Vrededorp (House of Assembly of South Africa constituency)

Vrededorp was a constituency in the Transvaal Province of South Africa, which existed from 1910 to 1943. It covered a part of the inner western suburbs of Johannesburg centred on the suburb of Vrededorp. Throughout its existence it elected one member to the House of Assembly and one to the Transvaal Provincial Council.

Vrededorp
Former constituency for the South African House of Assembly
Location of Vrededorp within Johannesburg (1910)
Province	Transvaal
Electorate	9,511 (1938)
Former constituency
Created	1910
Abolished	1943
Number of members	1
Last MHA	C. C. E. Badenhorst (UP)

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.

History

Unusually among urban seats of the period, Vrededorp had a strong National Party presence through most of its existence. It was first taken by the party in 1920, with Dr. Thomas Christoffel Visser, who held it until 1929, always winning by very wide margins. When he retired in 1929, Frank Roberts of the South African Party took the seat by an equally imposing margin, and held it narrowly in 1933 over a supporter of Tielman Roos. Roberts left parliament in 1937, however, triggering a by-election that was won by Johannes Lodewyk Brill of the Purified National Party - the only Johannesburg seat ever held by that party. In 1938, he moved to the rural seat of Christiana, but lost his bid there, and Vrededorp also returned to the United Party fold with Carolina Cathrina Elizabeth Badenhorst, who represented it until its abolition in 1943.

Members

Election		Member	Party
	1910	Lourens Geldenhuys	Het Volk
	1915		South African
	1920	T. C. Visser	National
	1921
	1924
	1929	F. J. Roberts	South African
	1933
	1934		United
	1937 by	J. L. Brill	GNP
	1938	C. C. E. Badenhorst	United
	1943	Constituency abolished

Detailed results

Elections in the 1910s

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 1910 South African general election § Vrededorp.[edit]

General election 1910: Vrededorp

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Het Volk	Lourens Geldenhuys	1,059	58.6	New
	Unionist	N. C. Herschensohn	601	33.2	New
	Independent	G. A. Roth	148	8.2	New
Majority			601	25.4	N/A
	Het Volk win (new seat)

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 1915 South African general election § Vrededorp.[edit]

General election 1915: Vrededorp

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	South African	Lourens Geldenhuys	1,028	42.9	−15.7
	National	T. C. Visser	968	40.4	New
	Labour	C. A. Lagesen	398	16.6	New
Majority			60	1.5	N/A
Turnout			2,394	80.7	N/A
	South African hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1920s

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 1920 South African general election § Vrededorp.[edit]

General election 1920: Vrededorp

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	T. C. Visser	1,370	75.6	+35.2
	South African	W. P. Pistorius	441	24.4	−18.5
Majority			929	51.2	N/A
Turnout			1,811	62.9	−17.8
	National gain from South African		Swing	+26.9

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 1921 South African general election § Vrededorp.[edit]

General election 1921: Vrededorp

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	T. C. Visser	1,442	78.6	+3.0
	South African	P. Lourens	384	20.9	−3.5
	Independent	J. W. Wordingham	8	0.4	New
Majority			1,058	57.7	+6.5
Turnout			1,834	59.2	−3.7
	National hold		Swing	+3.3

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 1924 South African general election § Vrededorp.[edit]

General election 1924: Vrededorp

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	T. C. Visser	1,783	82.9	+4.3
	South African	C. J. Smith	356	16.5	−4.4
Rejected ballots			13	0.6	N/A
Majority			1,427	66.4	+8.7
Turnout			2,152	67.5	+8.3
	National hold		Swing	+4.4

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 1929 South African general election § Vrededorp.[edit]

General election 1929: Vrededorp

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	South African	F. J. Roberts	1,770	76.1	+59.6
	National	P. J. J. Wilsenach	455	19.6	−63.3
	Ind. National	H. C. M. Fouris	86	3.7	New
Rejected ballots			16	0.6	+-0
Majority			1,427	56.5	N/A
Turnout			2,327	75.1	+7.6
	South African gain from National		Swing	+61.5

Elections in the 1930s

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 1933 South African general election § Vrededorp.[edit]

General election 1933: Vrededorp

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	South African	F. J. Roberts	2,389	51.3	−24.8
	Roos	M. J. du Plessis	2,217	47.7	New
Rejected ballots			47	1.0	+0.4
Majority			172	3.7	N/A
Turnout			4,653	61.2	−13.9
	South African hold		Swing	N/A

Vrededorp by-election, 10 March 1937

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Purified National	J. L. Brill	1,820	41.4	New
	United	S. J. Tighy	1,345	30.6	−20.7
	Labour	G. C. V. Odendaal	1,209	27.5	New
Rejected ballots			27	0.5	-0.5
Majority			475	10.8	N/A
Turnout			4,401	56.3	−4.9
	Purified National gain from South African		Swing	N/A

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 1938 South African general election § Vrededorp.[edit]

General election 1938: Vrededorp

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United	C. C. E. Badenhorst	3,121	44.7	New
	Purified National	D. A. J. de Flemingh	2,614	37.4	New
	Labour	G. C. V. Odendaal	1,184	17.0	New
Rejected ballots			63	0.9	-0.1
Majority			507	7.3	N/A
Turnout			6,982	73.4	+12.2
	United hold		Swing	N/A