The Transvaal Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a political party in the

Transvaal Colony The Transvaal Colony () was the name used to refer to the Transvaal region during the period of direct British rule and military occupation between the end of the Second Boer War in 1902 when the South African Republic was dissolved, and the ...

. The party was established in 1906 as a social democratic organisation, bringing together leading white trade unionists and some socialist activists. It was inspired by the British Independent Labour Party, from which it copied its constitution. Unlike the British party, it had nationalist sympathies, and the majority of its members held openly racist views, opposing Indian and Chinese immigration in particular. The main exceptions to this were

Archie Crawford Archibald Crawford (1883 – 23 December 1924) was a Scottish-born South African trade union leader. Born in Glasgow, Crawford completed an apprenticeship as a fitter, before joining the British Army. He served in the Second Boer War, after ...

, Arthur Brittlebank and John Campbell, who argued that the party should admit non-whites. These racist views created difficulties in 1907, when Keir Hardie of the British ILP visited the colony as part of a speaking tour, but the party's leaders decided that their support for his socialist views trumped their opposition to his anti-racism speeches. At the 1907 Transvaal general election, the party stood 13 candidates, of whom three were elected: J. Reid,

Harry Sampson Henry William Sampson, OBE (12 May 1872 – 6 August 1938), often known as "Sammy", was an English-born South African trade unionist and politician. Born in Islington London, Sampson completed an apprenticeship as a compositor and joined the ...

and Peter Whiteside. Other key leaders included James Thompson Bain, Tom Matthews and J. J. Ware. In 1910, the Transvaal Colony became part of the new

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa ( nl, Unie van Zuid-Afrika; af, Unie van Suid-Afrika; ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the Cape, Natal, Trans ...

, and the ILP became part of a new South African Labour Party.{{cite book , last1=Brothers , first1=O. F. , title=The story of the first Transvaal Parliament , date=1907 , publisher=Blinman, Holwill and Islip

References

Political parties in South Africa Political parties established in 1906 Political parties disestablished in 1910 Transvaal Colony 1906 establishments in South Africa 1910 disestablishments in South Africa