Parliament of South Africa

“ Amendment of section 52 of South Africa Act, 1909. 1. Section fifty-two of the South Africa Act, 1909, is hereby amended by the insertion in the proviso thereto after the word “Parliament” of the words “and every member of either House of Parliament holding office as a deputy to any Minister of State”.
Short title. 2. This Act shall be called the South Africa Act Amendment Act, 1959. ”

“ We said that South Africa was ruled by Europeans. Their king is King George who lives in England, but he does not rule or make laws by himself. In South Africa and in each of his other countries, King George sends a Governor, because he himself is so far away. Then the people of South Africa choose someone in each district to go and help the Governor to rule wisely. When all these men from different parts meet together it is called a Parliament. ”

“ Indeed it is obvious that not only the British and Dutch inhabitants of South Africa, but also all responsible politicians and competent publicists in Canada and Australia, are now of opinion that complete solutions of the three South African problems of primary importance—the settlement of the native question, agricultural development, and railway administration—can only be obtained through a Federal Parliament, a body which would combine a detailed knowledge of local conditions with the power of seeing each problem as a whole, and devising a general solution. ”

“ If the House of Assembly in any session passes a Bill imposing taxation only or dealing with the appropriation of revenue or moneys for the services of the Government, and the Senate in the same session rejects or fails to pass it, the Bill shall, unless the House of Assembly otherwise directs, be presented to the State President for his assent and shall as soon as it has been assented to by the State President become an Act of Parliament and be taken to have been duly passed by the Senate and by the House of Assembly notwithstanding that the Senate has not consented to it. ”

“ We also should urge Europeans to go back to the path of justice, to retrace their steps along the route they appear to have been travelling of late. They can influence the Legislature. Whatever Parliament does is done in the name of the white people, and whites should, if they wish to see South Africa a happy, prosperous and peaceful country, check the Parliament in its mad career. It is worse than insensate folly to pursue that path any further. Many people have revolted at less oppression than we have had to suffer. ”

“ To South Africa, upon frequent and appropriate occasions, came expressions of the King's interest in the people's welfare, in their strivings for unity, in their efforts to retrieve the misfortunes of war. It was King Edward's Imperial policy that dictated the sending of the Prince of Wales to open the first Parliament of the Union of South Africa—a policy which his own death rendered impossible—as curiously enough, it had been Queen Victoria's last public duty to send the Duke of Cornwall—as he then was—to open the first Parliament of the Australian Commonwealth. ”

“ In the year 1952 and thereafter at intervals of not less than five years and not more than ten years, the Governor-General shall appoint a delimitation commission consisting of three judges of the Supreme Court of South Africa, which shall divide each province of the Union into so many electoral divisions that their number bears, as nearly as possible, the same ratio to one hundred and fifty as, in terms of the current voters’ lists, duly corrected up to the latest possible date, the number of white voters in the province in question bears to the total number of white voters in the Union. ”

“ And a fourth, wishing to excuse any vehement expression he might use, observed: "We have a proverb which says that a man who makes a mistake in a public assembly cannot be killed." In this proverb there is the germ of the English "privilege of Parliament." It is easy to gather from the whole proceedings of these Pitsos how much more popular government has been among the Basutos than it was among the Zulus or Matabili. Tshaka or Lo Bengula would in a moment have had the neck [Pg 340] twisted of any one who ventured to differ publicly from his opinion. ”

“ The legislative power is vested in a parliament consisting of the Sovereign, a Senate, and a House of Assembly. The Senate consists of 40 members, 8 representatives from each province, and 8 members nominated by the governor-general in council. Four of the nominated members are selected on the ground mainly of their thorough acquaintance with “the reasonable wants and wishes” of the coloured races in South Africa. The presence of both nominated and elected members in the Senate is a novel provision in the constitution of the upper chambers of British colonial legislatures. ”

“ Amendments to the Constitution which alter the powers, boundaries, functions or institutions of provinces shall in addition to any other procedures specified in the Constitution for constitutional amendments, require the approval of a special majority of the legislatures of the provinces, alternatively, if there is such a chamber, a two-thirds majority of a chamber of Parliament composed of provincial representatives, and if the amendment concerns specific provinces only, the approval of the legislatures of such provinces will also be needed. ”

“ The legislative power of the Republic is vested in the State President and the Parliament of the Republic, which, as the sovereign legislative authority in and over the Republic, shall have full power to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the Republic: Provided that the powers of Parliament in respect of any bill contemplated in section 31 shall be exercised as provided by that section.
Bills on own affairs of a population group. ”

“ A person who immediately before the commencement of this Constitution was employed by a legislature referred to in subsection (1) other than Parliament, shall be deemed to be employed by the administration in that part of the national territory in which such legislature exercised legislative powers, subject to and in accordance with the applicable laws regulating such employment, and sections 236 and 237 shall apply mutatis mutandis in respect of such person. ”

“ It may be that our peculiar internal circumstances and our backward condition after the great war will place a limit on what we can do, but nevertheless I am convinced the people will support the Government in carrying out the mandate of Parliament, and in this manner, which is the only legitimate one, fulfil their duty to South Africa and to the Empire and maintain their dearly won honour unblemished for the future. ”

“ And whereas in order to secure the achievement of this goal, elected representatives of all the people of South Africa should be mandated to adopt a new Constitution in accordance with a solemn pact recorded as Constitutional Principles ”

“ Most people do not realize that the Union of South Africa has two capitals. Capetown with the House of Parliament is the center of legislation, while Pretoria, the ancient Kruger stronghold, with its magnificent new Union buildings atop a commanding eminence, is the fountain-head of administration. With Irene only ten miles away it is easy for Smuts to live with his family after the adjournment of Parliament, and go in to his office at Pretoria every day. ”

“ In order to find employment for poor whites, Coloured railway employees who had served the country faithfully and well were dismissed. A white South Africa has been declared in the Union Parliament and from every platform. The white race must preserve its dominance. To this end a rigorous policy of repression was adopted; and the enthusiastic hopes of an extension of franchise rights to our northern fellow-men, that was entertained by Cape politicians and the Imperial Parliament, is now as far distant as the Greek Kalends. ”

“ No person shall become or remain a member of the National Assembly unless he or she is a South African citizen and is and remains qualified in terms of section 6 to vote in an election of the National Assembly, or if he or she ”

“ The Natives do not think they are being treated fairly, and have used every legitimate means to obtain a hearing. These means, however, are exceedingly meagre, practically non-existent, since they have no one to represent them, and as they have no vote they can bring no pressure on Parliament. Having failed in South Africa, they have sent a deputation to Great Britain, since, as they are British subjects, they consider that Great Britain should look after them. ”

“ William Hosken, the famous Johannesburg politician, member of the Transvaal Parliament before the unification of South Africa — a gentleman whose legislative talents are now unfortunately in abeyance, because his liberal views on colour are too advanced for the palates of the lily-white voters of his State — offered to pay the cost of recruiting such a coloured force. ”