Wolmaransstad (House of Assembly of South Africa constituency)

Wolmaransstad
Former constituency for the South African House of Assembly
Province	Transvaal
Electorate	10,204 (1970)
Former constituency
Created	1910
Abolished	1974
Number of members	1
Last MHA	G. P. van den Berg (NP)

Wolmaransstad was a constituency in the Transvaal Province of South Africa, which existed from 1910 to 1974. It covered a rural area in the western Transvaal, centred on the town of Wolmaransstad. 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

Like most of the rural Transvaal, Wolmaransstad was a conservative seat and had a largely Afrikaans-speaking electorate. It was held through most of its existence by the National Party, and for much of its early history by a single MP, Jan Kemp. Kemp was an Afrikaner nationalist who had participated in both the South African War and the Maritz rebellion, and following the latter conflict he was released early from prison in exchange for a promise not to enter politics, which he promptly broke by standing for election in 1920. He served in parliament until 1946, joining the United Party alongside J. B. M. Hertzog in 1934 and returning to the Herenigde Nasionale Party in 1939. He died in 1946, and his seat was briefly taken over by Ernest George Jansen, until he resigned to take up the position of Governor-General. The seat continued to be safe for the NP, now South Africa's governing party, until its abolition in 1974.

Members

Election		Member	Party
	1910	Hendrik de Waal	Het Volk
	1915	E. J. J. van der Horst	National
	1920	Jan Kemp
	1921
	1924
	1929
	1933
	1934		United
	1938
	1939		HNP
	1943
	1947 by	Ernest George Jansen
	1948
	1950 by	L. M. Wentzel	National
	1953	G. P. van den Berg
	1958
	1961
	1966
	1970
	1974	Constituency abolished

^{[2] [3]}

Detailed results

Elections in the 1910s

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 1910 South African general election § Wolmaransstad.[ edit ]

General election 1910: Wolmaransstad

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Het Volk	Hendrik de Waal	Unopposed
	Het Volk win (new seat)

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

General election 1915: Wolmaransstad

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	E. J. J. van der Horst	1,439	53.7	New
	South African	J. P. Jooste	1,239	46.3	N/A
Majority			200	7.4	N/A
Turnout			2,678	71.2	N/A
	National gain from South African		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1920s

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

General election 1920: Wolmaransstad

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Jan Kemp	1,162	66.0	+12.2
	South African	J. J. Hoffman	599	34.0	−12.3
Majority			563	32.0	+24.6
Turnout			1,761	65.1	−6.1
	National hold		Swing	+12.3

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

General election 1921: Wolmaransstad

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Jan Kemp	1,152	65.3	−0.7
	South African	P. W. Botha	613	34.7	+0.7
Majority			539	30.6	−1.4
Turnout			1,765	60.9	−4.2
	National hold		Swing	-0.7

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).