South Africa has had a free mandate theory of representation up to 1994. From 1994 to 2002 an imperative theory applied and in 2003 a limited hybrid free mandate was introduced. The origin of parliament, the development of representation as a concept in Public Law and the birth of political parties are studied. It is shown that parliament and representation were natural developments that occurred at the same time, not by grand design, but by chance. It is also shown that political parties appeared first as informal intra-parliamentary groupings that developed into extra-parliamentary organisations, organised to achieve and exercise power in the political system as the franchise became more liberal. The factors that influence a member's mandate and floor-crossing as such are discussed. Finally it is concluded that from a legal historical perspective, a free mandate of representation is the preferred theory of representation in public law. / Jurisprudence / LL.M. (Public Law)

The 1961 general election has not received much publicity over the years possibly because it was overshadowed by the referendum of the previous year. It was regarded at the time as being a comparatively unexciting election with a predictable result and it did not produce any really great change in the number of seats held by the National Party (NP). Most of what excitement was engendered by the election lay in the conflict between the United Party (UP) and the Progressive Party (PP). There has also been comparatively little written about this election. Stultz and Butler wrote one short article on the 1961 election and Kenneth Heard also wrote a chapter about it in his study of South African general elections between 1943 and 197C. In his memoirs entitled My Lewe in die Politiek, Ben Schoeman devoted very little space to the 1961 general election, and much of what appeared on pages 281 and 282 dealt with Japie Basson and the performance of the National Union Party (NUP) as well as the way that English-speaking whites seemed to have accepted the idea of the republic. In his memoirs, Sir de Villiers Graaff devoted only two short paragraphs on page 185 to this election in which he mentioned the difficulties attached to fighting an elect on on two fronts against both the NP and the PP while simultaneously facing the reality of having lost much of the support of the English press. Sir de Villiers also discussed the way that the UP regained all but one of their seats lost to the Progressives in 1959. Memoirs and biographies of PP politicians give a much more comprehensive account of the 1961 general election, possibly because it was the first general election ever fought by that party as a separate political entity and also because it represented such a major political reversal. Ray Swart's Progressive Odyssey, Jeremy Lawrence's Harry Lawrence, and Helen Suzman's autobiography, In no uncertain terms, all provide interesting accounts of the 1961 general election although the account in Suzman's autobiography does not pay much attention to the Progressive campaign outside her own constituency of Houghton. Joanna Strangwayes-Booth's biography of Helen Suzman also provides very useful information on the formation and the early years of the PP. Dr FA Mouton's thesis on Margaret Ballinger is also very interesting and useful, and gives a lucid description of the dissension within the ranks of the Liberal Party. Terry Wilks's comparatively short biography of Douglas Mitchell describes Mitchell's frequent clashes with members of his own party. Some readers may, however, regard this biography as being rather skimpy on details and too flattering towards Mitchell at times. Catherine Taylor's autobiography, If courage goes, gives little detail on the 1961 general election. Unfortunately Nationalist politicians do not seem to be as prolific in writing their autobiographies as do opposition politicians. particularly Ben Schoeman's memoirs are interesting reading, as they describe the antipathy felt towards Dr Verwoerd by many Nationalist politicians in the early years of his premiership. DS Prinsloo's biography of PW Botha naturally focuses more on the years of his premiership and does not provide much new information on the NP during the period 1958 to 1961. Dirk and Johanna de Villiers' biography of Paul Sauer gives a very interesting account of the strained relationship between Sauer and Verwoerd. There are several useful publications on the history of the various parties, including Brian Hackland's thesis on the earlier years of the PP, and an Afrikaans study Die Verenigde Party Die Groot Eksperiment, edited by Barnard and Marais. This latter work is very informative on the dissension that was endemic within the UP for much of its existence. Also very useful were Dan O'Meara's Forty Lost Years and the book edited by R Schrire, Leadership in the Apartheid State. This dissertation has a threefold purpose. Its primary objective is to determine and describe the course, background and significance of the 1961 general election. Its second purpose is to analyse the relative position of the political parties in the years leading up to the 1961 general election. Thirdly it quantifies statistically some of the assumptions made about South African politics over the years e.g. the effect of delimitation on the successes or defeats of the National and the United Parties, the effect of the distribution of the support enjoyed by the UP on the fortunes of that party, the strength of the NP during various critical elections and the relationship between percentage turn-out of voters and support received by the UP and the PP. In many respects the 1961 general election was not as important for the NP as was the 1958 general election. The reason for this assertion is firstly that the gains made by the NP in 1961 were not nearly as significant or extensive as those made in 1958. Furthermore the 1958 general election was most probably one of the most decisive general elections contested by the NP as it was in this election that its position became virtually impregnable. The UP's hopes of ever being returned to office suffered a blow that can be seen as final and irreversible. However, the 1961 general election was important in that it was probably the first general election in which the NP could realistically be described as enjoying the support of more than half the white electorate. Despite the optimistic claims made by some sections of the Nationalist press after the results of the 1958 general election had been announced, the NP probably did not command the support of half the white electorate in 1958 although it came rather close to doing so. In addition the themes of the two elections do differ slightly in that in 1961 the Nationalists made a much more concerted effort to capture the votes of as many English-speaking whites as possible. Certain themes are prominent in any study of South African politics of this period. One of them is how the UP's numerical strength in parliament failed to reflect the full extent of its support among the electorate. This was to be a perennial source of discontent among UP supporters. In this dissertation certain statistical comparisons have been drawn with other general elections such as the influence of delimitation on the performance of certain parties and the percentage swings required to unseat the NP in some general elections. These comparisons provide a very interesting perspective on the growth and decline of various parties over nearly two decades. Another theme is how certain marginal seats made the position of the NP a trifle insecure in the early years of its rule and how this situation was remedied by the general election of 1958. Also interesting is the dilermna in which the UP found itself for much of its post-1948 history whether to adopt a more liberal approach or to attempt instead to fight the Nationalists on behalf of its traditionally conservative supporters who party loyalties. What was might have been also of great wavering interest in their was the relationship between the English-language press and the leadership of the UP. It was particularly striking how many editors appeared to dislike Douglas Mitchell intensely and how even in 1961 some editors already seemed disenchanted with the leadership of Sir de Villiers Graaff. It should be remembered that the voters in South West Africa were represented by six members of parliament. Their constituencies were, however, determined by a separate delimitation commission. This dissertation naturally pays much more attention to the 150 seats in which white voters in the Republic of South Africa cast their votes. The coloureds in the Cape Province were represented by three members of parliament, who were not elected on the same day as their 156 fellow parliamentarians representing white voters in South Africa and South West Africa. In researching this dissertation I have found the newspapers of the period to be invaluable as well as certain periodical publications such as Round Table, African Digest, and Forum. Much useful material has also been found in the archival collections of Harry Lawrence, Oscar Wollheirn, Sydney Waterson, and Colin Eglin in the University of Cape Town Library as well as the collection of Dr Eben Donges in the provincial archives in Cape Town. Useful and interesting information was also gleaned from the various United Party collections in the UNISA library. The Progressive Party collections and the Liberal Party papers in the William Cullen library at the University of the Witwatersrand were also well worth consulting, as was the Liberal Party Collection in the Alan Paton Centre at the University of Natal. Most archival information concerning the National Party during this period came from the various collections at the Institute for Contemporary History at the University of the Orange Free State. My thanks are due to the staff of all these archival repositories for their assistance and to my two supervisors, Professor JCH Grabler and Mrs BM Theron, for their guidance. Some readers might regard general elections as being a trivial or inconsequential topic of study, particularly as some people might regard white politics or parliamentary politics as being somewhat irrelevant in the light of contemporary historical events. Nevertheless general elections are a very interesting and fruitful field of research as they provide fascinating revelations on the attitudes held at various times by certain political parties as well as the white population of the time. Thus, even though while not nearly as momentous as, for example, the 1948 general election, the 1961 general election was an interesting contest. In the late 1950s, Professor GHL le May of the University of the Witwatersrand regarded the state of election analysis in South Africa as "abysmal", but hopefully this situation is in the process of being remedied. politicians. particularly Ben Schoernan'::; memoirs are interesting reading, as they describe the antipathy felt towards Dr Verwoerd by many Nationalist politicians in the early years of his premiership. DS Prinsloo's biography of PW Botha naturally focuses more on the years of his premiership and does not provide much new information on the NP during the period 1958 to 1961. Dirk and Johanna de Villiers' biography of Paul Sauer gives a very Page (iii) interesting account of the strained relationship between Sauer and Verwoerd. There are several useful publications on the history of the various parties, including Brian Hackland's thesis on the earlier years of the PP, and an Afrikaans study Die Verenigde Party Die Groot Eksperiment, edited by Barnard and Marais. This latter work is very informative on the dissension that was endemic within the UP for much of its existence. Also very useful were Dan O'Meara's Forty Lost Years and the book edited by R Schrire, Leadership in the Apartheid State. This dissertation has a threefold purpose. Its primary objective is to determine and describe the course, background and significance of the 1961 general election. Its second purpose is to analyse the relative positcon of the political parties in the years leading up to the 1961 general election. Thirdly it quantifies statistically some of the assumptions made about South African politics over the years e.g. the effect of delimitat on on the successes or defeats of the National and the United Parties, the effect of the distribution of the support enjoyed by the UP on the fortunes of that party, the strength of the NP during various critical elections and the relationship between percentage turn-out of voters and support received by the UP and the PP. In many respects the 1961 general election was not as important for the N? as was the 1958 general election. The reason for this assertion is firstly that the gains made by the NP in 1961 were not nearly as significant or extensive as those made in 1958. Furthermore the 1958 general election was Page (iv) most probably one of the most decisive general elections contested by the NP as it was in this election that its position became virtually impregnable. The UP's hopes of ever being returned to office suf ered a blow that can be seen as final and irreversible. However, the 1961 general election was important in that ic was probably the first general election in which the NP could realistically be described as enjoying the support of more than half the white electorate. Despite the optimistic clains made by soma sections of the Nationalist press after the results of the 1958 general election had been announced, the NP probably did not command the support of half the white electorate in 1958 although it came rather close to doing so. In addition the themes of the two elections do differ slightly in that in 1961 the Nationalists made a much more concerted effort to capture the votes of as many English-speaking whites as possible. Certain themes are prominent in any study of South African politics of this period. Ono of them is how the UP's nQmerical strength in parliament failed to reflect the full extent of its support among the electorate. This was to be a perennial source of discontent among UP supporters. In this dissertation certain statistical comparisons have been drawn with other general elections such as the influence of delimitation on the performance of certain parties and the percentage swings required to unseat the NP in some general elections. These comparisons provide a very interesting perspective on the growth and decline of various parties over nearly two decades. Another theme is how certain marginal seats made the position of the NP a trifle insecure in the early years of its rule and how this situation was remedied by Page (v) the general election of 1958. Also interesting is the dilemma in which the UP found itself for much of its pcst-1948 history whether to to fight adopt a more liberal approach or to attempt instead the Nationalists on behalf of its traditionally conservative supporters who might have been wavering in their party loyalties. What was also of great interest was the relationship between the English-language press and the leadership of the UP. :t was particularly striking how many editors appeared to dislike Douglas Mitchell intensely and how even in 1961 some editors already seemed disenchanted with the leadership of Sir de Villiers Graaff. It should be remembered that the voters in South West Africa were represented by six rr rnbers of parliament. Their constituencies were, however, determined by a separate delimitation commission. This dissertation naturally pays much more attention to the 150 seats in which white voters in the Republic of South Africa cast their votes. The coloureds in the Cape Province were represented by three members of parliament, who were not elected on the same day as their 156 fellow parliamentarians representing white voters in South Africa and South West Africa. In researching this dissertation I have found the newspapers of the period to be invaluable as well as certain periodical publications such as Round Table, African Digest, and Forum. Much useful material has also been found in the archival collections of Harry Lawrence, Oscar Wollheim, Sydney Waterson, and Colin Eglin in the University of Cape Town Library as well as the collection of Dr Eben Donges in the provincial archives in Cape Town. Useful and interesting information was Page (vi) also gleaned from the various United Party collections in the ut<ISA library. The Progressive Party collections and the Liberal Party papers in the Williall', Cullen library at the University of the Witwatersrand were also well worth consulting, as was the Liberal Party Collection in the Alan Paton Centre at the University of Natal. Most archival information concerning the National Party during this period came from the various collections at the Institute for Contemporary History at the University of the Orange Free State. My thanks are due to the staff of all these archival repositories for their assistance and to my two supervisors, Professor JCH Grobler and Mrs BM Theron, for their guidance. Some readers might regard general e:ections as being a trivial or inconsequential topic of study, partisularly as some people might regard white politics or parliamentary politics as being somewhat irrelevant in the light of contemporary historical events. Nevertheless general elections are a very interesting and fruitful field of research as they provide fascinating revelations on the attitudes held at various times by certain political parties as well as the white population of the time. Thus, even though while not nearly as momentous as, for example, the 1948 general election, the 1961 general election was an interesting contest. In the late 1950s, Professor GHL le May of the University of the Witwatersrand regarded the state of election analysis in South Africa as "abysmal", but hopefully this situation is in the process of being remedied.' / History / M.A. History

The 1961 general election has not received much publicity over the years possibly because it was overshadowed by the referendum of the previous year. It was regarded at the time as being a comparatively unexciting election with a predictable result and it did not produce any really great change in the number of seats held by the National Party (NP). Most of what excitement was engendered by the election lay in the conflict between the United Party (UP) and the Progressive Party (PP). There has also been comparatively little written about this election. Stultz and Butler wrote one short article on the 1961 election and Kenneth Heard also wrote a chapter about it in his study of South African general elections between 1943 and 197C. In his memoirs entitled My Lewe in die Politiek, Ben Schoeman devoted very little space to the 1961 general election, and much of what appeared on pages 281 and 282 dealt with Japie Basson and the performance of the National Union Party (NUP) as well as the way that English-speaking whites seemed to have accepted the idea of the republic. In his memoirs, Sir de Villiers Graaff devoted only two short paragraphs on page 185 to this election in which he mentioned the difficulties attached to fighting an elect on on two fronts against both the NP and the PP while simultaneously facing the reality of having lost much of the support of the English press. Sir de Villiers also discussed the way that the UP regained all but one of their seats lost to the Progressives in 1959. Memoirs and biographies of PP politicians give a much more comprehensive account of the 1961 general election, possibly because it was the first general election ever fought by that party as a separate political entity and also because it represented such a major political reversal. Ray Swart's Progressive Odyssey, Jeremy Lawrence's Harry Lawrence, and Helen Suzman's autobiography, In no uncertain terms, all provide interesting accounts of the 1961 general election although the account in Suzman's autobiography does not pay much attention to the Progressive campaign outside her own constituency of Houghton. Joanna Strangwayes-Booth's biography of Helen Suzman also provides very useful information on the formation and the early years of the PP. Dr FA Mouton's thesis on Margaret Ballinger is also very interesting and useful, and gives a lucid description of the dissension within the ranks of the Liberal Party. Terry Wilks's comparatively short biography of Douglas Mitchell describes Mitchell's frequent clashes with members of his own party. Some readers may, however, regard this biography as being rather skimpy on details and too flattering towards Mitchell at times. Catherine Taylor's autobiography, If courage goes, gives little detail on the 1961 general election. Unfortunately Nationalist politicians do not seem to be as prolific in writing their autobiographies as do opposition politicians. particularly Ben Schoeman's memoirs are interesting reading, as they describe the antipathy felt towards Dr Verwoerd by many Nationalist politicians in the early years of his premiership. DS Prinsloo's biography of PW Botha naturally focuses more on the years of his premiership and does not provide much new information on the NP during the period 1958 to 1961. Dirk and Johanna de Villiers' biography of Paul Sauer gives a very interesting account of the strained relationship between Sauer and Verwoerd. There are several useful publications on the history of the various parties, including Brian Hackland's thesis on the earlier years of the PP, and an Afrikaans study Die Verenigde Party Die Groot Eksperiment, edited by Barnard and Marais. This latter work is very informative on the dissension that was endemic within the UP for much of its existence. Also very useful were Dan O'Meara's Forty Lost Years and the book edited by R Schrire, Leadership in the Apartheid State. This dissertation has a threefold purpose. Its primary objective is to determine and describe the course, background and significance of the 1961 general election. Its second purpose is to analyse the relative position of the political parties in the years leading up to the 1961 general election. Thirdly it quantifies statistically some of the assumptions made about South African politics over the years e.g. the effect of delimitation on the successes or defeats of the National and the United Parties, the effect of the distribution of the support enjoyed by the UP on the fortunes of that party, the strength of the NP during various critical elections and the relationship between percentage turn-out of voters and support received by the UP and the PP. In many respects the 1961 general election was not as important for the NP as was the 1958 general election. The reason for this assertion is firstly that the gains made by the NP in 1961 were not nearly as significant or extensive as those made in 1958. Furthermore the 1958 general election was most probably one of the most decisive general elections contested by the NP as it was in this election that its position became virtually impregnable. The UP's hopes of ever being returned to office suffered a blow that can be seen as final and irreversible. However, the 1961 general election was important in that it was probably the first general election in which the NP could realistically be described as enjoying the support of more than half the white electorate. Despite the optimistic claims made by some sections of the Nationalist press after the results of the 1958 general election had been announced, the NP probably did not command the support of half the white electorate in 1958 although it came rather close to doing so. In addition the themes of the two elections do differ slightly in that in 1961 the Nationalists made a much more concerted effort to capture the votes of as many English-speaking whites as possible. Certain themes are prominent in any study of South African politics of this period. One of them is how the UP's numerical strength in parliament failed to reflect the full extent of its support among the electorate. This was to be a perennial source of discontent among UP supporters. In this dissertation certain statistical comparisons have been drawn with other general elections such as the influence of delimitation on the performance of certain parties and the percentage swings required to unseat the NP in some general elections. These comparisons provide a very interesting perspective on the growth and decline of various parties over nearly two decades. Another theme is how certain marginal seats made the position of the NP a trifle insecure in the early years of its rule and how this situation was remedied by the general election of 1958. Also interesting is the dilermna in which the UP found itself for much of its post-1948 history whether to adopt a more liberal approach or to attempt instead to fight the Nationalists on behalf of its traditionally conservative supporters who party loyalties. What was might have been also of great wavering interest in their was the relationship between the English-language press and the leadership of the UP. It was particularly striking how many editors appeared to dislike Douglas Mitchell intensely and how even in 1961 some editors already seemed disenchanted with the leadership of Sir de Villiers Graaff. It should be remembered that the voters in South West Africa were represented by six members of parliament. Their constituencies were, however, determined by a separate delimitation commission. This dissertation naturally pays much more attention to the 150 seats in which white voters in the Republic of South Africa cast their votes. The coloureds in the Cape Province were represented by three members of parliament, who were not elected on the same day as their 156 fellow parliamentarians representing white voters in South Africa and South West Africa. In researching this dissertation I have found the newspapers of the period to be invaluable as well as certain periodical publications such as Round Table, African Digest, and Forum. Much useful material has also been found in the archival collections of Harry Lawrence, Oscar Wollheirn, Sydney Waterson, and Colin Eglin in the University of Cape Town Library as well as the collection of Dr Eben Donges in the provincial archives in Cape Town. Useful and interesting information was also gleaned from the various United Party collections in the UNISA library. The Progressive Party collections and the Liberal Party papers in the William Cullen library at the University of the Witwatersrand were also well worth consulting, as was the Liberal Party Collection in the Alan Paton Centre at the University of Natal. Most archival information concerning the National Party during this period came from the various collections at the Institute for Contemporary History at the University of the Orange Free State. My thanks are due to the staff of all these archival repositories for their assistance and to my two supervisors, Professor JCH Grabler and Mrs BM Theron, for their guidance. Some readers might regard general elections as being a trivial or inconsequential topic of study, particularly as some people might regard white politics or parliamentary politics as being somewhat irrelevant in the light of contemporary historical events. Nevertheless general elections are a very interesting and fruitful field of research as they provide fascinating revelations on the attitudes held at various times by certain political parties as well as the white population of the time. Thus, even though while not nearly as momentous as, for example, the 1948 general election, the 1961 general election was an interesting contest. In the late 1950s, Professor GHL le May of the University of the Witwatersrand regarded the state of election analysis in South Africa as "abysmal", but hopefully this situation is in the process of being remedied. politicians. particularly Ben Schoernan'::; memoirs are interesting reading, as they describe the antipathy felt towards Dr Verwoerd by many Nationalist politicians in the early years of his premiership. DS Prinsloo's biography of PW Botha naturally focuses more on the years of his premiership and does not provide much new information on the NP during the period 1958 to 1961. Dirk and Johanna de Villiers' biography of Paul Sauer gives a very Page (iii) interesting account of the strained relationship between Sauer and Verwoerd. There are several useful publications on the history of the various parties, including Brian Hackland's thesis on the earlier years of the PP, and an Afrikaans study Die Verenigde Party Die Groot Eksperiment, edited by Barnard and Marais. This latter work is very informative on the dissension that was endemic within the UP for much of its existence. Also very useful were Dan O'Meara's Forty Lost Years and the book edited by R Schrire, Leadership in the Apartheid State. This dissertation has a threefold purpose. Its primary objective is to determine and describe the course, background and significance of the 1961 general election. Its second purpose is to analyse the relative positcon of the political parties in the years leading up to the 1961 general election. Thirdly it quantifies statistically some of the assumptions made about South African politics over the years e.g. the effect of delimitat on on the successes or defeats of the National and the United Parties, the effect of the distribution of the support enjoyed by the UP on the fortunes of that party, the strength of the NP during various critical elections and the relationship between percentage turn-out of voters and support received by the UP and the PP. In many respects the 1961 general election was not as important for the N? as was the 1958 general election. The reason for this assertion is firstly that the gains made by the NP in 1961 were not nearly as significant or extensive as those made in 1958. Furthermore the 1958 general election was Page (iv) most probably one of the most decisive general elections contested by the NP as it was in this election that its position became virtually impregnable. The UP's hopes of ever being returned to office suf ered a blow that can be seen as final and irreversible. However, the 1961 general election was important in that ic was probably the first general election in which the NP could realistically be described as enjoying the support of more than half the white electorate. Despite the optimistic clains made by soma sections of the Nationalist press after the results of the 1958 general election had been announced, the NP probably did not command the support of half the white electorate in 1958 although it came rather close to doing so. In addition the themes of the two elections do differ slightly in that in 1961 the Nationalists made a much more concerted effort to capture the votes of as many English-speaking whites as possible. Certain themes are prominent in any study of South African politics of this period. Ono of them is how the UP's nQmerical strength in parliament failed to reflect the full extent of its support among the electorate. This was to be a perennial source of discontent among UP supporters. In this dissertation certain statistical comparisons have been drawn with other general elections such as the influence of delimitation on the performance of certain parties and the percentage swings required to unseat the NP in some general elections. These comparisons provide a very interesting perspective on the growth and decline of various parties over nearly two decades. Another theme is how certain marginal seats made the position of the NP a trifle insecure in the early years of its rule and how this situation was remedied by Page (v) the general election of 1958. Also interesting is the dilemma in which the UP found itself for much of its pcst-1948 history whether to to fight adopt a more liberal approach or to attempt instead the Nationalists on behalf of its traditionally conservative supporters who might have been wavering in their party loyalties. What was also of great interest was the relationship between the English-language press and the leadership of the UP. :t was particularly striking how many editors appeared to dislike Douglas Mitchell intensely and how even in 1961 some editors already seemed disenchanted with the leadership of Sir de Villiers Graaff. It should be remembered that the voters in South West Africa were represented by six rr rnbers of parliament. Their constituencies were, however, determined by a separate delimitation commission. This dissertation naturally pays much more attention to the 150 seats in which white voters in the Republic of South Africa cast their votes. The coloureds in the Cape Province were represented by three members of parliament, who were not elected on the same day as their 156 fellow parliamentarians representing white voters in South Africa and South West Africa. In researching this dissertation I have found the newspapers of the period to be invaluable as well as certain periodical publications such as Round Table, African Digest, and Forum. Much useful material has also been found in the archival collections of Harry Lawrence, Oscar Wollheim, Sydney Waterson, and Colin Eglin in the University of Cape Town Library as well as the collection of Dr Eben Donges in the provincial archives in Cape Town. Useful and interesting information was Page (vi) also gleaned from the various United Party collections in the ut<ISA library. The Progressive Party collections and the Liberal Party papers in the Williall', Cullen library at the University of the Witwatersrand were also well worth consulting, as was the Liberal Party Collection in the Alan Paton Centre at the University of Natal. Most archival information concerning the National Party during this period came from the various collections at the Institute for Contemporary History at the University of the Orange Free State. My thanks are due to the staff of all these archival repositories for their assistance and to my two supervisors, Professor JCH Grobler and Mrs BM Theron, for their guidance. Some readers might regard general e:ections as being a trivial or inconsequential topic of study, partisularly as some people might regard white politics or parliamentary politics as being somewhat irrelevant in the light of contemporary historical events. Nevertheless general elections are a very interesting and fruitful field of research as they provide fascinating revelations on the attitudes held at various times by certain political parties as well as the white population of the time. Thus, even though while not nearly as momentous as, for example, the 1948 general election, the 1961 general election was an interesting contest. In the late 1950s, Professor GHL le May of the University of the Witwatersrand regarded the state of election analysis in South Africa as "abysmal", but hopefully this situation is in the process of being remedied.' / History / M.A. History

Abstracts in English and Venda / This study was an investigation of the effect of political communication strategies on voting behaviour. The area of study was Diepsloot in the north of Johannesburg. Various questions were explored such as; what kind of communication strategies have the top three South African political parties (ANC, DA & EFF) used in the past South African general elections in 1999, 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2019, do political parties pre-election communication strategies influence Diepsloot voters voting decision and lastly how do Diepsloot voters relate to domestic political parties' communications and messages during elections period? The study followed a qualitative research paradigm with the use of interviews to gather information. At an aggregate level, it is often said that what political organisations do, say or do not say have a bearing on their supporters when election time arrives. Voting behaviour theories were also utilised as a theoretical foundation for understanding voters' psychic. Broadly, this study aimed to investigate the effects of political communications on voters' decision-making process. The focus was on the top three political parties in South Africa being the African National Congress, The Democratic Alliance and the Economic Freedom Fighters. Using thematic analysis, this study identified a variety of issues that influence voting behaviour. Among other findings, the study revealed that while political communication affects voters' choice, some voters continuously vote for a political party that has some historical importance. Other findings suggest that political communication alone is not enough to lure voters; voters are looking for material benefits when considering who to vote for. The study also revealed that the young generation of voters, mostly referred to as 'born-frees,' are much more engaging before choosing a party of their choice. This is compared to the old block of voters who consider historic achievements when voting; they vote based on what a party is delivering at a particular epoch. / Ndzavisiso lowu wu lavisisa mbuyelo wa tindlela leti mavandla ya tipoliki ya titirhisaka ku gangisa no wonga nseketelo wa vahlawuri. Ndzavisiso lowu wu endliwile endhawini ya Diepsloot, n’walungu wa Joni. Swivutiso swo hambana-hambana swi xopaxopiwile leswi katsaka leswi; Hi tihi tindlela to gangisa tivhoti leti mavandla ya tipolitiki yanharhu lamakulu laha Afrika-Dzonga (ANC, DA & EFF) ya ti tirhiseke ku gangisa tivhoti eka mihlawulo ya mani na mani leyi hundzeke laha Afrika-Dzonga, xana magangiselo ya tivhoti ya mavandla ya tipoliti loko nhlawulo wu nga se fike ya kucetela swiboho swa vahlawuri, xo hetelela, xana vahlawuri va le Diepsloot va khumbeka njhani hi magangiselo ya mavandla ya tipolitiki ya la kaya na marungula ya wona hi nkarhi wa nhlawulo? Ndzavisiso lowu wu landzelele maendlelo ma nxopaxopo wa vundzeni bya hungu kumbe ku kuma vuxokoxoko bya ndzavisiso, leswi vuriwaka ‘qualitative research’ ku ri nkarhi ku tirhisiwa nkambelovutivi ku hlengeleta vuxokoxoko. Ku tala ku vuriwa leswaku leswi mavandla ya tipolitiki va swiendlaka, ku swi vula kumbe va nga swi vuli swi na nkucetelo swinene eka vaseketeri va vona loko nkarhi wa nhlawulo wu fika. Tithiyori ta matikhomelo ya nhlawulo na tona ti tirhisiwile tanihi hi ndlela yo sungula yo twisisa mianakanyo ya vahlawuri. Hi ku angarhela, ndzavisiso lowu wu kongomisiwe eka ku xopaxopa nkucetelo lowu mimbhurisano ya mavandla ya tipolitiki ya va ka na wona eku tekeni ka swiboho hi vahlawuri. Ku langusiwile ngopfu mavandla yanharhu ya tipolitiki eAfrika-Dzonga ku nga African National Congress, The Democratic Alliance and the Economic Freedom Fighters. Hi ku tirhisa vuhleri bya thematetiki, ndzavisiso lowu wu kumile swilo swo hambanahambana leswi kucetelaka matikhomelo ya vahlawuri. Eka swin’wana swa leswi wu nga swikuma, ndzavisiso wu humesele handle leswaku loko migangiso yi khumba swiboho swa vahlawuri, van’wana vahlawuri va ya emahlweni va hlawula vandla leri ri nga na matimu ya nkoka. Swin’wana leswi wu swi kumeke wu bumabumerile leswaku migangiso ya mavandla yi ri yoxe a yi enelanga ku wonga nseketelo wa vahlawuri, vahlawuri va lava na swa le mandleni loko va fanele va vona ku va hlawula vandla rihi. Ndzavisiso lowu wu tlhele wu boxa leswaku vantshwa, vo tala va vona lava vitaniwaka ti ”born-frees” va njhekajhekisa loko va nga se hlawula vandla leri va ri lavaka. Leswi swi hambanile na vanhulavankulu lava va langutaka matimu na leswi vandla ri nga swi fikelela loko vahlawula; va hlawula ku ya hi leswi vandla ri nga eku swiendleni nkarhi lowo leha / Communication Science / M.A. (Communication Science)