Worcester (House of Assembly of South Africa constituency)

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Worcester
Former constituency
for the South African House of Assembly
SA-1981-Worcester.png
Location of Worcester within South Africa (1981)
Province Cape of Good Hope
Electorate15,227 (1989)
Former constituency
Created 1910
Abolished 1994
Number of members1
Last MHA  Ryno King (NP)
Replaced by Western Cape

Worcester was a constituency in the Cape Province of South Africa, which existed from 1910 to 1994. The constituency covered a part of the Boland region centred on the town of Worcester. Throughout its existence it elected one member to the House of Assembly and one to the Cape 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. The Cape Colony had implemented a “colour-blind” franchise known as the Cape Qualified Franchise, which included all adult literate men owning more than £75 worth of property (controversially raised from £25 in 1892), and this initially remained in effect after the colony became the Cape Province. As of 1908, 22,784 out of 152,221 electors in the Cape Colony were “Native or Coloured”. Eligibility to serve in Parliament and the Provincial Council, however, was restricted to whites from 1910 onward.

The first challenge to the Cape Qualified Franchise came with the Women's Enfranchisement Act, 1930 and the Franchise Laws Amendment Act, 1931, which extended the vote to women and removed property qualifications for the white population only – non-white voters remained subject to the earlier restrictions. In 1936, the Representation of Natives Act removed all black voters from the common electoral roll and introduced three “Native Representative Members”, white MPs elected by the black voters of the province and meant to represent their interests in particular. A similar provision was made for Coloured voters with the Separate Representation of Voters Act, 1951, and although this law was challenged by the courts, it went into effect in time for the 1958 general election, which was thus held with all-white voter rolls for the first time in South African history. The all-white franchise would continue until the end of apartheid and the introduction of universal suffrage in 1994. [1]

History

Worcester, like the rest of the Western Cape, started out as a safe seat for the South African Party and over time gradually became a safe seat for the National Party. For the first twenty years of its existence, Worcester was represented by C. B. Heatlie of the SAP, but after his retirement in 1933, it became marginal, switching hands at every election until 1948. In that year, its longest-serving MP, Eben Dönges, was first elected. Dönges served as Minister of the Interior during the implementation of apartheid, and was frequently tipped as a candidate for the premiership. He retired from parliament in 1967 after being elected State President, but had a stroke shortly thereafter and never assumed the office. By that time, Worcester had become a safe Nationalist seat, and the governing party would hold it until the end of apartheid.

Members

ElectionMemberParty
1910 C. B. Heatlie South African
1915
1920
1921
1924
1929
1933 J. E. J. Krige
1934 United
1938 Gideon van Zyl Wolfaard GNP
1943 P. J. de Wet United
1948 Eben Dönges HNP
1953 National
1958
1961
1966
1967 byL. F. Stofberg
1970 P. D. Palm
1974
1977
1979 byJ. Rabie
1981
1987
1989 Ryno King
1994 constituency abolished

[2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

Detailed results

Elections in the 1910s

General election 1910: Worcester
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
South African C. B. HeatlieUnopposed
South African win (new seat)
General election 1915: Worcester
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
South African C. B. Heatlie 1,872 66.7 +5.4
National J. N. Louw93433.3New
Majority 93833.4N/A
Turnout 2,80686.4N/A
South African hold Swing N/A

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1920: Worcester
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
South African C. B. Heatlie 1,747 57.1 −9.6
National A. J. Stals1,31542.9+9.6
Majority 43214.2−19.2
Turnout 3,06283.6−2.8
South African hold Swing -9.6
General election 1921: Worcester
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
South African C. B. Heatlie 1,915 57.3 +0.2
National A. J. Stals1,42942.7−0.2
Majority 48614.6+0.4
Turnout 3,34483.7+0.1
South African hold Swing +0.2

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. Government Gazette of South Africa, No. 6705. 19 October 1979. Pretoria: Government of South Africa.
  4. South Africa 1980/81: Official Yearbook of the Republic of South Africa. Johannesburg: Chris van Rensburg Publications.
  5. South Africa 1983: Official Yearbook of the Republic of South Africa. Johannesburg: Chris van Rensburg Publications.
  6. Government Gazette of South Africa, No. 10751. 22 May 1987. Pretoria: Government of South Africa.
  7. Government Gazette of South Africa, No. 12109. 20 September 1989. Pretoria: Government of South Africa.
  8. Government Gazette of South Africa, No. 12206. 8 December 1989. Pretoria: Government of South Africa.