# Cape Town Central (House of Assembly of South Africa constituency)

Cape Town Central was a constituency in the Cape Province of South Africa, which existed from 1910 to 1943. It covered the central business district of Cape Town. Throughout its existence it elected one member to the House of Assembly and one to the Cape Provincial Council.

## Franchise notes

When the Union of South Africa was formed in 1910, the electoral qualifications in use in each pre-existing colony were kept in place. The Cape Colony had implemented a “colour-blind” franchise known as the Cape Qualified Franchise, which included all adult literate men owning more than £75 worth of property (controversially raised from £25 in 1892), and this initially remained in effect after the colony became the Cape Province. As of 1908, 22,784 out of 152,221 electors in the Cape Colony were “Native or Coloured”. Eligibility to serve in Parliament and the Provincial Council, however, was restricted to whites from 1910 onward.
The first challenge to the Cape Qualified Franchise came with the Women's Enfranchisement Act, 1930 and the Franchise Laws Amendment Act, 1931, which extended the vote to women and removed property qualifications for the white population only – non-white voters remained subject to the earlier restrictions. In 1936, the Representation of Natives Act removed all black voters from the common electoral roll and introduced three “Native Representative Members”, white MPs elected by the black voters of the province and meant to represent their interests in particular. A similar provision was made for Coloured voters with the Separate Representation of Voters Act, 1951, and although this law was challenged by the courts, it went into effect in time for the 1958 general election, which was thus held with all-white voter rolls for the first time in South African history. The all-white franchise would continue until the end of apartheid and the introduction of universal suffrage in 1994.

## History

Cape Town Central was one of the four constituencies created out of the multi-member Cape Town seat for the Cape Parliament. At the time, it extended from Adderley Street in the east and Strand Street in the north to Leeuwen Street in the south and Table Mountain in the west, including much of Cape Town's then-commercial district as well as much of the Bo-Kaap area. In 1920, the Bo-Kaap was taken out of the constituency, which went on to cover an even smaller area for much of the rest of its existence. In 1943, it was split along Adderley Street, with the western half becoming part of the Green Point constituency and the east becoming part of Cape Town Castle.
Like the rest of Cape Town, it was a largely English-speaking seat and loyal to the pro-British side of South African politics. Its first MP, who held the seat from 1910 to 1929, was John William Jagger, a prominent Cape Town businessman who initially represented the Unionist Party. When the Unionists merged with the South African Party in 1920, Jagger followed, and the SAP would hold the seat for the entire remainder of its existence.

## Members

| Election | Member | Party |
| 1910 | John William Jagger | Unionist |
| 1915 | John William Jagger | Unionist |
| 1920 | John William Jagger | Unionist |
| 1921 | John William Jagger | South African |
| 1924 | John William Jagger | South African |
| 1929 | R. W. Bowen | South African |
| 1933 | R. W. Bowen | South African |
| 1938 | R. W. Bowen | United |
| 1943 | constituency abolished | constituency abolished |

## Detailed results
### Elections in the 1910s

General election 1910: Cape Town Central :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unionist | John William Jagger | 1,695 | 85.1 | New |
| | Socialist | A. W. Noon | 296 | 14.9 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,399 | 70.2 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,991 | | N/A |
| | Unionist win (new seat) | Unionist win (new seat) | Unionist win (new seat) | Unionist win (new seat) | Unionist win (new seat) |
General election 1915: Cape Town Central :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unionist | John William Jagger | 1,595 | 66.0 | −19.1 |
| | Labour | W. J. Laite | 820 | 34.0 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 775 | 32.0 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,415 | 70.2 | N/A |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | N/A | |

### Elections in the 1920s

General election 1920: Cape Town Central :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unionist | John William Jagger | 1,651 | 64.1 | −1.9 |
| | Labour | A. Palmer | 924 | 35.9 | +1.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 727 | 28.2 | −3.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,575 | 60.2 | −10.0 |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | -1.9 | |
General election 1921: Cape Town Central :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | South African | John William Jagger | 2,057 | 80.0 | +15.9 |
| | Labour | H. M. Fridjohn | 515 | 20.0 | −15.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 727 | 60.0 | +31.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,572 | 58.4 | −1.8 |
| | South African hold | South African hold | Swing | +15.9 | |
General election 1924: Cape Town Central :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | South African | John William Jagger | 2,285 | 71.6 | −8.4 |
| | Independent | W. Moore | 906 | 28.4 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,379 | 43.2 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,191 | 67.9 | +9.5 |
| | South African hold | South African hold | Swing | N/A | |
General election 1929: Cape Town Central :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | South African | R. W. Bowen | 2,057 | 69.0 | −2.6 |
| | Labour | R. Forsyth | 925 | 31.0 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,132 | 38.0 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,982 | 69.9 | +2.0 |
| | South African hold | South African hold | Swing | N/A | |

### Elections in the 1930s

General election 1933: Cape Town Central :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | South African | R. W. Bowen | Unopposed | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| | South African hold | South African hold | South African hold | South African hold | South African hold |