A referendum on a new constitution was held in South Africa on 2 November 1983 in which the white population was given the opportunity to approve or reject the Constitution of 1983. This constitution introduced the Tricameral Parliament, in which Coloured and Indian South Africans would be represented in separate parliamentary chambers, while black Africans, who were the majority of South Africa's population, would remain unrepresented. The referendum passed with 66.3% of voters voting "Yes"; consequently the new constitution came into force on 3 September 1984.

Background In 1981 the Senate was abolished and replaced with the President's Council, which was an advisory body consisting of sixty nominated members from the white, coloured, Indian and Chinese population groups. Following a request by Prime Minister P.W. Botha, the President's Council presented a set of proposals in 1982 for constitutional and political reform. This proposal called for the implementation of "power sharing" between the white, coloured and Indian communities.

The right wing of the ruling National Party (NP) rejected this proposal and a group of its MPs, led by Dr. Andries Treurnicht, a cabinet minister and the leader of the NP in the Transvaal province, broke away to form the Conservative Party (CP) in order to fight for a return to apartheid in its original form. However, Botha continued to be in favour of implementing the President's Council proposal and in 1983 the NP government introduced a new constitutional framework. A referendum was called for in order to determine public support for the reforms amongst white voters. The New Republic Party led by Vause Raw supported the new constitution, although it continued to call for black representation in Parliament.

Opposition Both the Progressive Federal Party (PFP), which objected to the exclusion of blacks, as well as the CP, which objected to the participation of coloureds and Indians, campaigned for a "No" vote. However, many PFP followers and parts of the anti-government English language press supported the new constitution as "a step in the right direction". The conservative opposition to the reforms used banners with the text "Rhodesia voted yes – vote no!" reflecting on the transformation to majority rule in Rhodesia.

The response of Coloured, Indian and black leaders were mixed. The new constitution was rejected by most Bantustan leaders and the Urban Councils Association of South Africa (representing the black township administrations) because it did not provide for black representation. Coloured and Indian parties that intended to participate in the Tricameral Parliament but also insisted on extending representation to the black majority.

The United Democratic Front (UDF) was launched as a non-racial coalition to oppose the referendum and the subsequent elections for the coloured and Indian chambers in parliament.

Results

By region For counting purposes the provinces of South Africa were divided into various referendum areas. The following table shows the results in each area.

Area Yes No Validvotes Invalidvotes Totalvotes Votes % Votes % Cape Beaufort West 7,733 25.58 30,235 93 30,328 Cape Town 71,456 24.39 292,967 1,229 294,196 East London 15,087 22.09 68,289 255 68,544 George 11,426 26.77 42,682 141 42,823 Kimberley 17,898 33.95 52,713 110 52,823 Port Elizabeth 25,901 29.92 86,562 208 86,770 Total 423,947 73.93 149,501 26.07 573,448 2,036 575,484 Natal Durban 44,442 26.42 168,225 750 168,975 Pietermaritzburg 20,060 28.42 70,579 366 70,945 Total 174,302 72.99 64,502 27.01 238,804 1,116 239,920 Orange Free State Bloemfontein 26,960 34.14 78,979 331 79,310 Kroonstad 32,321 36.81 87,807 189 87,996 Total 107,505 64.46 59,281 35.54 166,786 520 167,306 Transvaal Germiston 60,241 34.65 173,841 900 174,741 Johannesburg 85,554 30.56 279,950 3,906 283,856 Pietersburg 31,403 47.42 66,230 247 66,477 Pretoria 157,433 42.87 367,196 1,035 368,231 Roodepoort 80,238 43.24 185,545 909 186,454 Total 654,469 61.01 418,293 38.99 1,072,762 6,997 1,079,759 South Africa Total 1,360,223 66.29 691,577 33.71 2,051,800 10,669 2,062,469

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