The Women's Enfranchisement Act, 1930, was an act of the Parliament of South Africa which granted

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

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 people (in the

Cape Province The Province of the Cape of Good Hope ( af, Provinsie Kaap die Goeie Hoop), commonly referred to as the Cape Province ( af, Kaapprovinsie) and colloquially as The Cape ( af, Die Kaap), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequen ...

) by effectively doubling the number of white voters. It was enacted by the National Party government of

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

J. B. M. Hertzog General James Barry Munnik Hertzog (3 April 1866 – 21 November 1942), better known as Barry Hertzog or J. B. M. Hertzog, was a South African politician and soldier. He was a Boer general during the Second Boer War who serve ...

. The first general election at which women could vote was the election of 17 May 1933. At that election Leila Reitz (wife of

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 ...

) was elected as the first female MP, representing

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 ...

for the

South African Party nl, Zuidafrikaanse Partij , leader1_title = Leader (s) , leader1_name = Louis Botha,Jan Smuts, Barry Hertzog , foundation = , dissolution = , merger = Het Volk South African PartyAfrikaner BondOrangia Unie , merged ...

. The act enfranchised all white women, while certain property qualifications still applied to men. In June 1931 the Franchise Laws Amendment Act, 1931 enfranchised all white men while retaining the property qualifications for non-white voters, thus further diluting the non-white vote. The delimitation of

electoral division An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

s was still based on the white male population until April 1937, when the Electoral Quota Act, 1937 altered it to be based on the whole white population. The Women's Enfranchisement Act was repealed in 1946 when the franchise laws were consolidated into the Electoral Consolidation Act, 1946.

References

* * {{cite web , url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/archive/womens-suffrage-movement , title=The women's suffrage movement , work=South African History Online , accessdate=21 April 2012 Repealed South African legislation Women's suffrage in South Africa Women's rights legislation Women's rights in South Africa 1930 in South African law 1930 in women's history Election law in South Africa

See also

References