When the Union of South Africa was formed in 1910, the electoral qualifications in use in each pre-existing colony were kept in place. The Cape Colony had implemented a “colour-blind” franchise known as the Cape Qualified Franchise, which included all adult literate men owning more than £75 worth of property (controversially raised from £25 in 1892), and this initially remained in effect after the colony became the Cape Province. As of 1908, 22,784 out of 152,221 electors in the Cape Colony were “Native or Coloured”. Eligibility to serve in Parliament and the Provincial Council, however, was restricted to whites from 1910 onward.
The first challenge to the Cape Qualified Franchise came with the Women's Enfranchisement Act, 1930 and the Franchise Laws Amendment Act, 1931, which extended the vote to women and removed property qualifications for the white population only – non-white voters remained subject to the earlier restrictions. In 1936, the Representation of Natives Act removed all black voters from the common electoral roll and introduced three “Native Representative Members”, white MPs elected by the black voters of the province and meant to represent their interests in particular. A similar provision was made for Coloured voters with the Separate Representation of Voters Act, 1951, and although this law was challenged by the courts, it went into effect in time for the 1958 general election, which was thus held with all-white voter rolls for the first time in South African history. The all-white franchise would continue until the end of apartheid and the introduction of universal suffrage in 1994.[1]
Fort Beaufort was established by British “1820 Settlers”, and like most of the Eastern Cape, was a largely English-speaking region. This made it a stronghold of the Unionist Party, whose leader Sir Thomas Smartt represented the seat throughout his leadership. When the Unionists merged with the South African Party, Smartt was re-elected in Fort Beaufort as an SAP candidate, and the seat stayed loyal to the party (and its successor, the United Party) until 1958, when it was captured by Abraham Jonker, formerly the United Party MP for Cape Town Gardens, who had defected to the National Party two years prior. In 1966, with parts of the seat having been carved out to form the Ciskeibantustan, it was abolished and largely merged with the neighbouring constituency of Cradock. Jonker died in January 1966, two months before the general election, and the seat remained vacant until its abolition.
