House of Assembly of South Africa
|
House of Assembly of South Africa Volksraad van Suid-Afrika |
|
|---|---|
| Type | |
| Type |
Lower house (1910–1981)
Unicameral parliament (1981–1984) White representative house (1984–1994) |
| History | |
| Established | 1910 |
| Disbanded | 1994 |
| Succeeded by | National Assembly of South Africa |
| Elections | |
| First-past-the-post | |
|
Last election
|
6 September 1989 |
| Meeting place | |
| Houses of Parliament Cape Town Cape Province, South Africa |
|
The House of Assembly (known in Afrikaans as the Volksraad, or "People's Council") was the lower house of the Parliament of South Africa from 1910 to 1981, the sole parliamentary chamber between 1981 and 1984, and latterly the white representative house of the Tricameral Parliament from 1984 to 1994, when it was replaced by the current National Assembly. Throughout its history, it was exclusively constituted of white members who were elected to office predominantly by white citizens, though until 1960 and 1970, respectively, some Black Africans and Coloureds in the Cape Province voted under a restricted form of suffrage.
The members were elected by first-past-the-post voting in single-member electoral divisions. Following the abolition of the Senate in 1981, the membership of the House of Assembly was increased included 12 additional members, of whom four were appointed by the State President and eight were elected by the directly elected members. The elected additional members were chosen by proportional representation, by means of the single transferable vote.
The South Africa Act 1909 provided that the franchise in each province should be the same as that in the corresponding colony before the Union, until altered by the Union Parliament. The Act included entrenching clauses, providing that black and coloured voters could only be removed from the common voters roll in the Cape of Good Hope, by legislation passed by a two-thirds majority by both houses of Parliament in joint session.
The franchise, in all parts of the Union, was initially limited to men over the age of 21. White women were enfranchised in 1929 and the remaining property and income qualifications affecting white men were abolished in 1930. The voting age was reduced to 18 in the 1960s. There were some additional qualifications and disqualifications which varied between provinces.
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