Governor General of the Union of South Africa
| Governor-general of the Union of South Africa Goewerneur-generaal van die Unie van Suid-Afrika Gouverneur-generaal van de Unie van Zuid-Afrika |
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| Style | His excellency |
| Residence | Government House |
| Appointer | Monarch of South Africa |
| Formation | 31 May 1910 |
| First holder | The Viscount Gladstone |
| Final holder | Charles Robberts Swart |
| Abolished | 31 May 1961 |
| Succession | State President of South Africa |
The Governor-general of the Union of South Africa (Afrikaans: Goewerneur-generaal van Unie van die Suid-Afrika, Dutch: Gouverneur-generaal van de Unie van Zuid-Afrika) was the representative of the British (1910–1931) and later South African Crown (1931–1961) in the Union of South Africa between 31 May 1910 and 31 May 1961. The Union of South Africa was a Commonwealth realm in which Queen Elizabeth II was given the title Queen of South Africa, although she never visited the country in that capacity.
Some of the first holders of the post were members of the British Royal Family including Prince Arthur of Connaught, between 1920 and 1924, and the Earl of Athlone, who served between 1924 and 1931, before becoming the Governor general of Canada. As in other Dominions, this would change, and from 1943 onward only South Africans (in fact, only Afrikaners) held the office.
The office was established by the South Africa Act 1909. Although the Governor General was nominally the country's chief executive, in practice he was bound by convention to act on the advice of the prime minister and the cabinet.
The Afrikaner-dominated National Party, which came to power in 1948, was avowedly republican and regarded South Africa's personal union with the other Commonwealth realms as a relic of British imperialism. In the interim, the National Party used the Governor-General's post as a sinecure for retired National Party ministers. The two Governors-General appointed after 1948, Ernest George Jansen and Charles Robberts Swart, chose not to wear the traditional Windsor uniform nor even to take an oath of allegiance to the monarch.
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