few hundred non-white electors ever qualified. In 1908, an estimated 200 of the 22,786 electors in the colony were of non-European descent, and by 1935, only one remained. [1] By 1958, when the last non-white voters in the Cape were taken off the rolls, Natal too had an all-white electorate. 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, which remained the case until the end of apartheid and the introduction of universal suffrage in 1994. [2]

History

The Port of Durban was one of the two major strongholds of early South African trade unionism (along with the Witwatersrand mines), and this made Umbilo a prominent safe seat for the Labour Party. Its first two elections were won by Unionist-turned-independent Charles Phineas Robinson, who would go on to represent two other Durban seats before retiring from parliament in 1929. Through the 1920s, Umbilo changed hands at every election between Labour and the South African Party, but from 1933 until 1958, it was held continuously by various stripes of leftist. Unlike many safe seats, however, it saw a rapid succession of individual MPs, with no Labour MP holding the seat for more than a single full term. In 1953, it was one of only five seats nationwide held by Labour, alongside neighbouring Umlazi and three seats on the Witwatersrand.

After the 1953 election, the Labour Party went into fatal decline, and in 1958, the United Party's Geoffrey Norman Oldfield took the seat without opposition. In marked contrast to his Labour predecessors, Oldfield would represent Umbilo without interruption for 23 years, joining the conservative New Republic Party after the UP dissolved in 1977. By this time, the voting patterns of the white working class in South Africa had changed considerably, and the NRP held the seat on Oldfield's retirement in 1981, giving way in 1987 to Piet Matthee of the governing National Party. Unlike similar constituencies in Cape Town or Johannesburg, however, Umbilo would not become a safe seat for the NP, and in 1989 they lost the seat to the liberal Democratic Party. The DP's Carole Heeley Charlewood would become the seat's final MP, representing it until the first post-apartheid elections in 1994.

Members

ElectionMemberParty
1910 C. P. Robinson Unionist
1915 Independent
1920 Frank Nettleton Labour
1921 H. G. Mackeurtan South African
1924 George Reyburn Labour
1929 H. P. Borlase South African
1933 R. T. McArthur Labour
1933 byD. C. Burnside
1938 Socialist
1943 A. T. Wanless Labour
1948 E. A. Benson
1953 Leonard Whiteley
1958 G. N. Oldfield United
1961
1966
1970
1974
1977 New Republic
1981 D. W. Watterson
1987 Piet Matthee National
1989 C. H. Charlewood Democratic
1994 Constituency abolished

[3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

Detailed results

Elections in the 1910s

General election 1910: Durban Umbilo
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Unionist C. P. Robinson 788 58.7 New
Labour F. T. Powrie55441.3New
Majority 23417.4N/A
Unionist win (new seat)
General election 1915: Durban Umbilo
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Unionist C. P. Robinson 969 62.1 +3.4
Labour N. P. Palmer59237.9−3.4
Majority 37724.2+6.8
Turnout 1,56168.3N/A
Unionist hold Swing +3.4

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1920: Durban Umbilo
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Frank Nettleton 901 62.7 +24.8
Unionist C. P. Robinson53537.3−24.8
Majority 36625.2N/A
Turnout 1,43665.2−3.1
Labour gain from Unionist Swing +24.8
General election 1921: Durban Umbilo
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
South African H. G. MacKeurtan 1,008 57.1 New
Labour Frank Nettleton75842.9−19.8
Majority 25014.2N/A
Turnout 1,76669.4+4.2
South African gain from Labour Swing N/A

References

  1. May, H.J. (1955). The South African Constitution. 3rd ed. Cape Town: Juta & Co.
  2. "EISA South Africa: Historical franchise arrangements". Eisa.org.za. Archived from the original on 9 May 2013. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
  3. Schoeman, B.M. (1977). Parlementêre verkiesings in Suid-Afrika 1910-1976. Pretoria: Aktuele Publikasies.
  4. Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa (1972). "House of Assembly" (vol. 5, pp. 617–636). Cape Town: Nasionale Opvoedkundige Uitgewery (Nasou).
  5. South Africa 1980/81: Official Yearbook of the Republic of South Africa. Johannesburg: Chris van Rensburg Publications.
  6. South Africa 1983: Official Yearbook of the Republic of South Africa. Johannesburg: Chris van Rensburg Publications.
  7. Government Gazette of South Africa, No. 10751. 22 May 1987. Pretoria: Government of South Africa.
  8. Government Gazette of South Africa, No. 12109. 20 September 1989. Pretoria: Government of South Africa.