South African General Election, 1938
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General elections were held in
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
on 18 May 1938 to elect the 150 members of the
House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible g ...
. The United Party won an absolute majority.


Background

The
National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...
(led by the Prime Minister
J. B. M. Hertzog General James Barry Munnik Hertzog (3 April 1866 – 21 November 1942), better known as Barry Hertzog or J. B. M. Hertzog, was a South African politician and soldier. He was a Boer general during the Second Boer War who served a ...
) and the
South African Party The South African Party (, ) was a political party that existed in the Union of South Africa from 1911 to 1934. History The outline and foundation for the party was realized after the election of a 'South African party' in the 1910 South Af ...
(whose leader was the Deputy Prime Minister
Jan Smuts Field Marshal Jan Christian Smuts, (baptismal name Jan Christiaan Smuts, 24 May 1870 11 September 1950) was a South African statesman, military leader and philosopher. In addition to holding various military and cabinet posts, he served as P ...
) were in coalition at the time of the
1933 South African general election General elections were held in South Africa on 17 May 1933 to elect the 150 members of the House of Assembly. The National Party won half the seats in the House, but the coalition with the South African Party continued. Changes to the franchis ...
. After the election the two coalition parties fused, to become the United South African National Party (commonly known as the United Party). The formal launch of the new party took place on 5 December 1934. Those members of the National Party who did not accept the fusion, constituted themselves as the
Purified National Party The Purified National Party () was a break away from Hertzog's National Party which lasted from 1935 to 1948. In 1935 the main portion of the National Party, led by J. B. M. Hertzog, merged with the South African Party of Jan Smuts to form the ...
(PNP) in June 1934. The leader of the new party was Dr.
D. F. Malan Daniël François Malan (; 22 May 1874 – 7 February 1959) was a South Africa, South African politician who served as the fourth prime minister of South Africa from 1948 to 1954. The National Party (South Africa), National Party impleme ...
, who had been the National Party leader in Cape Province. Eighteen MPs joined the PNP caucus. Dr. Malan became the Leader of the Opposition, in the House of Assembly. The members of the South African Party who rejected the fusion, formed the Dominion Party. Its leader was Colonel C. F. Stallard.


Changes to the franchise and representation

Under the Representation of Natives Act 1936, all registered black voters in the
Cape Province The Province of the Cape of Good Hope (), commonly referred to as the Cape Province () and colloquially as The Cape (), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequently the Republic of South Africa. It encompassed the old Cape Co ...
were removed from the common voters' lists and placed on a special Cape Natives voters' roll. This served to effectively dismantle the traditional multi-racial "
Cape Qualified Franchise The Cape Qualified Franchise was the system of multi-racial Suffrage, franchise that was adhered to in the Cape Colony, and in the Cape Province in the early years of the Union of South Africa. Qualifications for the right to vote at parliamenta ...
" system. Black voters had never been entitled to vote in Transvaal and the Orange Free State. Few had ever qualified in Natal. The voters' rolls, for 1935, were broken down by race in each province (using the racial classifications in use in South Africa at the time). No black voters were eligible to participate in the 1938 general election, apart from the one from Natal. The three (white) Native Representative Members from Cape Province were elected on a different date, for a term (expiring on 30 June immediately following a period of five years after the previous election) unaffected by dissolutions of Parliament. The first group of native representatives had been elected in June 1937. The term for which they were elected expired on 30 June 1942. The representatives took their seats in the House of Assembly in 1938, and sat as Independent MPs.


Delimitation of electoral divisions

The
South Africa Act 1909 The South Africa Act 1909 (9 Edw. 7. c. 9) was an Act of Parliament (UK), act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that created the Union of South Africa out of the former Cape Colony, Cape, Colony of Natal, Natal, Orange River Colony, Orange ...
had provided for a delimitation commission to define the boundaries for each electoral division. The representation by province, under the seventh delimitation report of 1937, is set out in the table below. The figures in brackets are the number of electoral divisions in the previous (1932) delimitation. If there is no figure in brackets then the number was unchanged. The above table does not include the three Native representative seats in Cape Province, which were not included in the delimitation of the general roll seats under the South Africa Act 1909.


Nominations

Candidates nominated for the election, by party, were United 150, Purified National 103, Labour 37, Dominion 33, Independent 31, Greyshirts 3 and Socialists 3. Total 360.''Keesing's Contemporary Archives 1937-1940'', pp. 3074-3075


Results


By province


Notes


References

* ''Keesing's Contemporary Archives'' * ''Smuts: A Reappraisal'', by Bernard Friedman (George, Allen & Unwin 1975) * ''South Africa 1982 Official Yearbook of the Republic of South Africa'', published by Chris van Rensburg Publications * ''The South African Constitution'', by H.J. May (3rd edition 1955, Juta & Co {{South African elections General elections in South Africa
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...
May 1938