When the Union of South Africa was formed in 1910, the electoral qualifications in use in each pre-existing colony were kept in place. In the Transvaal Colony, and its predecessor the South African Republic, the vote was restricted to white men, and as such, elections in the Transvaal Province were held on a whites-only franchise from the beginning. The franchise was also restricted by property and education qualifications until the 1933 general election, following the passage of the Women's Enfranchisement Act, 1930 and the Franchise Laws Amendment Act, 1931. From then on, the franchise was given to all white citizens aged 21 or over. Non-whites remained disenfranchised until the end of apartheid and the introduction of universal suffrage in 1994.[1]
Bezuidenhout was created in 1915, largely out of the abolished seat of Jeppes, and was closely fought between the Labour and Unionist (later South African) parties throughout its early history. In its first election, Unionist candidate L. Blackwell narrowly defeated Labour leader Frederic Creswell, and after a short-lived Labour victory in 1920, the seat was retaken by Blackwell for the SAP, which (along with its descendants) would hold it for nearly the entire rest of its existence. Its MP from 1961 until 1981 was Japie Basson, who was noted for his colourful personality and frequent changes in party affiliation. After being expelled from the Progressive Federal Party for supporting P. W. Botha’s constitutional reforms, Basson left the House of Assembly in 1981, but the seat stayed with the PFP. In 1987, along with several other Johannesburg seats, it fell to the Nationals, but the newly-founded Democratic Party regained it in 1989 and held it until the end of apartheid.
