Border (House of Assembly of South Africa constituency)

Border
Grens
Former constituency for the South African House of Assembly
Province	Cape of Good Hope
Electorate	3,801 (1921)
Former constituency
Created	1910
Abolished	1924
Number of members	1
Last MHA	J. J. Byron (SAP)
Replaced by	East London North

Border (Afrikaans: Grens) was a constituency in the Cape Province of South Africa, which existed from 1910 to 1924. It covered the rural area surrounding the city of East London, and derived its name from its former status as the Cape Colony’s eastern border region. Throughout its existence it elected one member to the House of Assembly and one to the Cape 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. The Cape Colony had implemented a “colour-blind” franchise known as the Cape Qualified Franchise, which included all adult literate men owning more than £75 worth of property (controversially raised from £25 in 1892), and this initially remained in effect after the colony became the Cape Province. As of 1908, 22,784 out of 152,221 electors in the Cape Colony were “Native or Coloured”. Eligibility to serve in Parliament and the Provincial Council, however, was restricted to whites from 1910 onward.

The first challenge to the Cape Qualified Franchise came with the Women's Enfranchisement Act, 1930 and the Franchise Laws Amendment Act, 1931, which extended the vote to women and removed property qualifications for the white population only – non-white voters remained subject to the earlier restrictions. In 1936, the Representation of Natives Act removed all black voters from the common electoral roll and introduced three “Native Representative Members”, white MPs elected by the black voters of the province and meant to represent their interests in particular. A similar provision was made for Coloured voters with the Separate Representation of Voters Act, 1951, and although this law was challenged by the courts, it went into effect in time for the 1958 general election, which was thus held with all-white voter rolls for the first time in South African history. The all-white franchise would continue until the end of apartheid and the introduction of universal suffrage in 1994.

History

Like most of the Eastern Cape, Border’s electorate was largely English-speaking and loyal to the pro-British side of South African politics. Its first MP, Unionist George Blaine, was elected unopposed in 1910 and faced opposition only from an independent in 1915, but in 1920 both the Labour and National parties decided to contest the seat without success. The by-election to replace Blaine later that year was similarly lively, seeing contests by both the South African Party and the Nationals, but Unionist candidate John Joseph Byron was elected handily. When the Unionists and SAP merged the following year, Byron joined the new SAP and was easily re-elected over an independent. Border was abolished in 1924, replaced with the new seat of East London North, and Byron went on to represent the new seat until 1935.

Members

Election		Member	Party
	1910	George Blaine	Unionist
	1915
	1920
	1920 by	J. J. Byron
	1921		South African
	1924	constituency abolished

Detailed results

Elections in the 1910s

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

General election 1910: Border

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	George Blaine	Unopposed
	Unionist win (new seat)

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

General election 1915: Border

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	George Blaine	1,150	61.1	N/A
	Independent	T. A. Stephen	731	38.9	New
Majority			419	3.6	N/A
Turnout			1,881	60.7	N/A
	Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1920s

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

General election 1920: Border

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	George Blaine	1,239	58.0	−3.1
	Labour	W. Plyman	492	23.0	New
	National	W. A. Fourie	407	19.0	New
Majority			747	35.0	N/A
Turnout			2,138	59.7	−1.0
	Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

Border by-election, 14 July 1920

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	J. J. Byron	1,142	61.2	+3.2
	National	L. J. Steytler	447	24.0	+5.0
	South African	W. L. Plymen	276	14.8	New
Majority			695	37.3	N/A
Turnout			1,865	52.1	−7.6
	Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

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

General election 1921: Border

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	South African	J. J. Byron	1,373	78.8	New
	Independent	H. B. Cuming	370	21.2	New
Majority			1,003	57.6	N/A
Turnout			1,743	45.9	−13.8
	South African hold		Swing	N/A