Referendum in South Africa 1960
The referendum in South Africa 1960 ( English : Referendum of the Republican Issue ) was a referendum on October 5, 1960. The vote concerned the question of whether the South African Union ended its status as a British Dominion and became an independent state with the constitutional form of a republic should be converted. The majority approval resulted in the country leaving the Commonwealth of Nations (re-entry in 1994). The legislative basis for voting was the Referendum Act ( Act No. 52/1960 ).
Preparations
In January 1960, Prime Minister Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd announced in the House of Assembly that his government intended to hold a referendum on the transformation of the state into a republic. According to his plan, the rule of the British monarchy should be replaced by the office of a South African president as head of state.
The then South African Foreign Minister Eric Louw took part in the conference of the Commonwealth Prime Ministers in London in May 1960 on behalf of the sick Prime Minister and officially reported on his government's plans.
The draft Referendum Act consisted of a series of amendments to the Electoral Act passed in 1946 . Black and Indian citizens of the country had no influence on the intended decision as they were excluded from voting by other laws. The white parliamentary representatives who acted for them voted in the lower house for the Coloreds .
In the parliamentary debate, all the spokesmen for the opposition groups were critical of the draft law because it only allowed direct voting for white voters. Representatives of the Progressive Party and the Liberal Party followed the suggestion from the ranks of the United Party that not only the registered colored voters (via their separate list and their representatives), but also Asians and Africans (blacks) should have the opportunity to articulate their point of view should be allowed to change the state. Deputy Interior Minister Pieter Willem Botha replied in the House of Commons that the National Party “affirms the principle that whites are the guardians of non-whites in South Africa” and that it is therefore wrong to use the non-whites as arbitrators on this matter ". Sir Villiers Graaff , the chairman of the United Party , warned in the House of Commons that an exclusion of the colored voters would not be desirable. In his opinion, a consultation with the black residents should take place. It would be extremely unwise to plan such a highly controversial constitutional amendment in the difficult situation (including the Sharpeville massacre ) in the country .
Vote and result
The question asked of voters in Afrikaans and English was:
- Is u ten in favor of van 'n Republiek vir die Unie?
- Are you in favor of a Republic for the Union?
(German for example: Are you in favor of a republic of the [South African] Union?). This question could be answered with a cross on the ballot paper with yes or no .
There were 1,800,748 people on the referendum's electoral roll. 1,626,336 valid votes were cast. There were also 7,436 invalid ballots. The participation was therefore 90.7%.
According to the valid votes, 77 % of the voters in the Orange Free State , 56% in the Transvaal , 50% in the Cape , 24% in Natal and 62% in the mandate of South West Africa were in favor of future republic status.
The evaluation of the results revealed a differentiated picture, in particular there was a clear contrast between rural and urban areas of the South African Union. There were also diverging tendencies within the regions. In Natal, in the east of the Cape Province, the metropolitan areas of the Transvaal and in the western Cape region, voters had largely voted against the republic. In addition, a divided political mood on the question of the future state demarcation of South Africa became apparent. The supporters and members (mainly Boers ) of the National Party voted mostly for the republic and those of the other parties tended to vote against it.
| province | For | Against | Invalid | total | electoral legitimate |
Participation | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| voices | % | voices | % | |||||
| Cape Province | 271,418 | 50.15 | 269,784 | 49.85 | 2,881 | 544.083 | 591,298 | 92.02% |
| natal | 42,299 | 23.78 | 135,598 | 76.22 | 688 | 178,585 | 193.103 | 92.48% |
| Orange Free State | 110.171 | 76.72 | 33,438 | 23.28 | 798 | 144.407 | 160.843 | 89.78% |
| South West Africa | 19,938 | 62.39 | 12,017 | 37.61 | 280 | 32,235 | 37,135 | 86.80% |
| Transvaal | 406.632 | 55.58 | 325.041 | 44.42 | 3,257 | 734.930 | 818.047 | 89.84% |
| total | 850.458 | 52.29 | 775.878 | 47.71 | 7,904 | 1,634,240 | 1,800,426 | 90.77% |
| Source: Direct Democracy , SAIRR | ||||||||
As a result of the referendum, a majority of 52.3% voted for the establishment of a Republic of South Africa . As a result, the Prime Minister Verwoerd proposed in the session of the House of Commons on January 23, 1961 that a law be passed to establish the Republic of South Africa. The Republic of South Africa Constitution Act ( Act No. 32/1961 ) came into force in the same session. As a result, a person had to be elected to the new presidency of the republic, which was occupied on May 10, 1961 by the previous Governor General Charles Robberts Swart .
May 31, 1961 became the national holiday Republic Day with the entry into force of the Republic of South Africa Constitution Act .
Demographic background
According to the then government's Special Report 234 , which presented the results of the September 6, 1960 census, the demographic situation in South Africa at that time was as follows:
| Population group | Number of people (Source: SAIRR: Survey 1962 , p. 64) |
languages |
|---|---|---|
| white | 3,067,638 | English and Afrikaans |
| Colored | 1,488,267 | mostly Afrikaans |
| Asians (predominantly of Indian origin ) | 477.414 | Mostly English, besides Tamil (approx. 51%), Hindi (approx. 30%), Gujarati (approx. 7%), Telugu (approx. 6%), Urdu (approx. 5%) |
| Africans (blacks) | 10,807,809 | indigenous languages, see next table |
| total | 15,841,128 |
| Population group whites | Cape Province 32.5% | Natal 11.2% | Transvaal 47.4% | OFS 8.9% |
According to the groups within the African population recorded at that time or according to the 1960 Census , the ethnic distribution was as follows:
| Groups of the African population | Number of people (Source: SAIRR: Survey 1961 , p. 84) |
languages |
|---|---|---|
| Xhosa | 3,423,000 | IsiXhosa |
| Zulu | 2,959,000 | isiZulu |
| North Sotho | 1,122,000 | Sotho Tswana languages |
| South Sotho | 1,089,000 | Sotho Tswana languages |
| Tswana | 863,000 | Setswana |
| Tsonga | 366,000 | Xitsonga |
| Swazi | 301,000 | Siswati |
| Venda | 195,000 | Tshivenda |
| South Ndebele | 162,000 | South Ndebele |
| North Ndebele | 47,000 | North Ndebele |
| Other | 280,000 | different indigenous languages / dialects |
| total | 10,807,000 |
aftermath
On the occasion of the annual official festivities on the founding day of the republic, during the apartheid period there were repeated protests from those sections of the population who were prevented from or excluded from participation by the constitution and laws of the republic. In 1981, the 20th anniversary of the founding of the republic, 55 organizations called for a boycott of the festive events. Unions, churches, student and pupil organizations, black conciousness groups, local activist groups and political organizations in exile condemned the festivities. The Republic of South Africa was criticized for being an undemocratic, authoritarian state that oppressed the majority of South Africans. In some places the national flag of the time was burned in public and that of the ANC was demonstratively hoisted in its place.
literature
- SAIRR : A Survey of Race Relations in South Africa 1959-1960 . Johannesburg 1961. pp. 5-8
- SAIRR: A Survey of Race Relations in South Africa 1961 . Johannesburg 1962. pp. 1-3
Web links
- Deputy Minister of Interior Affairs, PW Botha, introduces the Republican Referendum Bill to Parliament . on www.sahistory.org.za (English)
- Becoming a Republic and withdrawal from the Commonwealth in 1961 . on www.sahistory.org.za (English)
- South Africa holds a referendum to decide if SA should become a republic . on www.sahistory.org.za (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ SAIRR : Survey 1959-1960 . 1961. p. 7
- ^ SAIRR: Survey 1961 . 1962. p. 2
- ^ SAIRR: Survey of Race relations in South Africa 1981 . Johannesburg 1982, p. 24.
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