Lydenburg, known as Lydenburg-Barberton between 1958 and 1966, was a constituency in the Transvaal Province of South Africa, which existed from 1910 to 1994. Named after the town of Lydenburg, it covered a rural area in the eastern Transvaal. Throughout its existence it elected one member to the House of Assembly and one to the Transvaal Provincial Council.

Franchise notes 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.

History Like most of the rural Transvaal, Lydenburg had a largely Afrikaans-speaking electorate. In its early years, it was a marginal seat with a slight lean towards the South African Party, but over time it became more and more conservative and safe for the National Party, which held it from 1953 until 1989. Its final Nationalist MP, P. T. C. "Pietie" du Plessis, served in cabinet under P. W. Botha. He resigned from parliament in 1989, partly due to a growing financial scandal that would eventually see him convicted of fraud and sentenced to prison in 1993, and in its final election the seat was won by the hard-right Conservative Party.

Members ElectionMemberParty 1910 C. J. J. Joubert Het Volk 1915 J. L. Schurink South African 1920 1921 Jacobus Nieuwenhuize 1924 1929 Elias de Souza National 1933 1934 United 1938 N. J. Schoeman 1943 F. J. Maré 1948 J. L. V. Liebenberg Afrikaner 1953 National 1958 E. C. A. Hiemstra 1961 1966 J. J. P. Erasmus 1970 P. T. C. du Plessis 1974 1977 1981 1987 1989 A. A. B. Bruwer Conservative 1994 Constituency abolished Schoeman, B.M. (1977). Parlementêre verkiesings in Suid-Afrika 1910-1976. Pretoria: Aktuele Publikasies. Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa (1972). "House of Assembly" (vol. 5, pp. 617–636). Cape Town: Nasionale Opvoedkundige Uitgewery (Nasou). South Africa 1980/81: Official Yearbook of the Republic of South Africa. Johannesburg: Chris van Rensburg Publications. South Africa 1983: Official Yearbook of the Republic of South Africa. Johannesburg: Chris van Rensburg Publications. Government Gazette of South Africa, No. 10751. 22 May 1987. Pretoria: Government of South Africa. Government Gazette of South Africa, No. 12109. 20 September 1989. Pretoria: Government of South Africa.

Detailed results Elections in the 1910s

Elections in the 1920s

Elections in the 1930s

References