1981 South African general election

General elections were held in South Africa on 29 April 1981. The National Party, under the leadership of P. W. Botha since 1978, lost some support, but achieved another landslide victory, winning 131 of 165 directly elected seats in the House of Assembly.[1]

1981 South African general election

29 April 1981
All 165 elected seats in the House of Assembly
Leader P. W. Botha Frederik van Zyl Slabbert Vause Raw Party National Progressive Federal New Republic Leader since 1978 1979 1977 Leader's seat George Claremont Durban Point Last election 134 17 10 Seats won 131 26 8 Seat change 3 9 2 Popular vote 778,371 265,297 93,603 Percentage 57.66% 19.65% 6.93%
Prime Minister before election P. W. Botha National Elected Prime Minister P. W. Botha National

Meanwhile, the Progressive Federal Party – led since 1979 by Frederik van Zyl Slabbert, an Afrikaner – increased its representation to 26 seats, thereby consolidating its position as the official opposition. The Herstigte Nasionale Party (HNP), which represented right-wing Afrikaner conservatives, received 14.1% of the vote but failed to win a seat.[1]

Background

The 1981 election was the first since the abolition of the Senate that year, the House of Assembly had become the sole chamber of Parliament.[2] It was also the last to be held under the then 1961 Constitution, under which South Africa had become a republic, while retaining a Westminster-style parliamentary system.

The House of Assembly now included 12 additional members, four of whom were appointed by the State President and eight were elected by the directly elected members.[3] The elected additional members were chosen by means of proportional representation, by means of the single transferable vote.[1]

Results

Of the 12 appointed and indirectly elected members, 11 were National Party representatives and one was from the Progressive Federal Party.[1]

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	National Party	778,371	57.66	131	–3
	Progressive Federal Party	265,297	19.65	26	+9
	Herstigte Nasionale Party	191,249	14.17	0	0
	New Republic Party	93,603	6.93	8	–2
	National Conservative Party	19,149	1.42	0	New
	Other parties and independents	2,264	0.17	0	0
Presidential appointees				4	New
Indirectly-elected members				8	New
Total		1,349,933	100.00	177	+12
Valid votes		1,349,933	98.39
Invalid/blank votes		22,086	1.61
Total votes		1,372,019	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		2,290,626	59.90
Source: Nohlen et al.[4]

References

1. SOUTH AFRICA Date of Elections: 29 April 1981 International Parliamentary Union
2. Parliaments of South Africa, J.J.L Cloete, J.L. van Schaik, 1985, page 62
3. The Comparative and International Law Journal of Southern Africa, Volume 13, Institute of Foreign and Comparative Law, University of South Africa, 1981, page 354
4. Dieter Nohlen, Michael Krennerich & Bernhard Thibaut (1999) Elections in Africa: A data handbook, pp832–836 ISBN 0-19-829645-2