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National Party (South Africa)
Encyclopedia
The National Party is a former political party
in South Africa
. Founded in 1914, it was the governing party of the country from 4 June 1948 until 9 May 1994. Members of the National Party were sometimes known as Nationalists or Nats. Its policies included apartheid, the establishment of a republic
, and the promotion of Afrikaner
culture. After 1994 the party was involved in conservative politics, but was renamed the New National Party, which then merged with the African National Congress
in 2005.
in 1914 by Afrikaner nationalists
soon after the establishment of the Union of South Africa
. Its founding was rooted in disagreements among South African Party
politicians, particularly Prime Minister Louis Botha
and his first Minister of Justice, J.B.M. Hertzog. After Hertzog began speaking out publicly against the Botha government's "one-stream" policy in 1912, Botha removed him from the cabinet. Hertzog and his followers in the Orange Free State province subsequently moved to establish the National Party to oppose the government by advocating a "two-stream" policy of equal rights for the English and Afrikaner communities. Afrikaner nationalists in the Transvaal and Cape provinces soon followed suit, so that three distinct provincial NP organizations were in existence in time for the 1915 general elections
.
The NP first came to power in coalition with the Labour Party in 1924, with Hertzog as Prime Minister. In 1930, the Hertzog government worked to undermine the vote of Coloured
s (South Africans of mixed white and non-white ancestry) by granting the right to vote to white women, thus doubling white political power. In 1934, Hertzog agreed to merge his National Party with the rival South African Party
of Jan Smuts
to form the United Party
. A hardline faction of Afrikaner nationalists, led by D. F. Malan
, refused to accept the merger and maintained a rump
National Party called the Gesuiwerde Nasionale Party (Purified National Party
). The Purified National Party used opposition to South African participation in World War II
to stir up anti-British feelings amongst Afrikaners. This led to a reunification of the Purified Nationalists with the faction that had merged with the South African Party; together, they formed the Herenigde Nasionale Party
(Reunited National Party), which went on to defeat Smuts' United Party in 1948.
In 1959, the Bantu Self-Government Act established so-called Homelands (sometime pejoratively called Bantustans) for ten different black tribes. The ultimate goal of the National Party was to move all Black South Africans into one of these homelands (although they might continue to work in South Africa as "guest workers"), leaving what was left of South Africa (about 87 percent of the land area) with what would then be a White majority, at least on paper. As the homelands were seen by the apartheid government as embryonic independent nations, all black South Africans were registered as citizens of the homelands, not of the nation as a whole, and were expected to exercise their political rights only in the homelands. Accordingly, the three token parliamentary seats that had been reserved for white representatives of black South Africans in Cape Province
were scrapped. The other three provinces – Transvaal
, the Orange Free State, and Natal – had never allowed any black representation.
Coloureds were removed from the Common Roll of Cape Province in 1953. Instead of voting for the same representatives as white South Africans, they could now only vote for four white representatives to speak for them. Later, in 1968, the Coloureds were disenfranchised altogether. In the place of the four parliamentary seats, a partially elected body was set up to advise the government in an amendment to the Separate Representation of Voters Act
.
In a move unrecognised by the rest of the world, the former German colony of South West Africa
(now Namibia
), which South Africa had occupied in World War I
, was effectively incorporated into South Africa as a fifth province, with seven members elected to represent its White citizens in the Parliament of South Africa
. The White minority of South West Africa, predominantly German and Afrikaans, considered its interests akin to those of the Afrikaners in South Africa and therefore supported the National Party in subsequent elections.
These reforms all bolstered the National Party politically, as they removed black and Coloured influence – which was hostile to the National Party – from the electoral process, and incorporated the pro-Nationalist whites of South West Africa. The National Party increased its parliamentary majority in almost every election between 1948 and 1977.
Numerous segregation laws had been passed before the National Party took power in 1948. Among the most significant were the Natives Land Act, No 27 of 1913, and The Natives (Urban Areas) Act of 1923. The former made it illegal for blacks to purchase or lease land from whites except in reserves, which restricted black occupancy to less than eight percent of South Africa's land. The latter laid the foundations for residential segregation
in urban areas. Apartheid laws passed by the National Party after 1948 included the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act, the Immorality Act, The Population Registration Act, and the Group Areas Act, which prohibited nonwhite males from being in certain areas of the country (especially at night) unless they were employed there.
. Republics had existed in South Africa prior to the British invasion, and Afrikaner nationalists had been pursuing them ever since. The republican ideal was a new one to Cape Dutch descended Afrikaners but not to those of Boer descent: in the 1830s, the Great Trek had brought about the formation of three independent Boer Republics—the ephemeral Natalia (KwaZulu-Natal today), the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (later Transvaal) and the Orange Free State (called simply the Free State today). The Boers governed themselves within these republics and were not required to answer to the British. This liberty was short-lived, however, as Britain extended its rule over all of southern Africa. Natalia was annexed in the 1840s, and the other two republics were taken over by the British in the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902).
The republican ideal was not crushed, however. In 1914, the Afrikaners led a strong resurgence; in 1916, an NP congress called initially for a return to republicanism but then decided that it was too early; 1918 saw the founding of the Broederbond (Brother Bond), a cultural establishment with powerful Afrikaner nationalist and republican overtones. The Republican Bond was established in the 1930s, and other republican organisations such as the Gesuiwerde Nasionale Party (Purified National Party), the Voortrekkers, Noodhulpliga (First-Aid League) and the Federasie van Afrikaanse Kultuurverenigings (Federation of Afrikaans cultural organisations, FAK) also subsequently came into being. There was a popular outpouring of nationalist sentiment around the 1938 centenary of the Great Trek and the Battle of Blood River. It was seen to signify the perpetuation of white South African culture, and anti-British and pro-republican feelings grew stronger.
It was obvious in political circles that South Africa was headed inexorably towards republicanism. Although she remained a British dominion
even after unification in 1910, she became all the more self-regulating; indeed, she already had complete autonomy on certain issues. It was agreed in 1910 that domestic matters be looked after by the South African government but that the country's external affairs remain British-controlled.
Hertzog's trip to the Paris Peace Conference
in 1919 was a definite (if failed) attempt to gain independence. In 1926, however, the Balfour Declaration was passed, affording every British dominion within the British Empire
equal rank and bestowing upon them their own right of direction of foreign issues. This resulted the following year in the institution of South Africa's first-ever Department of Foreign Affairs. 1931 saw a backtrack as the Statute of Westminster
resolved that British dominions could not have total control over their external concerns, but, in 1934, the Status and Seals Acts were passed, granting the South African Parliament even greater power than the British Government over the Union.
The extreme National Party members of the 1930s were known collectively as the Republikeinse Bond. The following organisations, parties and events pushed the Republican ideal in the 1930s:
, with Hertzog its leader, pushed the issue into the background. After Hertzog left the party, however, it became Republican. In 1942 and 1944, DF Malan introduced a motion in the House of Assembly in favour of the establishment of a Republic, but this was defeated.
When the National Party came to power in 1948 (making it the first all-Afrikaans cabinet since 1910), there were two uppermost priorities which it was determined to fulfill:
Between 1948 and 1961, Prime Ministers Malan, Strijdom and Verwoerd were all to work very hard for the latter, implementing a battery of policies and changes in a bid to increase the country's autonomy. Divided loyalty, they felt, was holding South Africa back. They wanted to break the country's ties with Britain and establish a Republic, and many South Africans grew confident that a Republic was possible.
Unfortunately for its Republicans, however, the NP was not in a strong parliamentary position. Although it held a majority (only five) of seats, a large number of these were in rural constituencies, which had far fewer voters than urban constituencies. The United Party held a 100,000-vote lead. Consequently, the NP had to rely on the Afrikaner Party's support. It did not, therefore, have the groundswell of public support that it needed to win a referendum, and only when it had that majority on its side could a referendum be held on the Republican matter. However, with a small seating majority and a total vote-tally minority, it was impossible for now for Malan and his ardently Republican Nats to bring about a Republic constitutionally. In the interim, the NP would have to consolidate itself and not antagonise the British.
Many English-speakers did not want to break their ties with the United Kingdom. However, in 1949, at the Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference
in London (with Malan in attendance), India requested that, in spite of its newly-attained Republican status, it remain a member of the British Commonwealth. When this was granted the following year by the London Declaration
, it roused a great deal of debate in South Africa between the pro-Republican NP and the anti-Republican UP (under Strauss). What it meant was that, even if South Africa did become a Republic, she did not automatically have to sever all of her ties with Britain and the British Commonwealth. This gained the movement loads of support from the English-speaking populace, which was less worried about being isolated; and the republican ideal looked closer than ever to being fulfilled.
Although he could not yet make South Africa a Republic, Malan could prepare the country for this eventuality. In his term of office, from 1948 to 1954, Malan took a number of steps to break ties with Britain:
The 1953 ballot votes saw the NP fortify its position considerably, winning comfortably but still falling well short of the clear majority after which it hankered: it had 94 seats in parliament to the UP's 57 and the Labour Party's five. The Nats still did not have a clear majority, though.
Strijdom, however, had the support of Verwoerd and Ben Schoeman, and it was he who was eventually voted in as Prime Minister. Strijdom was a passionate and outspoken Afrikaner and Republican, and he wholeheartedly supported apartheid. He was completely intolerant towards non-Afrikaners and liberal ideas, utterly determined to maintain white supremacy, with zero compromise. Known as the "Lion of the North", Strijdom made few changes to his cabinet and pursued with vigour the policy of apartheid. By 1956, he successfully placed the Coloureds on a separate voters' roll, thus further weakening ties with the Commonwealth and gaining support for the NP.
He also took several other steps to make South Africa less dependent on Britain:
Anti-republican South Africans recognised the shift and distancing from Britain, and the UP grew increasingly anxious, doing all that it could to persuade Parliament to retain Commonwealth links. Strijdom, however, declared that South Africa's participation (or otherwise) in the Commonwealth would be determined only by her best interests.
To gain support of the English-identified population of South Africa, Verwoerd appointed several English-speakers to his cabinet. He also cited the radical political movements elsewhere in the African continent as vindication of his belief that black and white nationalism could not work within the same system. Verwoerd also presented the NP as the party best equipped to deal with the widely-perceived threat of communism.
By the end of his term (and, as a result of his assassination, his life), Verwoerd had solidified the NP's domination of South African politics. In the 1966 elections, the party won 126 out of the 170 seats in parliament.
By 1960, however, much of the South African electorate were calling for withdrawal from the Commonwealth and the establishment of South Africa as a republic. It was decided that a Republican referendum
was to be held in October. International circumstances made the referendum a growing necessity. In the aftermath of the World War II
, former British colonies in Africa and Asia were gaining independence and publicizing the ills of apartheid. Commonwealth members were determined to isolate South Africa.
There were numerous internal factors which had paved the way for and may be viewed as influences on the result:
The opposition accused Verwoerd of trying to break from the Commonwealth and the West, thus losing South Africa all of its trade preferences. The NP, however, launched a vigorously enthusiastic political campaign, with widely-advertised public meetings. The opposition found it very difficult to fight for the preservation of British links.
There were numerous pro-Republican arguments:
There were also, of course, numerous arguments against the establishment of a South African Republic:
On 5 October 1960, 90.5 per cent of the white electorate turned out to vote on the issue. 850,458 (52 per cent) voted in favour of a Republic, while 775,878 were against it. The Cape, Orange Free State and Transvaal were all in favour; Natal, a mainly English-speaking province, was not. It was a landslide victory for the republicans. However, a considerable number of Afrikaners did vote against the measure. The few Blacks, Indians and Coloureds allowed to vote were decidedly against the measure.
English speakers who voted for a Republic had done so on condition that their cultural heritage be safeguarded. Many had associated a Republic with the survival of the white South African. MacMillan's speech had illustrated that the British government was no longer prepared to stand by South Africa's racist policies. Nevertheless, the referendum was a significant victory for Afrikaner nationalism as British political and cultural influence waned in South Africa.
However, one question remained after the referendum: would South Africa become a Republic outside the Commonwealth (the outcome favoured by the most Afrikaner nationalists)? Withdrawal from the Commonwealth would likely alienate English speakers and damage relations with many other countries. Former British colonies such as India, Ceylon, Pakistan and Ghana were all republics within the Commonwealth, and Verwoerd announced that his would follow suit "if possible".
In January 1961, Verwoerd's government brought forth legislation to transform the Union of South Africa into the Republic of South Africa. The constitution was finalised in April. It merged the authority of the British Crown and Governor-General into a new post, State President. The president would have rather little political power, serving more as the ceremonial head of the country. The political power was to lie with the Prime Minister and head of government. The South African Republic would also have its own monetary system, employing Rands and cents.
In March 1961, Verwoerd visited the Imperial Conference in London to discuss South Africa becoming a republic within in the Commonwealth, presenting the Republic of South Africa's application for a renewal of its membership to the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth had earlier declined to predict how republican status would affect South Africa's membership—it did not want to be seen to be meddling in its members' domestic affairs. However, many of the Conference's affiliates (prominent among them the Afro-Asia group and Canadian Premier John Diefenbaker) attacked South Africa's racial policies and rebuffed Verwoerd's application; they would go to any lengths to expel a South African Republic from the Commonwealth. In Britain, numerous anti-apartheid movements were also campaigning for South Africa's elimination. Some member countries warned that, unless South Africa was expelled, they would themselves pull out of the organisation. Verwoerd discarded the censure, arguing that his Commonwealth cohorts had no right to question and criticise the domestic affairs of his country. On this issue, he even had the support of his parliamentary opposition.
Thus, on 15 March 1961, ostensibly to save Britain an awkward decision and causing a split within the Commonwealth, but more likely to avoid further condemnation and embarrassment, Verwoerd withdrew his application and announced that South Africa would become a republic outside the Commonwealth. His decision was received with regret by the Prime Ministers of Britain, Australia and New Zealand, but was met with obvious approval from South Africa's critics. Verwoerd issued a statement the next day to the effect that the move would not affect South Africa's relationship with Britain. On his homecoming, he was met with a rapturous reception. Afrikaner nationalists were not at all deterred by the relinquishment of Commonwealth membership, for they regarded the Commonwealth as little more than the British Empire in disguise. They believed that South Africa and the United Kingdom had absolutely nothing in common, and even UP leader Sir De Villiers Graaff praised Verwoerd for his handling of the situation.
On 31 May 1961, South Africa became a republic. The date was a significant one in Afrikaner history, as it heralded the anniversary of a number of historical events—the 1902 Treaty of Vereeniging, which ended the Anglo-Boer War; South Africa's becoming a union in 1910; and the first hoisting of the Union flag in 1928. The Afrikaner republican dream had finally come to reality.
The significance of Commonwealth withdrawal turned out to be less than had been expected. It was not necessary for South Africa to amend its trading preferences, and Prime Minister Macmillan reciprocated Verwoerd's assurance that withdrawal would not alter trade between South Africa and Britain.
South Africa had now its first independent constitution, although the only real constitutional change was that the President, in charge for seven years, would assume the now-vacant position of the Queen as Head of State. CR Swart, the State President elect, took the first Republican oath as President of South Africa before Chief Justice Steyn (DRC).
Although white inhabitants were generally happy with the Republic, united in their support of Verwoerd, the blacks defiantly rejected the move. Nelson Mandela and his National Action Council demonstrated from 29 to 31 May 1961. The republican issue would strongly intensify resistance to apartheid.
Throughout its reign, the party's support came mainly from Afrikaners, but Anglo-African
s were courted by and increasingly voted for the National Party after 1960.
P.W. Botha
, the National Party began to reform its policies. Botha legalised interracial marriages and multiracial political parties and relaxed the Group Areas Act
. Botha also granted a measure of political representation to Coloureds and Indians by creating separate parliamentary chambers in which they had control of their "own affairs." Black South Africans were not included, however, and over national affairs he ensured that the white chamber of parliament retained the last word in all matters: the representatives of the white chamber had a compulsory block-vote in the electoral college
to choose the State President
, who had the say over which of the three chambers, or which combination of them, should consider any piece of legislation. On the central issue of granting meaningful political rights to black South Africans, Botha and the National Party refused to budge, most black political organizations remaining banned, and prominent black dissidents, including Nelson Mandela
, remaining imprisoned.
In the midst of rising political instability, growing economic problems and diplomatic isolation, Botha resigned as National Party leader, and subsequently as State President, in 1989. He was replaced by F.W. de Klerk
. Although a conservative, De Klerk realised the impracticality of maintaining apartheid forever, and soon after taking power, he decided that it would be better to negotiate while there was still time to reach a compromise, than to hold out until forced to negotiate on less favourable terms later. He persuaded the National Party to enter into negotiations with representatives of the black community. Late in 1989, the National Party won the most bitterly contested election in decades, pledging to negotiate an end to the apartheid system that it had established. Early in 1990, the African National Congress
was legalised, and Nelson Mandela was released after twenty-seven years of imprisonment. A referendum in 1992 gave De Klerk plenipotentiary power
s to negotiate with Mandela. Following the negotiations, a new interim constitution was drawn up, and multiracial elections were held in 1994. These elections were won by the African National Congress. The National Party remained in government, however, as a coalition partner to the ANC in the Government of National Unity
until 30 June 1996, when it withdrew to become the Official Opposition.
In 1997, the National Party renamed itself the New National Party in order to distance itself from its past. The party merged with the Democratic Party (DP)
to form the Democratic Alliance (DA) in 2000 but by 2001 the party had broken away from the Democratic Alliance. The Democratic Alliance retained its position of Official Opposition while the NNP started to disintegrate as a party. It lasted less than a decade before its federal council voted to dissolve the party on 9 April 2005, following a decision the previous year to merge with the ANC.
. The new party had no formal connection with the now defunct New National Party. The relaunched National Party of 2008 pushes for a non-racial democratic South Africa based based on federal principles and the legacy of FW De Klerk
.
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. Founded in 1914, it was the governing party of the country from 4 June 1948 until 9 May 1994. Members of the National Party were sometimes known as Nationalists or Nats. Its policies included apartheid, the establishment of a republic
Republic
A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...
, and the promotion of Afrikaner
Afrikaner
Afrikaners are an ethnic group in Southern Africa descended from almost equal numbers of Dutch, French and German settlers whose native tongue is Afrikaans: a Germanic language which derives primarily from 17th century Dutch, and a variety of other languages.-Related ethno-linguistic groups:The...
culture. After 1994 the party was involved in conservative politics, but was renamed the New National Party, which then merged with the African National Congress
African National Congress
The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...
in 2005.
Founding and early history
The National Party was founded in BloemfonteinBloemfontein
Bloemfontein is the capital city of the Free State Province of South Africa; and, as the judicial capital of the nation, one of South Africa's three national capitals – the other two being Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Pretoria, the administrative capital.Bloemfontein is popularly and...
in 1914 by Afrikaner nationalists
Afrikaner nationalism
Afrikaner nationalism is a political ideology that was born in the late 19th century around the idea that Afrikaners in South Africa were a "chosen people"; it was also strongly influenced by anti-British sentiments that grew strong among the Afrikaners, especially because of the Boer Wars...
soon after the establishment of the Union of South Africa
Union of South Africa
The Union of South Africa is the historic predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into being on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the previously separate colonies of the Cape, Natal, Transvaal and the Orange Free State...
. Its founding was rooted in disagreements among South African Party
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 African general election under the leadership of Louis Botha...
politicians, particularly Prime Minister Louis Botha
Louis Botha
Louis Botha was an Afrikaner and first Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa—the forerunner of the modern South African state...
and his first Minister of Justice, J.B.M. Hertzog. After Hertzog began speaking out publicly against the Botha government's "one-stream" policy in 1912, Botha removed him from the cabinet. Hertzog and his followers in the Orange Free State province subsequently moved to establish the National Party to oppose the government by advocating a "two-stream" policy of equal rights for the English and Afrikaner communities. Afrikaner nationalists in the Transvaal and Cape provinces soon followed suit, so that three distinct provincial NP organizations were in existence in time for the 1915 general elections
South African general election, 1915
The 1915 South African general election was held on 20 October 1915 for the 130 seats in the House of Assembly of the Union of South Africa. This was the second Union Parliament...
.
The NP first came to power in coalition with the Labour Party in 1924, with Hertzog as Prime Minister. In 1930, the Hertzog government worked to undermine the vote of Coloured
Coloured
In the South African, Namibian, Zambian, Botswana and Zimbabwean context, the term Coloured refers to an heterogenous ethnic group who possess ancestry from Europe, various Khoisan and Bantu tribes of Southern Africa, West Africa, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaya, India, Mozambique,...
s (South Africans of mixed white and non-white ancestry) by granting the right to vote to white women, thus doubling white political power. In 1934, Hertzog agreed to merge his National Party with the rival South African Party
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 African general election under the leadership of Louis Botha...
of Jan Smuts
Jan Smuts
Jan Christiaan Smuts, OM, CH, ED, KC, FRS, PC was a prominent South African and British Commonwealth statesman, military leader and philosopher. In addition to holding various cabinet posts, he served as Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa from 1919 until 1924 and from 1939 until 1948...
to form the United Party
United Party (South Africa)
The United Party was South Africa's ruling political party between 1934 and 1948. It was formed by a merger of most of Prime Minister Barry Hertzog's National Party with the rival South African Party of Jan Smuts, plus the remnants of the Unionist Party...
. A hardline faction of Afrikaner nationalists, led by D. F. Malan
Daniel François Malan
Daniel François Malan , more commonly known as D.F. Malan, was the Prime Minister of South Africa from 1948 to 1954. He is seen as a champion of Afrikaner nationalism. His National Party government came to power on the program of apartheid and began its comprehensive implementation.- Biography...
, refused to accept the merger and maintained a rump
Rump party
A Rump Party is a political party that is formed by the remaining body of supporters and leaders who do not support a breakaway group who merge with or form another new party.The rump party can have the name of the original party, or a new name.Examples:...
National Party called the Gesuiwerde Nasionale Party (Purified National Party
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 United Party was formed out of the merger between Hertzog's National Party and the rival South African Party of Jan Smuts...
). The Purified National Party used opposition to South African participation in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
to stir up anti-British feelings amongst Afrikaners. This led to a reunification of the Purified Nationalists with the faction that had merged with the South African Party; together, they formed the Herenigde Nasionale Party
Herenigde Nasionale Party
The Herenigde Nasionale Party was a political party in South Africa during the 1940s. It was the product of the reunion of Daniel François Malan's Gesuiwerde Nasionale Party and J.B.M. Hertzog's breakaway Afrikaner nationalist faction of the United Party in 1940.In 1934, J.B.M...
(Reunited National Party), which went on to defeat Smuts' United Party in 1948.
Apartheid
Upon taking power in 1948, the National Party began to implement a program of apartheid – the legal system of political and social separation of the races – a policy intended to maintain and extend political and economic control of South Africa by the white minority.In 1959, the Bantu Self-Government Act established so-called Homelands (sometime pejoratively called Bantustans) for ten different black tribes. The ultimate goal of the National Party was to move all Black South Africans into one of these homelands (although they might continue to work in South Africa as "guest workers"), leaving what was left of South Africa (about 87 percent of the land area) with what would then be a White majority, at least on paper. As the homelands were seen by the apartheid government as embryonic independent nations, all black South Africans were registered as citizens of the homelands, not of the nation as a whole, and were expected to exercise their political rights only in the homelands. Accordingly, the three token parliamentary seats that had been reserved for white representatives of black South Africans in Cape Province
Cape Province
The Province of the Cape of Good Hope was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequently the Republic of South Africa...
were scrapped. The other three provinces – Transvaal
Transvaal Province
Transvaal Province was a province of the Union of South Africa from 1910 to 1961, and of its successor, the Republic of South Africa, from 1961 until the end of apartheid in 1994 when a new constitution subdivided it.-History:...
, the Orange Free State, and Natal – had never allowed any black representation.
Coloureds were removed from the Common Roll of Cape Province in 1953. Instead of voting for the same representatives as white South Africans, they could now only vote for four white representatives to speak for them. Later, in 1968, the Coloureds were disenfranchised altogether. In the place of the four parliamentary seats, a partially elected body was set up to advise the government in an amendment to the Separate Representation of Voters Act
Separate Representation of Voters Act
The Separate Representation of Voters Act No. 46 was introduced in South Africa on 18 June 1951. Part of the legislation during the apartheid era, the National Party introduced it to enforce racial segregation, and was the start of a deliberate process to remove all non-white people from the...
.
In a move unrecognised by the rest of the world, the former German colony of South West Africa
South West Africa
South-West Africa was the name that was used for the modern day Republic of Namibia during the earlier eras when the territory was controlled by the German Empire and later by South Africa....
(now Namibia
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...
), which South Africa had occupied in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, was effectively incorporated into South Africa as a fifth province, with seven members elected to represent its White citizens in the Parliament of South Africa
Parliament of South Africa
The Parliament of South Africa is South Africa's legislature and under the country's current Constitution is composed of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces....
. The White minority of South West Africa, predominantly German and Afrikaans, considered its interests akin to those of the Afrikaners in South Africa and therefore supported the National Party in subsequent elections.
These reforms all bolstered the National Party politically, as they removed black and Coloured influence – which was hostile to the National Party – from the electoral process, and incorporated the pro-Nationalist whites of South West Africa. The National Party increased its parliamentary majority in almost every election between 1948 and 1977.
Numerous segregation laws had been passed before the National Party took power in 1948. Among the most significant were the Natives Land Act, No 27 of 1913, and The Natives (Urban Areas) Act of 1923. The former made it illegal for blacks to purchase or lease land from whites except in reserves, which restricted black occupancy to less than eight percent of South Africa's land. The latter laid the foundations for residential segregation
Residential Segregation
Residential segregation is the physical separation of cultural groups based on residence and housing, or a form of segregation that "sorts population groups into various neighborhood contexts and shapes the living environment at the neighborhood level."...
in urban areas. Apartheid laws passed by the National Party after 1948 included the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act, the Immorality Act, The Population Registration Act, and the Group Areas Act, which prohibited nonwhite males from being in certain areas of the country (especially at night) unless they were employed there.
From dominion to republic
The National Party was a strong advocate of republicanismRepublicanism
Republicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, where the head of state is appointed by means other than heredity, often elections. The exact meaning of republicanism varies depending on the cultural and historical context...
. Republics had existed in South Africa prior to the British invasion, and Afrikaner nationalists had been pursuing them ever since. The republican ideal was a new one to Cape Dutch descended Afrikaners but not to those of Boer descent: in the 1830s, the Great Trek had brought about the formation of three independent Boer Republics—the ephemeral Natalia (KwaZulu-Natal today), the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (later Transvaal) and the Orange Free State (called simply the Free State today). The Boers governed themselves within these republics and were not required to answer to the British. This liberty was short-lived, however, as Britain extended its rule over all of southern Africa. Natalia was annexed in the 1840s, and the other two republics were taken over by the British in the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902).
The republican ideal was not crushed, however. In 1914, the Afrikaners led a strong resurgence; in 1916, an NP congress called initially for a return to republicanism but then decided that it was too early; 1918 saw the founding of the Broederbond (Brother Bond), a cultural establishment with powerful Afrikaner nationalist and republican overtones. The Republican Bond was established in the 1930s, and other republican organisations such as the Gesuiwerde Nasionale Party (Purified National Party), the Voortrekkers, Noodhulpliga (First-Aid League) and the Federasie van Afrikaanse Kultuurverenigings (Federation of Afrikaans cultural organisations, FAK) also subsequently came into being. There was a popular outpouring of nationalist sentiment around the 1938 centenary of the Great Trek and the Battle of Blood River. It was seen to signify the perpetuation of white South African culture, and anti-British and pro-republican feelings grew stronger.
It was obvious in political circles that South Africa was headed inexorably towards republicanism. Although she remained a British dominion
Dominion
A dominion, often Dominion, refers to one of a group of autonomous polities that were nominally under British sovereignty, constituting the British Empire and British Commonwealth, beginning in the latter part of the 19th century. They have included Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland,...
even after unification in 1910, she became all the more self-regulating; indeed, she already had complete autonomy on certain issues. It was agreed in 1910 that domestic matters be looked after by the South African government but that the country's external affairs remain British-controlled.
Hertzog's trip to the Paris Peace Conference
Paris Peace Conference, 1919
The Paris Peace Conference was the meeting of the Allied victors following the end of World War I to set the peace terms for the defeated Central Powers following the armistices of 1918. It took place in Paris in 1919 and involved diplomats from more than 32 countries and nationalities...
in 1919 was a definite (if failed) attempt to gain independence. In 1926, however, the Balfour Declaration was passed, affording every British dominion within the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
equal rank and bestowing upon them their own right of direction of foreign issues. This resulted the following year in the institution of South Africa's first-ever Department of Foreign Affairs. 1931 saw a backtrack as the Statute of Westminster
Statute of Westminster 1931
The Statute of Westminster 1931 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Passed on 11 December 1931, the Act established legislative equality for the self-governing dominions of the British Empire with the United Kingdom...
resolved that British dominions could not have total control over their external concerns, but, in 1934, the Status and Seals Acts were passed, granting the South African Parliament even greater power than the British Government over the Union.
The extreme National Party members of the 1930s were known collectively as the Republikeinse Bond. The following organisations, parties and events pushed the Republican ideal in the 1930s:
- The Broederbond
- The Purified National Party
- The FAK
- The Voortrekkers and Noodhulpliga
- The 1938 Great Trek Centenary
- The Reddingsdaadbond
- The OssewabrandwagOssewabrandwagThe Ossewabrandwag was an anti-British and pro-German organization in South Africa during World War II, which opposed South African participation in the war...
- Pirow's Nuwe Orde (New Order)
- The adjustment to Die Stem and the national flag
Malan
There was some confusion about the Republican ideal during the war years. The Herenigde Nasionale PartyHerenigde Nasionale Party
The Herenigde Nasionale Party was a political party in South Africa during the 1940s. It was the product of the reunion of Daniel François Malan's Gesuiwerde Nasionale Party and J.B.M. Hertzog's breakaway Afrikaner nationalist faction of the United Party in 1940.In 1934, J.B.M...
, with Hertzog its leader, pushed the issue into the background. After Hertzog left the party, however, it became Republican. In 1942 and 1944, DF Malan introduced a motion in the House of Assembly in favour of the establishment of a Republic, but this was defeated.
When the National Party came to power in 1948 (making it the first all-Afrikaans cabinet since 1910), there were two uppermost priorities which it was determined to fulfill:
- Find a solution to the racial problem.
- Lead South Africa to independence and Republican status.
Between 1948 and 1961, Prime Ministers Malan, Strijdom and Verwoerd were all to work very hard for the latter, implementing a battery of policies and changes in a bid to increase the country's autonomy. Divided loyalty, they felt, was holding South Africa back. They wanted to break the country's ties with Britain and establish a Republic, and many South Africans grew confident that a Republic was possible.
Unfortunately for its Republicans, however, the NP was not in a strong parliamentary position. Although it held a majority (only five) of seats, a large number of these were in rural constituencies, which had far fewer voters than urban constituencies. The United Party held a 100,000-vote lead. Consequently, the NP had to rely on the Afrikaner Party's support. It did not, therefore, have the groundswell of public support that it needed to win a referendum, and only when it had that majority on its side could a referendum be held on the Republican matter. However, with a small seating majority and a total vote-tally minority, it was impossible for now for Malan and his ardently Republican Nats to bring about a Republic constitutionally. In the interim, the NP would have to consolidate itself and not antagonise the British.
Many English-speakers did not want to break their ties with the United Kingdom. However, in 1949, at the Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference
Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference
For conferences held since 1969 see Commonwealth Heads of Government MeetingCommonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference were biennial meetings of Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom and the Dominion members of the British Commonwealth of Nations. Seventeen Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conferences...
in London (with Malan in attendance), India requested that, in spite of its newly-attained Republican status, it remain a member of the British Commonwealth. When this was granted the following year by the London Declaration
London Declaration
The London Declaration was a declaration issued by the governments of the Commonwealth of Nations on the issue of India's continued membership of the Commonwealth. It was made in London on 28 April 1949, and marked the birth of the modern Commonwealth. The declaration had two main provisions...
, it roused a great deal of debate in South Africa between the pro-Republican NP and the anti-Republican UP (under Strauss). What it meant was that, even if South Africa did become a Republic, she did not automatically have to sever all of her ties with Britain and the British Commonwealth. This gained the movement loads of support from the English-speaking populace, which was less worried about being isolated; and the republican ideal looked closer than ever to being fulfilled.
Although he could not yet make South Africa a Republic, Malan could prepare the country for this eventuality. In his term of office, from 1948 to 1954, Malan took a number of steps to break ties with Britain:
- The South African Citizenship Act was passed in 1949. Before, South Africans had not been citizens but rather subjects of the British Crown, regardless of whether they were permanent residents or had only recently immigrated. The 1949 Act established South African citizenship. Before, British citizens needed a mere two years in the country to qualify as South Africans; now, however, a British alien was just like any other alien: he or she would have to register and linger in South Africa for five years to become a citizen of the country. It was believed that this could well have an influence on a Republican referendum. The Act ensured that the British immigrant population would not reduce the Afrikaner majority.
- In 1950, the right of appeal to the British Privy CouncilJudicial Committee of the Privy CouncilThe Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is one of the highest courts in the United Kingdom. Established by the Judicial Committee Act 1833 to hear appeals formerly heard by the King in Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is one of the highest courts in the United...
in London was revoked. The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in Bloemfontein was now South Africa's highest court. - Malan was a crucial player in the move to get the word "British" taken away from "British Commonwealth". This change was taken as affirmation of the fact that all member countries were voluntary and equal members.
- In 1951, pro-republican EJ Jansen was assigned the post of South African Governor General (or Head of State). This endorsed the idea of Afrikaner leadership.
- The title of the just-crowned Queen was modified in 1953 from "Queen Elizabeth II of South Africa" to "Elizabeth II, Queen of South Africa". This was meant to indicate that the South African upper house had bequeathed the title upon her.
The 1953 ballot votes saw the NP fortify its position considerably, winning comfortably but still falling well short of the clear majority after which it hankered: it had 94 seats in parliament to the UP's 57 and the Labour Party's five. The Nats still did not have a clear majority, though.
Strijdom
Malan retired in 1954, at the age of eighty. The two succession contenders were JG Strijdom (Minister of Lands and Irrigation) and Havenga (Minister of Finance). Malan personally preferred the latter and, indeed, recommended him. Malan and Strijdom had clashed frequently over the years—particularly the question of whether a South African Republic should be inside or outside the Commonwealth.Strijdom, however, had the support of Verwoerd and Ben Schoeman, and it was he who was eventually voted in as Prime Minister. Strijdom was a passionate and outspoken Afrikaner and Republican, and he wholeheartedly supported apartheid. He was completely intolerant towards non-Afrikaners and liberal ideas, utterly determined to maintain white supremacy, with zero compromise. Known as the "Lion of the North", Strijdom made few changes to his cabinet and pursued with vigour the policy of apartheid. By 1956, he successfully placed the Coloureds on a separate voters' roll, thus further weakening ties with the Commonwealth and gaining support for the NP.
He also took several other steps to make South Africa less dependent on Britain:
- In 1955, the South African parliament became recognised as the highest authority.
- In 1957, following a motion from Arthur Barlow MP, the flag of the South African Union became the country's only flag; the Union Jack, alongside which the Union Flag had flown since 1928, was flown no longer, to be hoisted only on special occasions.
- Likewise, "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika" ("The Voice of South Africa") became South Africa's only national anthem and was also translated into English to appease the relevant population. God Save the QueenGod Save the Queen"God Save the Queen" is an anthem used in a number of Commonwealth realms and British Crown Dependencies. The words of the song, like its title, are adapted to the gender of the current monarch, with "King" replacing "Queen", "he" replacing "she", and so forth, when a king reigns...
would only be sung on occasions relating to Britain or the Commonwealth. - In 1957, the maritime base in Simonstown was reassigned from the command of the British Royal Navy to that of the South African government. The British had occupied Simonstown since 1806.
- In 1958, "OHMS" was replaced by "Official" on all official documents.
- CR Swart, another staunch Afrikaans republican, became the new Governor General.
Anti-republican South Africans recognised the shift and distancing from Britain, and the UP grew increasingly anxious, doing all that it could to persuade Parliament to retain Commonwealth links. Strijdom, however, declared that South Africa's participation (or otherwise) in the Commonwealth would be determined only by her best interests.
Verwoerd
The question of apartheid dominated the 1958 election and the NP took 55 per cent of the vote, thus winning a clear majority for the first time. When Strijdom died that same year, there was a tripartite succession contest between Swart, Donges and Hendrik Verwoerd. The latter, devoted to the cause of a South African Republic, was the new Prime Minister. Verwoerd, a former Minister of Native Affairs, played a leading role in the institution of the apartheid system. Under his leadership, the NP solidified its control over South African, apartheid-era politics.To gain support of the English-identified population of South Africa, Verwoerd appointed several English-speakers to his cabinet. He also cited the radical political movements elsewhere in the African continent as vindication of his belief that black and white nationalism could not work within the same system. Verwoerd also presented the NP as the party best equipped to deal with the widely-perceived threat of communism.
By the end of his term (and, as a result of his assassination, his life), Verwoerd had solidified the NP's domination of South African politics. In the 1966 elections, the party won 126 out of the 170 seats in parliament.
By 1960, however, much of the South African electorate were calling for withdrawal from the Commonwealth and the establishment of South Africa as a republic. It was decided that a Republican referendum
South African referendum, 1960
In 1960, the National Party government of South Africa held a referendum on whether or not the then Union of South Africa should abandon its status as a Commonwealth realm and become a republic...
was to be held in October. International circumstances made the referendum a growing necessity. In the aftermath of the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, former British colonies in Africa and Asia were gaining independence and publicizing the ills of apartheid. Commonwealth members were determined to isolate South Africa.
There were numerous internal factors which had paved the way for and may be viewed as influences on the result:
- Harold Macmillan's "Winds of ChangeWind of Change (speech)The Wind of Change speech was a historically important address made by British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan to the Parliament of South Africa, on 3 February 1960 in Cape Town. He had spent a month in Africa visiting a number of British colonies, as they were at the time...
" speech, in which he declared that independence for black Africans was an inevitability; - Many white South Africans were unwilling to give up apartheid and realised that South Africa would have to go it alone if it was to pursue its racial policies.
- The assertion that economic growth and a relaxation of racial tensions could be achieved only through a Republic;
- The Sharpeville MassacreSharpeville massacreThe Sharpeville Massacre occurred on 21 March 1960, at the police station in the South African township of Sharpeville in the Transvaal . After a day of demonstrations, at which a crowd of black protesters far outnumbered the police, the South African police opened fire on the crowd, killing 69...
; - The attempted assassination of Verwoerd; and, most importantly,
- The 1960 census, which revealed that there were more Afrikaners in the country than English, thus almost guaranteeing the NP victory in a Republican referendum.
The opposition accused Verwoerd of trying to break from the Commonwealth and the West, thus losing South Africa all of its trade preferences. The NP, however, launched a vigorously enthusiastic political campaign, with widely-advertised public meetings. The opposition found it very difficult to fight for the preservation of British links.
There were numerous pro-Republican arguments:
- It would link more closely the two European language groups.
- It would eliminate confusion about South Africa's constitutional position.
- The monarchy was essentially a British one, with no roots in South Africa.
- South Africans desired a home-grown Head of State.
- The Queen of South Africa, living abroad, inherited her title as the United Kingdom's monarch without the assistance or approval of South Africa.
- In a Republic, the Head of State would not be another country's ruler but rather the elected representative of the nation, a unifying symbol.
- A Republic symbolised a sovereign-free and independent state.
- South Africa would be able to approach its internal problems more realistically, since they would be strictly South African problems, to be solved by South Africans rather than foreign intervention.
- It would clear the misconception amongst many blacks in South Africa that foreigners had the final say in their affairs.
There were also, of course, numerous arguments against the establishment of a South African Republic:
- It could lead to a forced withdrawal from the Commonwealth.
- With the entire world in a state of political unrest, bordering on turmoil, it was dangerous to change South Africa's political status quo.
- It could lead to isolation from allies.
- A Republic would solve none of South Africa's problems; it would only make them worse—especially the race one, to which the Commonwealth was increasingly opposed.
- The NP had supposedly not given one good reason for the change.
- The ruling party had already had twelve years to bring about national unity but had only driven the two white sects further apart.
- A Republic could be established by a majority of just one vote. This did not entail unity nor, indeed, democracy.
- Countries did not generally change their form of government unless the present form was inefficient or unstable due to internal strife or hardship. Nothing like this had happened in (white) South Africa, where so many were so content.
On 5 October 1960, 90.5 per cent of the white electorate turned out to vote on the issue. 850,458 (52 per cent) voted in favour of a Republic, while 775,878 were against it. The Cape, Orange Free State and Transvaal were all in favour; Natal, a mainly English-speaking province, was not. It was a landslide victory for the republicans. However, a considerable number of Afrikaners did vote against the measure. The few Blacks, Indians and Coloureds allowed to vote were decidedly against the measure.
English speakers who voted for a Republic had done so on condition that their cultural heritage be safeguarded. Many had associated a Republic with the survival of the white South African. MacMillan's speech had illustrated that the British government was no longer prepared to stand by South Africa's racist policies. Nevertheless, the referendum was a significant victory for Afrikaner nationalism as British political and cultural influence waned in South Africa.
However, one question remained after the referendum: would South Africa become a Republic outside the Commonwealth (the outcome favoured by the most Afrikaner nationalists)? Withdrawal from the Commonwealth would likely alienate English speakers and damage relations with many other countries. Former British colonies such as India, Ceylon, Pakistan and Ghana were all republics within the Commonwealth, and Verwoerd announced that his would follow suit "if possible".
In January 1961, Verwoerd's government brought forth legislation to transform the Union of South Africa into the Republic of South Africa. The constitution was finalised in April. It merged the authority of the British Crown and Governor-General into a new post, State President. The president would have rather little political power, serving more as the ceremonial head of the country. The political power was to lie with the Prime Minister and head of government. The South African Republic would also have its own monetary system, employing Rands and cents.
In March 1961, Verwoerd visited the Imperial Conference in London to discuss South Africa becoming a republic within in the Commonwealth, presenting the Republic of South Africa's application for a renewal of its membership to the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth had earlier declined to predict how republican status would affect South Africa's membership—it did not want to be seen to be meddling in its members' domestic affairs. However, many of the Conference's affiliates (prominent among them the Afro-Asia group and Canadian Premier John Diefenbaker) attacked South Africa's racial policies and rebuffed Verwoerd's application; they would go to any lengths to expel a South African Republic from the Commonwealth. In Britain, numerous anti-apartheid movements were also campaigning for South Africa's elimination. Some member countries warned that, unless South Africa was expelled, they would themselves pull out of the organisation. Verwoerd discarded the censure, arguing that his Commonwealth cohorts had no right to question and criticise the domestic affairs of his country. On this issue, he even had the support of his parliamentary opposition.
Thus, on 15 March 1961, ostensibly to save Britain an awkward decision and causing a split within the Commonwealth, but more likely to avoid further condemnation and embarrassment, Verwoerd withdrew his application and announced that South Africa would become a republic outside the Commonwealth. His decision was received with regret by the Prime Ministers of Britain, Australia and New Zealand, but was met with obvious approval from South Africa's critics. Verwoerd issued a statement the next day to the effect that the move would not affect South Africa's relationship with Britain. On his homecoming, he was met with a rapturous reception. Afrikaner nationalists were not at all deterred by the relinquishment of Commonwealth membership, for they regarded the Commonwealth as little more than the British Empire in disguise. They believed that South Africa and the United Kingdom had absolutely nothing in common, and even UP leader Sir De Villiers Graaff praised Verwoerd for his handling of the situation.
On 31 May 1961, South Africa became a republic. The date was a significant one in Afrikaner history, as it heralded the anniversary of a number of historical events—the 1902 Treaty of Vereeniging, which ended the Anglo-Boer War; South Africa's becoming a union in 1910; and the first hoisting of the Union flag in 1928. The Afrikaner republican dream had finally come to reality.
The significance of Commonwealth withdrawal turned out to be less than had been expected. It was not necessary for South Africa to amend its trading preferences, and Prime Minister Macmillan reciprocated Verwoerd's assurance that withdrawal would not alter trade between South Africa and Britain.
South Africa had now its first independent constitution, although the only real constitutional change was that the President, in charge for seven years, would assume the now-vacant position of the Queen as Head of State. CR Swart, the State President elect, took the first Republican oath as President of South Africa before Chief Justice Steyn (DRC).
Although white inhabitants were generally happy with the Republic, united in their support of Verwoerd, the blacks defiantly rejected the move. Nelson Mandela and his National Action Council demonstrated from 29 to 31 May 1961. The republican issue would strongly intensify resistance to apartheid.
Support
The National Party won a majority of parliamentary seats in all elections during the Apartheid era. Its popular vote record was more mixed: While it won the popular vote with a comfortable margin in most general elections, the National Party carried less than 50% of the electorate in 1948, 1953, 1961, and 1989. In 1977, the National Party got its best-ever result in the elections with support of 64.8% of the white voters and 134 seats in parliament out of 165. After this the party's support declined as a proliferation of right wing parties siphoned off important segments of its traditional voter base.Throughout its reign, the party's support came mainly from Afrikaners, but Anglo-African
Anglo-African
Anglo-Africans are primarily White African people of largely British descent who live or come from Sub-Saharan Africa and are Anglophone. A large majority live in South Africa...
s were courted by and increasingly voted for the National Party after 1960.
Decline
Beginning in the early 1980s, under the leadership of State PresidentState President of South Africa
State President, or Staatspresident in Afrikaans, was the title of South Africa's head of state from 1961 to 1994. The office was established when the country became a republic in 1961, and Queen Elizabeth II ceased to be head of state...
P.W. Botha
Pieter Willem Botha
Pieter Willem Botha , commonly known as "P. W." and Die Groot Krokodil , was the prime minister of South Africa from 1978 to 1984 and the first executive state president from 1984 to 1989.First elected to Parliament in 1948, Botha was for eleven years head of the Afrikaner National Party and the...
, the National Party began to reform its policies. Botha legalised interracial marriages and multiracial political parties and relaxed the Group Areas Act
Group Areas Act
The Group Areas Act of 1950 was an act of parliament created under the apartheid government of South Africa on 27th April 1950. The act assigned racial groups to different residential and business sections in urban areas in a system of urban apartheid...
. Botha also granted a measure of political representation to Coloureds and Indians by creating separate parliamentary chambers in which they had control of their "own affairs." Black South Africans were not included, however, and over national affairs he ensured that the white chamber of parliament retained the last word in all matters: the representatives of the white chamber had a compulsory block-vote in the electoral college
Electoral college
An electoral college is a set of electors who are selected to elect a candidate to a particular office. Often these represent different organizations or entities, with each organization or entity represented by a particular number of electors or with votes weighted in a particular way...
to choose the State President
State President of South Africa
State President, or Staatspresident in Afrikaans, was the title of South Africa's head of state from 1961 to 1994. The office was established when the country became a republic in 1961, and Queen Elizabeth II ceased to be head of state...
, who had the say over which of the three chambers, or which combination of them, should consider any piece of legislation. On the central issue of granting meaningful political rights to black South Africans, Botha and the National Party refused to budge, most black political organizations remaining banned, and prominent black dissidents, including Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
, remaining imprisoned.
In the midst of rising political instability, growing economic problems and diplomatic isolation, Botha resigned as National Party leader, and subsequently as State President, in 1989. He was replaced by F.W. de Klerk
Frederik Willem de Klerk
Frederik Willem de Klerk , often known as F. W. de Klerk, is the former seventh and last State President of apartheid-era South Africa, serving from September 1989 to May 1994...
. Although a conservative, De Klerk realised the impracticality of maintaining apartheid forever, and soon after taking power, he decided that it would be better to negotiate while there was still time to reach a compromise, than to hold out until forced to negotiate on less favourable terms later. He persuaded the National Party to enter into negotiations with representatives of the black community. Late in 1989, the National Party won the most bitterly contested election in decades, pledging to negotiate an end to the apartheid system that it had established. Early in 1990, the African National Congress
African National Congress
The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...
was legalised, and Nelson Mandela was released after twenty-seven years of imprisonment. A referendum in 1992 gave De Klerk plenipotentiary power
Plenipotentiary
The word plenipotentiary has two meanings. As a noun, it refers to a person who has "full powers." In particular, the term commonly refers to a diplomat fully authorized to represent his government as a prerogative...
s to negotiate with Mandela. Following the negotiations, a new interim constitution was drawn up, and multiracial elections were held in 1994. These elections were won by the African National Congress. The National Party remained in government, however, as a coalition partner to the ANC in the Government of National Unity
Government of National Unity (South Africa)
Between April 27, 1994 and February 3, 1997 South Africa was governed under the terms of the interim Constitution of South Africa. Clause 88 of the interim Constitution required that any party holding twenty or more seats in the National Assembly could claim one or more cabinet portfolios and enter...
until 30 June 1996, when it withdrew to become the Official Opposition.
In 1997, the National Party renamed itself the New National Party in order to distance itself from its past. The party merged with the Democratic Party (DP)
Democratic Party (South Africa)
The Democratic Party was the name of the South African political party now called the Democratic Alliance . Although the Democratic Party name dates from 1989, the party existed under other labels throughout the Apartheid years, when it was the Parliamentary opposition to the ruling National...
to form the Democratic Alliance (DA) in 2000 but by 2001 the party had broken away from the Democratic Alliance. The Democratic Alliance retained its position of Official Opposition while the NNP started to disintegrate as a party. It lasted less than a decade before its federal council voted to dissolve the party on 9 April 2005, following a decision the previous year to merge with the ANC.
Re-establishment
On 5 August 2008 a new party using the National Party name was formed and registered with the Independent Electoral CommissionIndependent Electoral Commission (South Africa)
The Independent Electoral Commission is South Africa's independent election management body. It manages elections to the National Assembly, the provincial legislatures and the municipal councils....
. The new party had no formal connection with the now defunct New National Party. The relaunched National Party of 2008 pushes for a non-racial democratic South Africa based based on federal principles and the legacy of FW De Klerk
Frederik Willem de Klerk
Frederik Willem de Klerk , often known as F. W. de Klerk, is the former seventh and last State President of apartheid-era South Africa, serving from September 1989 to May 1994...
.
Leaders
- J.B.M. HertzogJames Barry Munnik HertzogJames Barry Munnik Hertzog, better known as J. B. M. Hertzog was a Boer general during the second Anglo-Boer War who later went on to become Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa from 1924 to 1939...
(1914–1934) - D.F. MalanDaniel François MalanDaniel François Malan , more commonly known as D.F. Malan, was the Prime Minister of South Africa from 1948 to 1954. He is seen as a champion of Afrikaner nationalism. His National Party government came to power on the program of apartheid and began its comprehensive implementation.- Biography...
(1934–1953) - J.G. StrijdomJohannes Gerhardus StrijdomJohannes Gerhardus Strijdom, commonly called JG Strydom or Hans Strydom , nicknamed the Lion of the North, was Prime Minister of South Africa from 30 November 1954 to 24 August 1958...
(1953–1958) - H.F. VerwoerdHendrik Frensch VerwoerdHendrik Frensch Verwoerd , commonly identified as H.F. Verwoerd, was Prime Minister of South Africa from 1958 until his assassination in 1966...
(1958–1966) - B.J. Vorster (1966–1978)
- P.W. BothaPieter Willem BothaPieter Willem Botha , commonly known as "P. W." and Die Groot Krokodil , was the prime minister of South Africa from 1978 to 1984 and the first executive state president from 1984 to 1989.First elected to Parliament in 1948, Botha was for eleven years head of the Afrikaner National Party and the...
(1978–1989) - F.W. de KlerkFrederik Willem de KlerkFrederik Willem de Klerk , often known as F. W. de Klerk, is the former seventh and last State President of apartheid-era South Africa, serving from September 1989 to May 1994...
(1989–1997) - Marthinus van SchalkwykMarthinus van SchalkwykMarthinus Christoffel Johannes van Schalkwyk is the Minister of Tourism in the Cabinet of South Africa. Formerly both Premier of the Western Cape and Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of South Africa, he was the leader of the New National Party from its inception on 8 September 1997 until...
(1997–2005) (New National Party)
See also
- List of political parties in South Africa
- History of South AfricaHistory of South AfricaSouth African history has been dominated by the interaction and conflict of several diverse ethnic groups. The aboriginal Khoisan people have lived in the region for millennia. Most of the population, however, trace their history to immigration since...
- Apartheid
External links
- National Party of South Africa- Official Site (The website of the new party, founded in 2008)
- Articles about the disbanding: Associated Press, Independent Online.
- Afrikaanse Taal- en Kultuurvereniging (ATKV) home page: http://www.atkv.org.za
- South African First Aid League (SAFAL) home page: http://www.safal.co.za, http://www.safal-roodepoort.org.za