Katana VentraIP

Volksraad (South African Republic)

The Volksraad of the South African Republic (English: "People's Council" of the South African Republic, Afrikaans: Volksraad van die Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek) was the parliament of the former South African Republic (ZAR), it existed from 1840[1] to 1877,[2] and from 1881 to 1902[3] in part of what is now South Africa. The body ceased to exist after the British Empire's victory in the Second Anglo-Boer War. The Volksraad sat in session in Ou Raadsaal in Church Square, Pretoria.[4]

Volksraad van die Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek

Unicameral 1840-1890
Bicameral 1890-1902

1890–1902:

First Volksraad
Second Volksraad

1840

31 May 1902

48 (24 First, 24 Second)

Unicameral body[edit]

In 1840, at the beginning of the Natalia Republic, an adjunct Volksraad was created in Potchefstroom for settlers west of the Drakensberg.[1] The Potchefstroom Volksraad continued despite the British annexation of the Natalia Republic in 1843.[5] It eventually passed the Thirty-three Articles, the precursor to the 1858 constitution (Grondwet), in 1849.[6] In 1858 the Grondwet permanently established the Volksraad as the supreme authority of the nation. [7]


Volksraad was initially a unicameral body. It consisted of three members for each of the districts of Potchefstroom, Lydenburg, Rustenburg, Zoutpansberg, Pretoria, Wakkerstroom, Utrecht, Middelburg, Heidelberg, Waterberg, Marico, and Bloemhof, and one member for each of the towns of Potchefstroom, Lydenburg, Rustenburg, and Pretoria. The members had to be of European origin, over thirty years old, possessed real estate, never convicted of crime, member of a Protestant church, and voters in the Republic of at least three years.[8]


Before 1873 the members were elected for two years, and half of the members retired every two years. The Volksraad met once a year in ordinary session.[8]

1844[15]

J. D. Van Coller

1 Aug 1845 - 8 Oct 1845[16]

Casper Jan Hendrik Kruger

11 Dec 1845 - 11 Dec 1845[16]

Johannes Gerhardus Stephanus Bronkhorst

20 Jan 1846 - 22 Jan 1846[16]

Johannes Hermanus Grobler

27 Jan 1846 - 27 Jan 1846[16]

Andries Hendrik Potgieter

28 Feb 1846 - 28 Feb 1846[16]

Johannes Gerhardus Stephanus Bronkhorst

17 Mar 1846 - 19 Mar 1846[16]

Johannes Hermanus Grobler

13 Apr 1846 - 16 May 1846[16]

Andries Hendrik Potgieter

8 Jun 1846 - 8 Jun 1846[16]

Johannes Gerhardus Stephanus Bronkhorst

1 Sep 1846 - 1 Sep 1846[16]

Johannes Hermanus Grobler

5 Nov 1846 - 5 Nov 1846[16]

Joachim Prinsloo

10 Dec 1846 - 10 Feb 1847[16]

Johannes Christiaan Klopper

12 Mar 1847 - 12 Mar 1847[16]

Johannes Hermanus Grobler

16 Mar 1847 - 16 Mar 1847[16]

Johannes Christiaan Klopper

29 Apr 1847 - 29 Apr 1847[16]

Jan Frans Schutte

5 May 1847 - 5 May 1847[16]

Johannes Christiaan Klopper

14 May 1847 - 14 May 1847[16]

Joachim Prinsloo

17 Jun 1847 - 17 Jun 1847[16]

Johannes Hermanus Grobler

21 Jun 1847 - 21 Jun 1847[16]

Johannes van Renseburg

3 Nov 1847 - 4 Nov 1847[16]

Louw Erasmus

15 Dec 1847 - 16 Dec 1847[16]

Jan Frans Schutte

4 Apr 1848 - 21 Apr 1848[16]

Johannes Hermanus Grobler

7 Mar 1849 - 8 Mar 1849[16]

Jacob de Clercq

23 May 1849 - 25 May 1849[17]

Andries Wilhelmus Jacobus Pretorius

19 Sep 1849 - 19 Sep 1849[17]

Jacob de Clercq

6 Dec 1849 - 12 Dec 1849[17]

Piet Ernst Kruger

22 Jan 1850 - 30 Jan 1850[17]

WC Swart

26 May 1850 - 24 Aug 1850[17]

Willem Hendrik Jacobsz

10 Sep 1850 - 16 Oct 1850[17]

Cornelis Potgieter

10 Dec 1850 - 10 Dec 1850[17]

Petrus Frans Jacobus Pretorius

15 Jan 1851 - 15 Feb 1851[17]

Cornelis Potgieter

5 May 1851 - 9 May 1851[17]

Willem Hendrik Jacobsz

11 Jun 1851 - 11 Jun 1851[17]

JNH Grobler

5 Jul 1851 - 5 Jul 1851[17]

Johannes Christoffel Steyn

1 Sep 1851 - 3 Sep 1851[17]

Cornelis Potgieter

27 Nov 1851 - 29 Nov 1851[17]

Willem Hendrik Jacobsz

12 Feb 1852 - 12 Feb 1852[17]

Joachim Prinsloo

14 Feb 1852 - 14 Feb 1852[17]

Pieter Ernst Kruger

17 Mar 1852 - 20 Mar 1852[17]

Cornelis Potgieter

5 May 1852 - 6 May 1852[17]

Cornelis Potgieter

6 May 1852 - 6 May 1852[17]

Andreas Theodorus Spies

7 May 1852 - 7 May 1852[17]

C Viljoen

15 Jun 1852 - 12 Jul 1852[17]

Cornelis Potgieter

4 Oct 1852 - 4 Oct 1852[17]

Joachim Prinsloo

15 Nov 1852 - 15 Nov 1852[17]

Cornelis Potgieter

20 Nov 1852 - 20 Nov 1852[17]

Joachim Prinsloo

14 Mar 1853 - 22 Jun 1853[17]

Cornelis Potgieter

9 Aug 1853 - 13 Aug 1853[17]

Henricus Albertus Pretorius

19 Sep 1853 - 10 Apr 1854[17]

Cornelis Potgieter

7 Jun 1854 - 15 Jun 1854[17]

Johannes Hermanus Grobler

16 Oct 1854 - 5 Jul 1855[17]

Cornelis Potgieter

10 Sep 1855 - 18 Sep 1855[17]

Henricus Albertus Pretorius

5 Nov 1855 - 20 Nov 1855[17]

Johannes Hermanus Grobler

27 Nov 1855 - 27 Nov 1855[17]

Cornelis Potgieter

4 Mar 1856 - 11 Mar 1856[17]

Johannes Hermanus Grobler

11 Mar 1856 - 11 Mar 1856[17]

Hendrik Teodor Bührmann

27 May 1856 - 30 May 1856[17]

Johannes Hermanus Grobler

5 Jan 1857 - 6 Jan 1857[17]

JP Furstenberg

1857-?[18]

Johannes Hermanus Grobler

, ?-1858-?[19]

William Robinson (politician)

1867[20]

Maurits de Vries

1872-1873[21]

Maurits de Vries

1873-1875

Petrus Jacobus Joubert

1875-1877[22]

Cornelis Johannes Bodenstein

British annexation as 1877-1880

Transvaal Colony

1880-1884[22]

Cornelis Johannes Bodenstein

, ?-1885-?[23]

R. J. Smit

, ?-1886-?[24]

J. J. Hoffman

, ?-1887-?[25]

B. A. Kloppers

, ?-1890-?

W. J. Jacobs

The chairmen of the unicameral Volksraad (Voorzitter van den Volksraad).

1890-1891[26][27]

Frederik Gerhardus Hendrik Wolmarans

, ?-1891-?[28]

P. A. Klopper

, ?-1894-?

Jacobus Marthinus Malan

1895-1896[29]

Schalk Willem Burger

, ?-1897-?[30]

T. N. de Villiers

1898-1899[31]

Frederik Gerhardus Hendrik Wolmarans

1899[32]-1900-?[33]

Lucas Johannes Meyer

The chairmen of the First Volksraad (Voorzitter van den Eersten Volksraad).

1891-?

Hendrik Vermaas

, ?-1892-1894-?[34][35]

Jacobus Johannes Burger

, ?-1894-1898-?[36]

Nicolaas Samuel Malherbe

The chairmen of the Second Volksraad (Voorzitter van den Tweede Volksraad).