South African Liberal Party

South African Liberal Party

The Liberal Party of South Africa was a South African political party from 1953 to 1968.

Founding of the Party

The party was founded on 9 May, 1953 at a meeting of the South African Liberal Association in Cape Town (Paton 1968 p28). Essentially it grew out of a belief that the United Party was unable to achieve any real liberal progress in South Africa. Its establishment occurred during the "Coloured Vote" Constitutional Crisis of the 1950s, and the division of the Torch Commando on the matter of mixed membership.

Founding members of the party included (original positions in the party given):
*Margaret Ballinger (South African MP) - President of party
*Alan Paton (novelist) - Vice-President
*Leo Marquard - Vice President
*Dr Oscar Wolheim - National Chairperson
*Peter Brown - National Chairman
*Leslie Rubin (South African Senator) - Vice-Chairman

History

For the first half of its life the Liberal Party was comparatively conservative, and saw its task primarily in terms of changing the minds of the white electorate. It leaned towards a qualified franchise.

This changed in 1959–1960. The Progressive Party, formed in 1959 occupied the political ground that the Liberal Party had occupied up till then. In 1960 the Sharpeville massacre and consequent State of Emergency, during which several Liberal party members were detained, changed the outlook of the party. Another factor was the use of simultaneous translation equipment at party congresses, which enabled black rural members to speak uninhibitedly for the first time.

In the 1960s, therefore, the Liberal Party stood unequivocally for a democratic nonracial South Africa, with "one man, one vote" as its franchise policy.

The Liberal Party also supported liberal candidates in the Transkei bantustan elections, and helped its rural members and others, especially in Natal, to resist the ethnic cleansing brought about by the implementation of apartheid. This led to the [http://hayesfam.bravehost.com/BANNED01.HTM banning] of several party members and leaders.

Contact

The newspaper "Contact" was closely tied to the Liberal Party, although officially it was a separate publication. The link is described by Callan as follows::Nevertheless, "Contact" has become so invariably associated in the public mind with the Liberal Party that it now seems merely academic to insist on its independent status. —(Paton 1968 p. 50)It may, however, be more accurate to tie the paper to Patrick Duncan Jnr than the Liberal Party.

End of the Party

The party was in direct conflict with the South African government from the outset. This was due largely to the party's opposition to apartheid and criticism of the erosion of human rights by laws allowing detention without trial and arbitrary suppression of political opposition. Many of its members were placed under bans and persecuted by the South African government, which accused the party of furthering the aims of Communism.In 1968 the South African government passed the so-called Prohibition of Improper Interference Act, which banned parties from having a multiracial membership. The Liberal Party was therefore forced to choose between disbanding or going underground, and chose to disband.

ee also

*Liberalism
*Contributions to liberal theory
*Liberalism worldwide
*List of liberal parties
*Liberal democracy
* Liberalism in South Africa

Bibliography

# A.Paton, "The Long View" E Callan (ed) (1968) Frederick A. Praeger Publishers: New York:: Collection of essays and so forth by Alan Paton compiled together by E Callan, although regarded and shelfed (at the Rhodes University Library) under Paton as author.
# cite book
last = Vigne
first = Randolph
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Liberals against apartheid: a history of the Liberal Party of South Africa, 1953-68
publisher = Macmillan
date = 1997
location = Basingstoke
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 0-333-71355-9

External links

* [http://hayesfam.bravehost.com/LIBERAL1.HTM Liberal Party of South Africa]
* [http://hayesfam.bravehost.com/BANNED01.HTM Banning]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Congress of the People (South African political party) — Congress of the People Leader disputed[1] Founded 16 December 2008 ( …   Wikipedia

  • South African literature — Introduction       the body of writings in either Afrikaans or English produced in what is now the Republic of South Africa. The rest of African literature is treated in African literature.       South Africa was colonized by Europeans against… …   Universalium

  • Internal resistance to South African apartheid — Internal resistance to the apartheid system in South Africa came from several sectors of society and saw the creation of organisations dedicated variously to peaceful protests, passive resistance and armed insurrection. ANC and the PACAlthough… …   Wikipedia

  • Peter Brown (South African politician) — Peter McKenzie Brown (1924–2004) was a founding member of the South African Liberal Party and succeeded Alan Paton as its national chairman in 1958.Brown was arrested in March 1960, 10 days after the Sharpeville massacre and was released without… …   Wikipedia

  • SOUTH AFRICAN LITERATURE — Biblical Influences The Afrikaans speaking people of South Africa are mainly descended from Dutch Calvinist and French Huguenot immigrants of the 17th century. The Bible has been an important factor in their life and thinking. The Afrikaans… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • South African general election, 1961 — The 1961 South African general election was the first general election after South Africa became a republic following the 1960 South African referendum. The National Party under Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd won a majority.The National Union Party led …   Wikipedia

  • South African general election, 1989 — The 1989 South African general election was South Africa s last national race based parliamentary election. The election was called early (no election was required until 1992) to gauge support for the recently elected head of the National Party,… …   Wikipedia

  • South African Police — For the post apartheid police force see South African Police Service.The South African Police (SAP) traces its origin to the Dutch Watch, a paramilitary organization formed by settlers in the Cape in 1655, initially to protect civilians against… …   Wikipedia

  • South African general election, 1970 — The 1970 South African general election was held on 22 April for the 166 seat House of Assembly. It saw yet another victory for the National Party (NP), this time under the leadership of John Vorster. However, the NP lost some support for the… …   Wikipedia

  • South African general election, 1999 — South Africa s second non racial general election, held on 1999 06 02, was won by the African National Congress (ANC), who increased their number of seats by 14. Notable was the collapse of the New National Party, previously the National Party… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”