Soutpansberg, also spelled Zoutpansberg early in its history, was a constituency in the Transvaal Province of South Africa, which existed from 1910 to 1994. It covered the Soutpansberg region of far-northern Transvaal, close to the Limpopo River and the border with Zimbabwe. 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.
History Soutpansberg, like most of the rural Transvaal, had a largely Afrikaans-speaking electorate and was a conservative seat throughout its existence. Its first MP, Hendrik Mentz, was a former Boer soldier and ally of Louis Botha who served in cabinet for most of his time as an MP. In 1924, he was defeated for re-election by Oswald Pirow of the National Party, who would go on to become one of the leading ideologues of that party, but he only represented Soutpansberg for five years, opting instead to (unsuccessfully) challenge Jan Smuts in his seat of Standerton in 1929. In the 1930s, the South African and National parties fused into the United Party, and Soutpansberg was held by the new party until its nationwide electoral defeat in 1948.
From then on, Soutpansberg would be a safe Nationalist seat. Its longest-serving MP, Stephanus Petrus "Fanie" Botha, served in cabinet under John Vorster and P. W. Botha, resigning in disgrace in 1983 after it was revealed that he'd taken money from Israel. The resulting by-election was won by the nascent Conservative Party - the first electoral victory for that party, which had formed less than two years earlier, and which would see much success in the rural Transvaal as the NP moved away from unconditional white supremacy. Thomas Langley, the Conservative MP elected in 1984, would represent Soutpansberg until the end of apartheid.
Members ElectionMemberParty 1910 Hendrik Mentz Het Volk 1915 South African 1920 1921 1924 Oswald Pirow National 1929 W. H. Vorster 1933 E. A. Rooth 1934 United 1938 1943 S. A. Cilliers 1948 J. J. F. van Schoor HNP 1952 by E. J. Smit National 1953 1958 S. P. Botha 1961 1966 1970 1974 1977 1981 1984 by Thomas Langley Conservative 1987 1989 1994 Constituency abolished Schoeman, B.M. (1977). Parlementêre verkiesings in Suid-Afrika 1910-1976. Pretoria: Aktuele Publikasies. South Africa 1980/81: Official Yearbook of the Republic of South Africa. Johannesburg: Chris van Rensburg Publications. South Africa 1983: Official Yearbook of the Republic of South Africa. Johannesburg: Chris van Rensburg Publications. Government Gazette of South Africa, No. 10751. 22 May 1987. Pretoria: Government of South Africa. Government Gazette of South Africa, No. 12109. 20 September 1989. Pretoria: Government of South Africa.
Detailed results Elections in the 1910s
Elections in the 1920s
Elections in the 1930s
References