Delarey was a constituency in the Transvaal Province of South Africa, which existed from 1924 to 1943. It covered a rural area in the western Transvaal, centred on the town of Delareyville. 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, Carolina was a conservative seat with a largely Afrikaans-speaking electorate. It was initially a safe seat for the National Party, and its first MP was Albert Strachan van Hees, who had previously represented nearby Christiana, and was elected by a comfortable margin at Delarey's inaugural election in 1924. Five years later, he moved to Brakpan, and the NP nominated Lodewyk Martinus Wentzel, who was likewise comfortably elected. After the 1933 general election, J. B. M. Hertzog and Jan Smuts joined forces to create the United Party, and Wentzel came along. He left parliament in 1935, and the resulting by-election was won by party colleague Johannes Stephanus Labuschagne, who represented Delarey until its abolition in 1943, defeating Purified National Party challengers handily throughout. After the seat's abolition, Labuschagne went on to represent Klip River and Vryburg.
Members
[2]
[3]
Detailed results
Elections in the 1920s
Elections in the 1930s
References
- ^ "EISA South Africa: Historical franchise arrangements". Eisa.org.za. Archived from the original on 9 May 2013. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
- ^ a b Schoeman, B.M. (1977). Parlementêre verkiesings in Suid-Afrika 1910-1976. Pretoria: Aktuele Publikasies.
- ^ Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa (1972). "House of Assembly" (vol. 5, pp. 617–636). Cape Town: Nasionale Opvoedkundige Uitgewery (Nasou).