# Port Elizabeth North (House of Assembly of South Africa constituency)

Port Elizabeth North was a constituency in the Cape Province of South Africa, which existed from 1929 to 1994. As the name indicates, the seat covered the northern suburbs of Port Elizabeth (now Gqeberha). 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

When initially created, Port Elizabeth North was a safe seat for the South African Party – it won the first two elections in the seat unopposed, and (along with its successor the United Party) continued to win large majorities for the next twenty years. In 1953, however, the seat fell to the National Party, which would hold it for the entire rest of its existence, usually by wide margins. Its last MP, Gert Myburgh, served as a junior minister in the F. W. de Klerk government.

## Members

| Election | Member | Party |
| 1929 | C. F. Kayser | South African |
| 1933 | C. F. Kayser | South African |
| 1936 by | Henry Albert Johnson | United |
| 1938 | Henry Albert Johnson | United |
| 1943 | Henry Albert Johnson | United |
| 1948 | Henry Albert Johnson | United |
| 1949 by | J. A. Cull | United |
| 1953 | J. A. F. Nel | National |
| 1958 | J. A. F. Nel | National |
| 1961 | J. A. F. Nel | National |
| 1966 | S. P. Potgieter | National |
| 1970 | S. P. Potgieter | National |
| 1974 | S. P. Potgieter | National |
| 1977 | S. P. Potgieter | National |
| 1981 | G. J. van der Linde | National |
| 1987 | Gert Myburgh | National |
| 1989 | Gert Myburgh | National |
| 1994 | constituency abolished | constituency abolished |

## Detailed results
### Elections in the 1920s

General election 1920: Port Elizabeth North :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | South African | C. F. Kayser | Unopposed | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| | South African win (new seat) | South African win (new seat) | South African win (new seat) | South African win (new seat) | South African win (new seat) |

### Elections in the 1930s

General election 1933: Port Elizabeth North :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | South African | C. F. Kayser | Unopposed | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| | South African hold | South African hold | South African hold | South African hold | South African hold |