The National Party of South West Africa ( af, Nasionale Party van Suidwes-Afrika, german: Nationale Partei Südwestafrikas) was a political party in

South West Africa South West Africa ( af, Suidwes-Afrika; german: Südwestafrika; nl, Zuidwest-Afrika) was a territory under South African administration from 1915 to 1990, after which it became modern-day Namibia. It bordered Angola (Portuguese colony before 1 ...

History

The party was originally established in Mariental by Frikke Jooste in July 1924.Victor L. Tonchi, William A. Lindeke & John J. Grotpeter (2012) ''Historical Dictionary of Namibia'', Scarecrow Press, pp289–290 It won two seats in the 1926 legislative elections, which saw the German League win eight of the twelve elected seats.Zedekia Ngavirue (1997) ''Political parties and interest groups in South West Africa (Namibia)'', P Schelttwein Publishing, p301 On 31 January 1927 it merged with the South West Party, which had won one seat in the elections, to form the

United National South West Party The United National South West Party ( af, Verenigde Nasionale Suidwes Party, german: Vereinigte Nationale Südwestpartei) was a political party in South West Africa, the local counterpart of the South African United Party (South Africa), United P ...

(UNSWP). The National Party was re-established as a separate party in 1939, winning two seats in the

1940 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1940. Africa * 1940 South-West African legislative election Asia * 1940 Philippine special election Europe * 1940 Moldavian parliamentary election * 1940 Swedish general election United Kingdom * 194 ...

, which saw the UNSWP win the remaining ten. It subsequently lost both seats in

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which Nuclear weapon, nuclear weapons Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, have been used in combat. Events Below, ...

, with the UNSWP winning all twelve.Ngavirue, p302 However, with its

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

n counterpart coming to power in 1948, the National Party also came to prominence in South West Africa, going on to win fifteen of the eighteen seats in the

1950 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1950. Africa * 1950 South-West African legislative election Asia * 1950 Iranian legislative election Australia * 1950 New South Wales state election * 1950 Queensland state election * 1950 South ...

. Thereafter the National Party dominated South West African politics, winning sixteen seats in the 1955 and 1961 elections and all eighteen in 1965. It subsequently won every seat in elections in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...

and 1974. A party congress in September 1977 saw a walkout of 80 moderate members led by

Dirk Mudge Dirk Frederik Mudge (16 January 192826 August 2020) was a Namibian politician. He served in several high-ranking positions in the South African administration of South West Africa, was the chairman of the 1975–1977 Turnhalle Constitutional Con ...

, with Mudge forming the Republican Party on 5 October. Prior to the elections the following year, the National Party formed a multi-racial,

Action Front for the Retention of Turnhalle Principles Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 f ...

(ACTUR). However, it received only 12% of the vote, winning six seats to the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance's 41. In 1980 a Second Tier Representative Authority was created for the white community. The National Party went on to dominate the body until its dissolution in 1989. It was part of the

Action Christian National Action Christian National (ACN) was a white nationalist political party in Namibia (formerly South West Africa). The ACN was established in 1989 to enable whites to participate in the elections. It used to be aligned with the National Party of S ...

alliance alongside the German League for the 1989 elections, with the alliance winning three seats. In 1991 the party was disbanded, with party leader Kosie Pretorius forming the Monitor Action Group.Namibia's Former White Rulers Change Political Strategy
Christian Science Monitor, 24 September 1991

Leaders

*1968–81: A.H. du Plessis *1981–91: Kosie Pretorius

Electoral history

Legislative Assembly elections

References

{{Authority control National Party (South Africa) Political parties with year of establishment missing Political parties with year of disestablishment missing 20th century in South West Africa Afrikaner nationalism Conservative parties in Namibia Defunct political parties in Namibia Protestant political parties South West Africa 20th century in Namibia 1924 establishments in South West Africa 1927 disestablishments in South West Africa 1939 establishments in South West Africa 1991 disestablishments in Namibia