Elections to the Parliament of the Legislative Assembly for the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope were held in early 1894, and saw the victory of the incumbent Rhodes-Afrikaner Bond alliance. It was the last election before the Glen Grey Act.
Parliament was dissolved on 19 December 1893. Turnout was 73%, an increase on the 67% seen in the last Assembly election in 1888. [1]
The Afrikaner Bond won 35 of the 76 seats in the House of Assembly, which gave the Rhodes administration a comfortable majority when combined with Rhodes' 20 supporters in the Assembly. [2] The core opposition, largely led by James Rose Innes and John X. Merriman, had only around 15 seats. [3]
| Party | Seats | |
|---|---|---|
| Afrikaner Bond | 35 | |
| Rhodes supporters | 20 | |
| Opposition | 15 | |
| Others | 6 | |
| Total | 76 | |
Rhodes and his ministry would remain in office until its collapse following the Jameson Raid.
| Portfolio | Minister | Term start | Term end |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prime Minister | Rt Hon. Cecil Rhodes (MLA, Barkly West) | 17 July 1890 | 12 January 1896 |
| Colonial Secretary | Pieter Hendrik Faure (MLA, Namaqualand) | 4 May 1893 | 12 January 1896 |
| Colonial Treasurer | Gordon Sprigg (MLA, East London) | 4 May 1893 | 12 January 1896 |
| Attorney-General | William Schreiner (MLA, Kimberley) | 4 May 1893 | 12 January 1896 |
| Commissioner of Public Works | John Laing (MLA) | 4 May 1893 | 12 January 1896 |
| Secretary for Native Affairs | Sir John Frost (MLA, Queenstown) | 4 May 1893 | 12 January 1896 |
| Secretary for Agriculture | |||
| Source: The Old Cape House by Ralph Kilpin, pg.172 | |||
The Union of South Africa was the historical predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the Cape, Natal, Transvaal, and Orange River colonies. It included the territories that were formerly a part of the South African Republic and the Orange Free State.
The year 1870 in the history of the Cape Colony marks the dawn of a new era in South Africa, and it can be said that the development of modern South Africa began on that date. Despite political complications that arose from time to time, progress in Cape Colony continued at a steady pace until the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer Wars in 1899. The discovery of diamonds in the Orange River in 1867 was immediately followed by similar finds in the Vaal River. This led to the rapid occupation and development of huge tracts of the country, which had hitherto been sparsely inhabited. Dutoitspan and Bultfontein diamond mines were discovered in 1870, and in 1871 the even richer mines of Kimberley and De Beers were discovered. These four great deposits of mineral wealth were incredibly productive, and constituted the greatest industrial asset that the Colony possessed.
Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr was a politician in the Cape Colony. He was affectionately known as Onze Jan, "our Jan" in Dutch.
Cape Dutch, also commonly known as Cape Afrikaners, were a historic socioeconomic class of Afrikaners who lived in the Western Cape during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The terms have been evoked to describe an affluent, educated section of the Cape Colony's Afrikaner population which did not participate in the Great Trek or the subsequent founding of the Boer republics. Today, the Cape Dutch are credited with helping shape and promote a unique Afrikaner cultural identity through their formation of civic associations such as the Afrikaner Bond, and promotion of the Afrikaans language.
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François Stephanus Malan PC, usually called F. S. Malan or just F. S., was a South African politician.
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The South African Party was a political party in Cape Colony.
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The Parliament of the Cape of Good Hope functioned as the legislature of the Cape Colony, from its founding in 1853, until the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, when it was dissolved and the Parliament of South Africa was established. It consisted of the House of Assembly and the legislative council.
Sir James Rose Innes was the Chief Justice of South Africa from 1914 to 1927 and, in the view of many, its greatest ever judge. Before becoming a judge he was a member of the Cape Parliament, the Cape Colony's Attorney-General, and a prominent critic of Cecil John Rhodes. His grandson was Helmuth James Graf von Moltke, a prominent opponent of the Third Reich.
Sir James Sivewright K.C.M.G. was a businessman and politician of the Cape Colony. He was a strong political ally of Cecil Rhodes and, as his cabinet minister, was implicated in the "Logan" corruption scandal that led to the fall of the first Rhodes government.
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The Right Honourable Henry Burton, KC, PC was a South African lawyer and politician.
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See also: Elections in South Africa | |||||||
