Leila Agnes Buissinné Reitz, (née Wright ; 13 December 1887 – 27 December 1959) was a South African politician who served as the first woman elected to Parliament in South Africa. She represented

Parktown Parktown is a wealthy suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa, the first suburb north of the inner city (both chronologically and geographically). It is affectionately known as one of the Parks, others including Parkview, Parkwood, Westcliff, Park ...

in the

House of Assembly of South Africa The House of Assembly (known in Afrikaans as the ''Volksraad'', or "People's Council") was the lower house of the Parliament of South Africa from 1910 to 1981, the sole parliamentary chamber between 1981 and 1984, and latterly the white rep ...

from 1933 until 1943. Following the passage of the

Women's Enfranchisement Act, 1930 The Women's Enfranchisement Act, 1930, was an act of the Parliament of South Africa which granted white women aged 21 and older the right to vote and to run for office. It also had the effect of diluting the limited voting power of non-white pe ...

which granted white women aged over 21 the right to vote Reitz contested the

1933 South African general election General elections were held in South Africa on 17 May 1933 to elect the 150 members of the House of Assembly. The National Party won half the seats in the House, but the coalition with the South African Party continued. Changes to the franchis ...

and was elected to represent Parktown. During her parliamentary career Reitz served as a member of the Interdepartmental Committee on Destitute, Neglected, Maladjusted and Delinquent Children and Young Persons and as Honorary Vice-President of the National Conference on Social Work. She left politics in 1943 to accompany her husband,

Deneys Reitz Deneys Reitz (1882—1944), son of Francis William Reitz, was a Boer warrior who fought in the Second Boer War for the South African Republic against the British Empire. After a period of exile in French Madagascar he returned to South Af ...

, to London after he was appointed South African High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. She retired to Cape Town and died in 1959 aged 72.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reitz, Leila 1887 births 1959 deaths Alumni of Rustenburg School for Girls Members of the House of Assembly (South Africa) South African expatriates in the United Kingdom South African Party (Union of South Africa) politicians South African women in politics White South African people