Randfontein was a constituency in the Transvaal Province of South Africa, which existed from 1915 to 1920 and again from 1948 to 1994. It covered a part of the West Rand centred on the town of Randfontein. 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 The Randfontein constituency was one of a handful of new seats created on the Witwatersrand for the 1915 general election and abolished just five years later. Its first election saw eccentric mining magnate Sir Joseph Robinson elected as an independent, facing mainly Labour opposition. He left parliament on the seat's abolition, but later became known for his attempt to buy a peerage from the British government.
Randfontein returned to the electoral map in 1948, just in time to help vote the Herenigde Nasionale Party into government, and for the next forty years would be a safe seat for the governing party. Its dominating personality almost throughout that period was Connie Mulder, who was first elected as Randfontein's MP in 1958 and became a close ally of John Vorster during the latter's premiership. In 1977, he was caught up in the Muldergate scandal, and was expelled both from Parliament and from the NP as a result - however, he remained active in right-wing politics, and in 1987 made a comeback as MP for Randfontein, now representing the Conservative Party. By then, he was dying of cancer, and in 1988 the by-election to replace him was won by his son, Corné Mulder. The latter remains active in politics to this day, becoming the leader of Freedom Front Plus in 2025, and as of 2025 is the longest continuously serving MP in South Africa.
Members ElectionMemberParty 1915 Sir Joseph Robinson Independent 1920 Constituency abolished ElectionMemberParty 1948 Nico Diederichs HNP 1953 National 1958 Connie Mulder 1961 1966 1970 1974 1977 1979 by Boy Geldenhuys 1981 1987 Connie Mulder Conservative 1988 by Corné Mulder 1989 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
References