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
As in the rest of Natal, Weenen's electorate was largely English-speaking and conservative. With the exception of its first election, in which Unionist Hugh Mowbray Meyler narrowly won the new seat, it was held by the South African Party throughout its existence. Its last MP, Harold Abrahamson, followed the majority of the SAP into the United Party in 1934, and was re-elected comfortably in 1938, facing only a Greyshirt opponent. In 1943, Weenen disappeared from the electoral map and was largely replaced by the new Drakensberg constituency, in which Abrahamson sought and won re-election, representing the new seat until 1949.
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