Vrededorp (House of Assembly of South Africa constituency)

Last updated
Vrededorp
Former constituency
for the South African House of Assembly
Joburg-1910-Vrededorp.png
Location of Vrededorp within Johannesburg (1910)
Province Transvaal
Electorate9,511 (1938)
Former constituency
Created 1910
Abolished 1943
Number of members1
Last MHA  C. C. E. Badenhorst (UP)

Vrededorp was a constituency in the Transvaal Province of South Africa, which existed from 1910 to 1943. It covered a part of the inner western suburbs of Johannesburg centred on the suburb of Vrededorp. Throughout its existence it elected one member to the House of Assembly and one to the Transvaal Provincial Council.

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. 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

Unusually among urban seats of the period, Vrededorp had a strong National Party presence through most of its existence. It was first taken by the party in 1920, with Dr. Thomas Christoffel Visser, who held it until 1929, always winning by very wide margins. When he retired in 1929, Frank Roberts of the South African Party took the seat by an equally imposing margin, and held it narrowly in 1933 over a supporter of Tielman Roos. Roberts left parliament in 1937, however, triggering a by-election that was won by Johannes Lodewyk Brill of the Purified National Party - the only Johannesburg seat ever held by that party. In 1938, he moved to the rural seat of Christiana, but lost his bid there, and Vrededorp also returned to the United Party fold with Carolina Cathrina Elizabeth Badenhorst, who represented it until its abolition in 1943.

Members

ElectionMemberParty
1910 Lourens Geldenhuys Het Volk
1915 South African
1920 T. C. Visser National
1921
1924
1929 F. J. Roberts South African
1933
1934 United
1937 byJ. L. Brill GNP
1938 C. C. E. Badenhorst United
1943 Constituency abolished

[2] [3]

Detailed results

Elections in the 1910s

General election 1910: Vrededorp
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Het Volk Lourens Geldenhuys 1,059 58.6 New
Unionist N. C. Herschensohn60133.2New
Independent G. A. Roth1488.2New
Majority 60125.4N/A
Het Volk win (new seat)
General election 1915: Vrededorp
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
South African Lourens Geldenhuys 1,028 42.9 −15.7
National T. C. Visser96840.4New
Labour C. A. Lagesen39816.6New
Majority 601.5N/A
Turnout 2,39480.7N/A
South African hold Swing N/A

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1920: Vrededorp
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
National T. C. Visser 1,370 75.6 +35.2
South African W. P. Pistorius44124.4−18.5
Majority 92951.2N/A
Turnout 1,81162.9−17.8
National gain from South African Swing +26.9
General election 1921: Vrededorp
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
National T. C. Visser 1,442 78.6 +3.0
South African P. Lourens38420.9−3.5
Independent J. W. Wordingham80.4New
Majority 1,05857.7+6.5
Turnout 1,83459.2−3.7
National hold Swing +3.3

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. Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa (1972). "House of Assembly" (vol. 5, pp. 617–636). Cape Town: Nasionale Opvoedkundige Uitgewery (Nasou).