1933 South African general election


The 1933 South African general election was held for the 150 seats in the House of Assembly of the Union of South Africa, on 17 May 1933. The National Party won half the seats in the House, but the coalition with the South African Party continued.

Changes to the franchise

Since the 1929 election several changes had been made to the franchise laws. Adult white women were enfranchised in 1930. In 1931 all European males over the age of 21 were enfranchised.
One effect of these changes, which were not extended to the non-white population of the Union, was to dilute the influence of the non-white electors in Cape Province and Natal.

Delimitation of electoral divisions

The South Africa Act 1909 had provided for a delimitation commission to define the boundaries for each electoral division. The representation by province, under the sixth delimitation report of 1932, is set out in the table below. The figures in brackets are the number of electoral divisions in the previous delimitation. If there is no figure in brackets then the number was unchanged.
ProvincesCapeNatalOrange Free StateTransvaalTotal
Divisions61 16 16 57 150

Results

The vote totals in the table below may not give a complete picture of the balance of political opinion, because of unopposed elections and because contested seats may not have been fought by a candidate from all major parties.
As the two largest parties were in coalition together, the opposition to the government was weaker and more fragmented than in any other election in South African history.
The total registered electorate was 957,636. It had more than doubled, since the last election, due to the franchise reforms. The votes cast were 323,417.
An alternative breakdown of members, distinguishing between supporters and opponents of the coalition, was NP 75, SAP 61, Creswell Labour 2, Roos 2; National Council Labour 2, Natal Home Ruler 2, Independents 6. Another interpretation, is NP 75, SAP 61, Labour 4, Roos Party 2, Home Rule group 2 and Independents 6.