Labor Party (South Africa)

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The Labor Party (short LP , Afrikaans : Arbeidersparty , German about: "Labor Party") was a party in South Africa . It existed from 1965 or 1966 to 1994 and represented Coloreds during the apartheid period .

history

In 1965 or 1966 the Labor Party was founded by Richard van der Ross to represent the interests of Coloreds. The party was initially against apartheid. Van der Ross was the party's first chairman; he resigned in 1967. In 1969, under MD Arendse, the party had the majority of the 40 elected representatives in the Colored Persons' Representative Council , founded in 1959 - later Colored Representative Council (CRC) - but 20 representatives from other groups were appointed by the President, so that the LP did not have a majority. In 1970 Allan Hendrickse was elected chairman of the LP. In 1974, the LP achieved more than 30 of the 40 seats that could not be assigned and thus the majority on the body. In 1975 Sonny Leon took over the chairmanship. In the 1970s, the LP supported the ideas of the Black Consciousness Movement . In 1978 Hendrickse became chairman of the party. The CRC existed until 1980. At that time there were around 2.6 million coloreds according to the census.

In January 1978 the South African Black Alliance (SABA) was formed as a counterbalance to the banned African National Congress (ANC), but also to the apartheid government . It linked the Labor Party, Inkatha Freedom Party , Inyandza and Indian Reform Party . The chairman of the Inkatha Freedom Party, Mangosuthu Buthelezi , forced the LP to leave the alliance in 1983.

Previously, the large majority of the party in Eshowe had agreed to the plan to take part in the election for the House of Representatives the following year , which was to be established as part of the newly created three-chamber system. It gave the Coloreds and Indians , but not the blacks , a limited say within the apartheid system. The LP rejected the restrictions and demanded - in vain - the abolition of some apartheid laws. In 1983 the opposition United Democratic Front was founded, in which, among other things, the Colored Allan Boesak represented an opponent to Hendrickse and rejected the three-chamber parliament. The LP won around 73% of the vote in the elections in 1984 and 76 of the 80 seats under majority voting. The turnout was only 30.9% of the registered voters. Hendrickse was admitted to the Botha II cabinet as minister without portfolio . In 1984 the LP also had white, black and Indian-born members. In 1985 the party called for the formation of a state that should also treat all population groups equally.

In early 1987, six MPs left the LP parliamentary group. In August 1987, Hendrickse threatened to block constitutional changes that were announced by the ruling National Party (NP) and that provided for the exclusion of general parliamentary elections for another three years. He also turned down the offer made by the NP to relax the Group Areas Act . In 1987 Hendrickse left the cabinet. The Labor Party also refused to make further constitutional concessions by the NP.

In the 1989 elections to the House of Representatives, the LP received 69 of the seats awarded by election; another five LP MPs were appointed. Only around 18% of those eligible to vote cast valid votes. After the NP was opened to non-whites , numerous LP parliamentarians, including Jac Rabie, switched to the NP. In 1992 the LP lost a vote of no confidence and thus control in the House of Representatives. The party disbanded in 1994; Hendrickse and many of his supporters joined the ANC.

The party rejected foreign sanctions against South African apartheid policies in the 1980s.

Party leader

  • 1965 / 1966–1967: Richard van der Ross
  • 1967-1975: MD Arendse
  • 1975-1978: Sonny Leon
  • 1978-1994: Allan Hendrickse

Others

literature

  • Gerd Behrens: The other two houses - the first five years of the Houses of Representatives and delegates. University of Cape Town, Cape Town 1989, also dissertation. Digitized

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Labor Party omalley.nelsonmandela.org (English), accessed November 7, 2018
  2. ↑ a b Richard Ernest van der Ross. sahistory.org.za, accessed November 8, 2018
  3. ^ Gerd Behrens: The other two houses - the first five years of the Houses of Representatives and delegates. University of Cape Town, Cape Town 1989, also dissertation, p. 24. Digitized
  4. ↑ Report at sahistory.org.za (English), accessed on November 7, 2018
  5. ^ Gerd Behrens: The other two houses - the first five years of the Houses of Representatives and delegates. University of Cape Town, Cape Town 1989, also dissertation, p. 112. Digitized
  6. ↑ a b 1984 House of Representatives Election. africanelections.tripod.com, accessed November 9, 2018
  7. ^ Gerd Behrens: The other two houses - the first five years of the Houses of Representatives and delegates. University of Cape Town, Cape Town 1989, also dissertation, pp. 29–30. Digitized
  8. ^ Gerd Behrens: The other two houses - the first five years of the Houses of Representatives and delegates. University of Cape Town, Cape Town 1989, also dissertation, p. 39. Digitized
  9. ^ Christopher S. Wren: South Africans of mixed race in a political shift. New York Times, February 9, 1992, accessed November 8, 2018
  10. ^ Gerd Behrens: The other two houses - the first five years of the Houses of Representatives and delegates. University of Cape Town, Cape Town 1989, also dissertation, p. 26 digitized