The Franchise

At the time of Union in 1910 some 20,000 or 15 per cent of all Parliamentary voters in the Cape were black or brown. Although they had never managed to elect one of their number to the Cape Legislature they constituted a considerable force at election time, especially since the rest of the electorate was fairly evenly divided between Englishmen and Afrikaners. The South Africa Act, 1909, which established the Union of South Africa, entrenched their voting rights, but did not extend such rights to the North. A special section of the Act provided that none should be removed from the voters roll on account of race except by a law passed by a two-thirds majority of the House of Assembly and the Senate sitting together.

In 1930 the voting power of Africans and coloured persons in the Cape was effectively halved when the vote was extended to white women in South Africa.

In 1936 African voters were by the requisite two-thirds majority removed from the common voters roll and placed on a special roll which entitled them to elect three white persons to the House of Assembly and four to the Senate, which between them had a total of nearly two hundred members.

In 1956 coloured voters were placed on a separate voters roll which entitled them to elect three white persons to the House of Assembly. The necessary two-thirds majority was obtained after a long constitutional battle culminating in the reconstitution and enlargement of the Senate.

In 1959 African representation in Parliament was abolished altogether.

In 1968 coloured representation in Parliament was abolished altogether.

Thus the Parliament elected in 1970 contained no representation, either direct or indirect, of black or brown South Africans. Pursuant to the policy of apartheid or separate development, the 80 per cent of South Africans who were disfranchised were provided with various councils. Nine separate tribally-based authorities were established in the rural reserves with varying degrees of local autonomy to represent the African population of South Africa; a Coloured Representative Council was created to act as official spokesman for the coloured people; and an Indian Advisory Council was appointed to consult with the Government on matters affecting people of Indian descent.