DIE GRONDWET VAN DIE UNIE VAN SUID-AFRIKA, 1909

Voor die Anglo-Boereoorlog was daar ’n sterk beweging vir eenwording tussen die vier “blanke gebiede”, die kolonies van Kaap en Natal, en die twee Boererepublieke van Transvaal en die Vrystaat. Dit het nie tot stand gekom nie, omdat die republieke jaloers oor hulle vryheid gewaak het. Na die oorlog was almal onder die Britse vlag en teen 1905 het die oud-republieke ook selfregering gekry. Die vier ekonomieë het toenemend geïntegreer en politieke eenwording was amper ’n noodwendigheid. Met ’n Nasionale Konvensie in 1909 is uiteindelik ’n ooreenkoms bereik: ’n Unie met federale kenmerke. Kaapstad sou wetgewende hoofstad wees, Pretoria uitvoerend en Bloemfontein juridies. Pietermaritzburg het ’n groot som geld gekry, want uit vrees vir toestroming van Afrikaners, wou hulle geen deel van die sentrale regering huisves nie.

Die Unie van Suid-Afrika sou voortaan die politieke ruimte wees waarbinne Afrikaners hulleself sou uitleef en mettertyd vereenselwig. Aangesien die Unie uit vier Britse gebiede saamgestel is, is die grondwet daarvan as die South Africa Act deur die Britse regering aangeneem:

An act to constitute the Union of South Africa

Whereas it is desirable for the welfare and future progress Of South Africa that the several British Colonies therein should be united under one Government in a legislative union under the Crown of Great Britain and Ireland:

And whereas it is expedient to make provision for the union of the Colonies of the Cape of Good Hope, Natal, the Transvaal, and the Orange River Colony on terms and conditions to which they have agreed by resolution of their respective Parliaments, and to define the executive legislative, and judicial powers to be exercised in the government of the Union:

And whereas it is expedient to make provision for the establishment of provinces with powers of legislation and administration in local matters and in such other matters as may be specially reserved for provincial legislation and administration:

And whereas it is expedient to provide for the eventual admission into the Union or transfer to the Union of such parts of South Africa as are not originally included therein:

Be it therefore enacted by the King’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

I. Preliminary.

1. This Act may be cited as the “South Africa Act, 1909.”

2. In this Act, unless it is otherwise expressed or implied, the words “the Union” shall be taken to mean the Union of South Africa as constituted under this Act, and the words “Houses of Parliament”, “House of Parliament” or “Parliament” shall be taken to mean the Parliament of the Union.

3. The provisions of this Act referring to the King shall extend to His Majesty’s heirs and successors in the sovereignty of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

II. The Union.

4. It shall be lawful for the King, with the advice of the Privy Council, to declare by proclamation that, on and after a day therein appointed, not being later than one year after the passing of this Act, the Colonies of the Cape of Good Hope, Natal, the Transvaal, and the Orange River Colony, hereinafter called the Colonies, shall be united in a Legislative Union under one Government under the name of the Union of South Africa. On and after the day appointed by such proclamation the Government and Parliament of the Union shall have full power and authority within the limits of the Colonies, but the King may at any time after the proclamation appoint a governor-general for the Union.

5. The provisions of this Act shall, unless it is otherwise expressed or implied, take effect on and after the day so appointed.

6. The colonies mentioned in section four shall become original provinces of the Union under the names of Cape of Good Hope, Natal, Transvaal, and Orange Free State, as the case may be. The original provinces shall have the same limits as the respective colonies at the establishment of the Union.

7. Upon any colony entering the Union, the Colonial Boundaries Act, 1895, and every other Act applying to any of the Colonies, as being self-governing colonies or colonies with responsible government, shall cease to apply to that colony, but as from the date when this Act takes effect every such Act of Parliament shall apply to the Union.

III. Executive Government.

8. The Executive Government of the Union is vested in the King, and shall be administered by His Majesty in person or by a governor-general as His representative.

9. The Governor-General shall be appointed by the King, and shall have and may exercise in the Union during the King’s pleasure, but subject to this Act, such powers and functions of the King as His Majesty may be pleased to assign to him.

10. There shall be payable to the King out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Union for the salary of the Governor-General an annual sum of ten thousand pounds. The salary of the Governor-General shall not be altered during his continuance in office.

11. The provisions of this Act relating to the Governor-General extend and apply to the Governor-General for the time being or such person as the King may appoint to administer the government of the Union. The King may authorise the Governor-General to appoint any person to be his deputy within the Union during his temporary absences and in that capacity to exercise for and on behalf of the Governor-General during such absence all such powers and authorities vested in the Governor-General as the Governor-General may assign to him, subject to any limitations expressed or directions given by the King; but the appointment of such deputy shall not affect the exercise by the Governor-General himself of any power or

function.

12. There shall be an Executive Council to advise the Governor-General in the Government of the Union, and the members of the council shall be chosen and summoned by the Governor-General and sworn as executive councillors, and shall hold office during his pleasure.

13. The provisions of this Act referring to the Governor-General in Council shall be construed as referring to the Governor-General acting with the advice of the Executive Council.

14. The Governor-General may appoint officers not exceeding ten in number to administer such departments of State of the Union as the Governor-General in Council may establish; such officers shall hold office during the pleasure of the Governor-General. They shall be members of the Executive Council and shall be the King’s ministers of State for the Union. After the first general election of members of the House of Assembly, as hereinafter provided, no minister shall hold office for a longer period than three months unless he is or becomes a member of either House of Parliament.

15. The appointment and removal of all officers of the public service of the Union shall be vested in the Governor-General in Council, unless the appointment is delegated by the Governor-General in Council or by this Act or by a law of Parliament to some other authority.

16. All power, authorities, and functions which at the establishment of the Union are in any of the Colonies vested in the Governor or in the Governor in Council, or in any authority of the Colony, shall, as far as the same continue in existence and are capable of being exercised after the establishment of the Union, be vested in the Governor-General or in the Governor-General in Council, or in the authority exercising similar powers under the Union, as the case may be, except such powers and functions as are by this Act or may by a law of Parliament be vested in some other authority.

17. The command in chief of the naval and military forces within the Union is vested in the King or in the Governor-General as His representative.

18. Save as in section twenty-three excepted, Pretoria shall be the seat of Government of the Union.

IV. Parliament.

19. The legislative power of the Union shall be vested in the Parliament of the Union, herein called Parliament, which shall consist of the King, a Senate, and a House of Assembly.

20. The Governor-General may appoint such times for holding the sessions of Parliament as he thinks fit, and may also from time to time, by proclamation or otherwise, prorogue Parliament, and may in like manner dissolve the Senate and the House of Assembly simultaneously, or the House of Assembly alone: provided that the Senate shall not be dissolved within a period of ten years after the establishment of the Union, and provided further that the dissolution of the Senate shall not affect any senators nominated by the Governor-General in Council.

21. Parliament shall be summoned to meet not later than six months after the establishment of the Union.

22. There shall be a session of Parliament once at least in every year, so that a period of twelve months shall not intervene between the last sitting of Parliament in one session and its first sitting in the next session.

23. Cape Town shall be the seat of the Legislature of the Union.

Senate

24. For ten years after the establishment of the Union the constitution of the Senate shall, in respect of the original provinces, be as follows:

(a) Eight senators shall be nominated by the Governor-General in Council, and for each original province eight senators shall be elected in the manner hereinafter provided;

(b) The senators to be nominated by the Governor-General in Council shall hold their seats for ten years. One-half of their number shall be selected on the ground mainly of their thorough acquaintance, by reason of their official experience or otherwise, with the reasonable wants and wishes of the coloured races in South Africa. If the seat of a senator so nominated shall become vacant, the Governor-General in Council shall nominate another person to be a senator, who shall hold his seat for ten years;

(c) After the passing of this Act, and before the day appointed for the establishment of the Union, the Governor of each of the Colonies shall summon a special sitting of both Houses of the Legislature, and the two Houses sitting together as one body and presided over by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly shall elect eight persons to be senators for the province. Such senators shall hold their seats for ten years. If the seat of a senator so elected shall become vacant, the provincial council of the province for which such senator has been elected shall choose a person to hold the scat until the completion of the period for which the person in whose stead he is elected would have held his seat.

25. Parliament may provide for the manner in which the Senate shall be constituted after the expiration of ten years, and unless and until such provision shall have been made —

(a) the provisions of the last preceding section with regard to nominated senators shall continue to have effect;

(b) eight senators for each province shall be elected by the members of the provincial council of such province together with the members of the House of Assembly elected for such province. Such senators shall hold their seats for ten years unless the Senate be sooner dissolved. If the seat of an elected senator shall become vacant, the members of the provincial council of the province, together with the members of the House of Assembly elected for such province, shall choose a person to hold the seat until the completion of the period for which the person in whose stead he is elected would have held his seat. The Governor-General in Council shall make regulations for the joint election of senators prescribed in this section.

26. The qualifications of a senator shall be as follows:

He must —

(a) be not less than thirty years of age;

(b) be qualified to be registered as a voter for the election of members of the House of Assembly in one of the provinces;

(c) have resided for five years within the limits of the Union as existing at the time when he is elected or nominated, as the case may be;

(d) be a British subject of European descent;

(e) in the case of an elected senator, be the registered owner of immovable property within the Union of the value of not less than five hundred pounds over and above any special mortgages thereon.

27. The Senate shall, before proceeding to the dispatch of any other business, choose a senator to be the President of the Senate, and as often as the office of President becomes vacant the Senate shall again choose a senator to be the President …

30. The presence of at least twelve senators shall be necessary to constitute a meeting of the Senate for the exercise of its powers House of Assembly

House of Assembly

32. The House of Assembly shall be composed of members directly chosen by the voters of the Union in electoral divisions delimited as hereinafter provided.

33. The number of members to be elected in the original provinces at the first election and until the number is altered in accordance with the provisions of this Act shall be as follows:

Cape of Good Hope …………….. Fifty-One

Natal …………………………………… Seventeen

Transvaal …………………………….. Thirty-six

Orange Free State ………………… Seventeen

These numbers may be increased as provided in the next succeeding section, but shall not, in the case of any original province, be diminished until the total number of members of the House of Assembly in respect of the provinces herein provided for reaches one hundred and fifty, or until a period of ten years has elapsed after the establishment of the Union, whichever is the longer period.

34. The number of members to be elected in each province, as provided in section thirty-three, shall be increased from time to time as may be necessary in accordance with the following provisions:

(a) The quota of the Union shall be obtained by dividing the total number of European male adults in the Union, as ascertained at the census of nineteen hundred and four, by the total number of members of the House of Assembly as constituted at the establishment of the Union:

(b) In nineteen hundred and eleven, and every five years thereafter, a census of the European population of the Union shall be taken for the purposes of this Act:

(c) After any such census the number of European male adults in each province shall be compared with the number of European male adults as ascertained at the census of nineteen hundred and four, and, in the case of any province where an increase is shown, as compared with the census of nineteen hundred and four, equal to the quota of the Union or any multiple thereof, the number of members allotted to such province in the last preceding section shall be increased by an additional member or an additional number of members equal to such multiple, as the case may be:

(d) Notwithstanding anything herein contained, no additional member shall be allotted to any province until the total number of European male adults in such province exceeds the quota of the Union multiplied by the number of members allotted to such province for the time being, and thereupon additional members shall be allotted to such province in respect only of such excess:

(e) As soon as the number of members of the House of Assembly to be elected in the original provinces in accordance with the preceding subsections reaches the total of one hundred and fifty, such total shall not be further increased unless and until Parliament otherwise provides; and subject to the provisions of the last preceding section, the distribution of members among the provinces shall be such that the proportion between the number of members to be elected at any time in each province and the number of European male adults in such province, as ascertained at the last preceding census, shall as far as possible be identical throughout the Union:

(f) “Male adults” in this Act shall be taken to mean males of twenty-one years of age or upwards not being members of His Majesty’s regular forces on full pay;

(g) For the purposes of this Act the number of European male adults, as ascertained at the census of nineteen hundred and four, shall be taken to be —

For the Cape of Good Hope ………….. 167 546

For Natal ………………………………………. 34 784

For the Transvaal ………………………….. 106 493

For the Orange Free State …………….. 41 014

35. (1) Parliament may by law prescribe the qualifications which shall be necessary to entitle persons to vote at the election of members of the House or Assembly, but no such law shall disqualify any person in the province of the Cape of Good Hope who, under the laws existing in the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope at the establishment of the Union, is or may become capable of being registered as a voter from being so registered in the province of the Cape of Good Hope by reason of his race or colour only, unless the Bill be passed by both Houses of Parliament sitting together, and at the third reading be agreed to by not less than two-thirds of the total number of members of both Houses. A Bill so passed at such joint sitting shall be taken to have been duly passed by both Houses of Parliament.

(2) No person who at the passing of any such law is registered as a voter in any province shall be removed from the register by reason only of any disqualification based on race or colour.

36. Subject to the provisions of the last preceding section, the qualifications of parliamentary voters, as existing in the several Colonies at the establishment of the Union, shall be the qualifications necessary to entitle persons in the corresponding provinces to vote for the election of members of the House of Assembly: Provided that no member of His Majesty’s regular forces on full pay shall be entitled to be registered as a voter …

38. Between the date of the passing of this Act and the date fixed for the establishment of the Union, the Governor in Council of each of the Colonies shall nominate a judge of any of the Supreme or High Courts of the Colonies, and the judges so nominated shall, upon acceptance by them respectively of such nomination, form a joint commission, without any further appointment, for the purpose of the first division of the provinces into electoral divisions …

39. The commission shall divide each province into electoral divisions, each returning one member.

40. (1) For the purpose of such division as is in the last preceding section mentioned, the quota of each province shall be obtained by dividing the total number of voters in the province, as ascertained at the last registration of voters, by the number of members of the House of Assembly to be elected therein.

(2) Each province shall be divided into electoral divisions in such a manner that each such division shall, subject to the provisions of subsection (3) of this section, contain a number of voters, as nearly as may be, equal to the quota of the province.

(3) The Commissioners shall give due consideration to —

(a) community or diversity of interests;

(b) means of communication;

(d) existing electoral boundaries;

(e) sparsity or density of population;

in such manner that, while taking the quota of voters as the basis of division, the Commissioners may, whenever they deem it necessary, depart therefrom, but in no case to any greater extent than fifteen per centum more or fifteen per centum less than the quota.

41. As soon as may be after every quinquennial census, the Governor-General in Council shall appoint a commission consisting of three judges of the Supreme Court of South Africa to carry out any re-division which may have become necessary as between the different electoral divisions in each province, and to provide for the allocation of the number of members to which such province may have become entitled under the provisions of this Act. In carrying out such redivision and allocation the commission shall have the same powers and proceed upon the same principles as are by this Act in regard to the original division …

44. The qualifications of a member of the House of Assembly shall be as follows:

He must —

(a) be qualified to be registered as a voter for the election of members Of the

House of Assembly in one of the provinces;

(b) have resided for five years within the limits of the Union as existing at the

time When he is elected;

45. Every House of Assembly shall continue for five years from the first meeting thereof, and no longer, but may be sooner dissolved by the Governor-General.

46. The House of Assembly shall, before proceeding to the despatch of any other business, choose a member to be the Speaker of the House, and, as often as the office of Speaker becomes vacant, the House shall again choose a member to be the Speaker …

49. The presence of at least thirty members of the House of Assembly shall be necessary to constitute a meeting of the House for the exercise of its powers …

Both Houses of Parliament

51. Every senator and every member of the House of Assembly shall, before taking his seat, make and subscribe before the Governor-General, or some person authorised by him, an oath or affirmation of allegiance in the following form:

Oath

I, A. B., do swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty [here insert the name of the King or Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland for the time being] His [or Her] heirs and successors according to law. So help me God.

Affirmation

I, A. B., do solemnly and sincerely affirm and declare that I will be faithful and bear true to His Majesty [here insert the name of the King or Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland for the time being] His [or Her] heirs and successors according to law …

53. No person shall be capable of being chosen or of sitting as a senator or as a member of the House of Assembly who —

(a) has been at any time convicted of any crime or offence for which he shall have been sentenced to imprisonment without the option of a fine for a term of not less than twelve months, unless he shall have received a grant of amnesty or a free pardon, or unless such imprisonment shall have expired at least five years before the date of his election; or

(b) is an unrehabilitated insolvent; or

(d) holds any office of profit under the Crown within the Union: Provided that the following persons shall not be deemed to hold an office of profit under the Crown for the purposes of this subsection:

(1) a minister of State for the Union;

(2) a person in receipt of a pension from the Crown;

(3) an officer or member of His Majesty’s naval or military forces on retired or half pay, or an officer or member of the naval or military forces of the Union whose services are not wholly employed by the Union.

Powers of Parliament

59. Parliament shall have full power to make laws for the peace, order, and good government of the Union.

60. (1) Bills appropriating revenue or moneys or imposing taxation shall originate only in the House of Assembly. But a Bill shall not be taken to appropriate revenue or moneys or to impose taxation by reason only of its containing provisions for the imposition or appropriation of fines or other pecuniary penalties.

(2) The Senate may not amend any Bills so far as they impose taxation or appropriate revenue or moneys for the services of the Government.

(3) The Senate may not amend any Bill so far as to increase any proposed charges or burden on the people.

61. Any Bill which appropriates revenue or moneys for the ordinary annual services of the Government shall deal only with such appropriation.

62. The House of Assembly shall not originate or pass any vote, resolution, address, or Bill for the appropriation of any part of the public revenue or of any tax or impost to any purpose unless such appropriation has been recommended by message from the Governor-General during the Session in which such vote, resolution, address, or Bill is proposed.

63. If the House of Assembly passes any Bill and the Senate rejects or fails to pass it or passes it with amendments to which the House of Assembly will not agree, and if the House of Assembly in the next session again passes the Bill with or without any amendments which have been made or agreed to by the Senate and the Senate rejects or fails to pass it or passes it with amendments to which the House of Assembly will not agree, the Governor-General may during that session convene a joint sitting of the members of the Senate and House of Assembly. The members present at any such joint sitting may deliberate and shall vote together upon the Bill as last proposed by the House of Assembly and upon amendments, if any, which have been made therein by one House of Parliament and not agreed to by the other; and any such amendments which are affirmed by a majority of the total number of members of the Senate and House of Assembly present at such sitting shall be taken to have been carried, and if the Bill with the amendments, if any, is affirmed by a majority of the members of the Senate and House of Assembly present at such sitting, it shall be taken to have been duly passed by both Houses of Parliament: Provided that, if the Senate shall reject or fail to pass any Bill dealing with the appropriation Of revenue or moneys for the public service, such joint sitting may be convened during the same session in which the Senate so rejects or fails to pass such Bill.

64. When a Bill is presented to the Governor-General for the King’s Assent, he shall declare according to his discretion, but subject to the provisions of this Act, and to such instructions as may from time to time be given in that behalf by the King, that he assents in the King’s name, or that he withholds assent, or that he reserves the Bill for the signification of the King’s pleasure. All Bills repealing or amending this section or any of the provisions of Chapter IV, under the heading “House of Assembly,” and all Bills abolishing provincial councils or abridging the powers conferred on provincial councils under section eighty-five, otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of that section, shall be so reserved. The Governor-General may return to the House in which it originated any Bill so presented to him, and may transmit therewith any amendments which he may recommend, and the House may deal with the recommendation.

65. The King may disallow any law within one year after it has been assented to by the Governor-General, and such disallowance, on being made known by the Governor-General by speech or message to each of the Houses of Parliament or by proclamation, shall annul the law from the day when the disallowance is so made known.

66. A Bill reserved for the King’s pleasure shall not have any force unless and until, within one year from the day on which it was presented to the Governor-General for the King’s Assent, the Governor-General makes known by speech or message to each of the Houses of Parliament or by proclamation that it has received the King’s Assent.

67. As soon as may be after any law shall have been assented to in the King’s name by the Governor-General, or having been reserved for the King’s pleasure shall have received his assent, the Clerk of the House of Assembly shall cause two fair copies of such law, one being in the English and the other in the Dutch language (one of which copies shall be signed by the Governor-General), to be enrolled of record in the office of the Registrar of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of South Africa; and such copies shall be conclusive evidence as to the provisions of every such law, and in case of conflict between the two copies thus deposited that signed by the Governor-General shall prevail.

V. The Provinces.

Administrators

68. (1) In each province there shall be a chief executive officer appointed by the Governor-General in Council, who shall be styled the administrator of the province, and in whose name all executive acts relating to provincial affairs therein shall be done.

(2) In the appointment of the administrator of any provinces the Governor-General in Council shall, as far as practicable, give preference to persons resident in such province.

(3) Such administrator shall hold office for a term of five years and shall not be removed before the expiration thereof except by the Governor-General in Council for cause assigned, which shall be communicated by message to both Houses of Parliament within one week after the removal, if Parliament be then sitting, or, if Parliament be not sitting, then within one week after the commencement of the next ensuing session.

(4) The Governor-General in Council may from time to time appoint a deputy administrator to execute the office and functions of the administrator during his absence, illness, or other inability.

69. The salaries of the administrators shall be fixed and provided by Parliament, and shall not be reduced during their respective terms of office.

Provincial Councils

70. (1) There shall be a provincial council in each province consisting of the same number of members as are elected in the province for the House of Assembly: Provided that, in any province whose representatives in the House of Assembly shall be less than twenty-five in number, the provincial council shall consist of twenty-five members.

(2) Any person qualified to vote for the election of members of the provincial council shall be qualified to be a member of such council.

71. (1) The members or the provincial council shall be elected by the persons qualified to vote for the election of members of the House of Assembly in the province voting in the same electoral divisions as are delimited for the election of members of the House of Assembly: Provided that, in any province in which less than twenty-five members are elected to the House of Assembly, the delimitation of the electoral divisions, and any necessary re-allocation of members or adjustment of electoral divisions, shall be effected by the same commission and on the same principles as are prescribed in regard to the electoral divisions for the House of Assembly.

(2) Any alteration in the number of members of the provincial council, and any re-division of the province into electoral divisions, shall come into operation at the next general election for such council held after the completion of such re-division, or of any allocation consequent upon such alteration, and not earlier …

73. Each provincial council shall continue for three years from the date of its first meeting, and shall not be subject to dissolution save by effluxion of time.

74. The administrator of each province shall by proclamation fix such times for holding the sessions of the provincial council as he may think fit, and may from time to time prorogue such council: Provided that there shall be a session of every provincial council once at least in every year, so that a period of twelve months shall not intervene between the last sitting of the council in one session and its first sitting in the next session.

75. The provincial council shall elect from among its members a chairman, and may make rules for the conduct of its proceedings …

Executive Committees

78. (1) Each provincial council shall at its first meeting after any general election elect from among its members, or otherwise, four persons to form with the administrator, who shall be chairman, an executive committee for the province. The members of the executive committee other than the administrator shall hold office until the election of their successors in the same manner.

(2) Such members shall receive such remuneration as the provincial council, with the approval of the Governor-General in Council, shall determine.

(3) A member of the provincial council shall not be disqualified from sitting as a member by reason of his having been elected as a member of the executive committee.

(4) Any casual vacancy arising in the executive committee shall be filled by election by the provincial council if then in session or, if the council is not in session, by a person appointed by the executive committee to hold office temporarily pending an election by the council.

79. The administrator and any other member of the executive committee of a province, not being a member of the provincial council, shall have the right to take part in the proceedings of the council, but shall not have the right to vote.

80. The executive committee shall on behalf of the provincial council carry on administration of provincial affairs …

81. Subject to the provisions of this Act, all powers, authorities, and functions which at the establishment of the Union arc in any of the Colonies vested in or exercised by the Governor or the Governor in Council, or any minister of the Colony, shall after such establishment be vested in the executive committee of the province so far as such powers, authorities, and functions relate to matters in respect of which the provincial council is competent to make ordinances.

82. Questions arising in the executive committee shall be determined by a majority of votes of the members present, and, in case of an equality of votes, the administrator shall have also a casting vote …

84. In regard to all matters in respect of which no powers are reserved or delegated to the provincial council, the administrator shall act on behalf of the Governor-General in Council when required to do so, and in such matters the administrator may act without reference to the other members of the executive committee.

Powers of Provincial Councils

85. Subject to the provisions of this Act and the assent of the Governor-General in Council as hereinafter provided, the provincial council may make ordinances in relation to matters coming within the following classes of subjects (that is to say):

(a) Direct taxation within the province in order to raise a revenue for provincial purposes:

(b) The borrowing of money on the sole credit of the province with the consent of the Governor-General in Council and in accordance with regulations to be framed by Parliament:

(c) Education, other than higher education, for a period of five years and thereafter until Parliament otherwise provides:

(d) Agriculture to the extent and subject to the conditions to be defined by Parliament:

(e) The establishment, maintenance, and management of hospitals and charitable institutions:

(f) Municipal institutions, divisional councils, and other local institutions of a similar nature.

(g) Local works and undertakings within the province, other than railways and harbours and other than such works as extend beyond the borders of the province, and subject to the power of Parliament to declare any work national work and to provide for its construction by arrangement with the provincial council or otherwise:

(h) Roads, outspans, ponts, and bridges, other than bridges connecting two provinces:

(i) Markets and pounds:

(j) Fish and game preservation:

(k) The imposition of punishment by fine, penalty, or imprisonment for enforcing any law or any ordinance of the province made in relation to any matter coming within any of the classes of subjects enumerated in this section:

(I) Generally all matters which, in the opinion of the Governor-General in Council, are of a merely local or private nature in the province:

(m) All other subjects in respect of which Parliament shall by any law delegate the power of making ordinances to the provincial council.

86. Any ordinance made by a provincial council shall have effect in and for the province as long and as far only as it is not repugnant to any Act of Parliament …

89. A provincial revenue fund shall be formed in every province, into which shall be paid all revenues raised by or accruing to the provincial council and all moneys paid over by the Governor-General in Council to the provincial council. Such fund shall be appropriated by the provincial council by ordinance for the purposes of the provincial administration generally, or, in the case of moneys paid over by the Governor-General in Council for particular purposes, then for such purposes, but no such ordinance shall be passed by the provincial council unless the administrator shall have first recommended to the council to make provision for the specific service for which the appropriation is to be made.

90. When a proposed ordinance has been passed by a provincial council it shall be presented by the administrator to the Governor-General in Council for his assent. The Governor-General in Council shall declare within one month from the presentation to him of the proposed ordinance that he assents thereto, or that he withholds assent, or that he reserves the proposed ordinance for further consideration. A proposed ordinance so resewed shall not have any force unless and until, within one year from the day on which it was presented to the Governor-General in Council, he makes known by proclamation that it has received his assent.

91. An ordinance assented to by the Governor-General in Council and promulgated by the administrator shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, have the force of law within the province. The administrator shall cause two fair copies of every such ordinance, one being in the English and the other in the Dutch Language (one of which copies shall be signed by the Governor-General), to be enrolled of record in the office of the Registrar of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of South Africa; and such copies shall be conclusive evidence as to the provisions of such ordinance, and, in case of conflict between the two copies thus deposited, that signed by the Governor-General shall prevail.

Miscellaneous

92 (1) In each province there shall be an auditor of accounts to be appointed by the Governor-General in Council

94. The seats of provincial government shall be:

For the Cape of Good Hope ………………….. Cape Town.

For Natal ………………………………………………. Pietermaritzburg.

For the Transvaal …………………………………. Pretoria.

For the Orange Free State ……………………. Bloemfontein.

VI. The Supreme Court or South Africa.

95. There shall be a Supreme Court of South Africa consisting of a Chief Justice of South Africa, the ordinary judges of appeal, and the other judges of the several divisions of the Supreme Court of South Africa in the provinces.

96. There shall be an Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of South Africa, consisting of the Chief Justice of South Africa, two ordinary judges of appeal, and two additional judges of appeal. Such additional judges of appeal shall be assigned by the Governor-General in Council to the Appellate Division from any of the provincial or local divisions of the Supreme Court of South Africa, but shall continue to perform their duties as judges of their respective divisions when their attendance is not required in the Appellate Division.

97. The Governor-General in Council may, during the absence, illness, or other incapacity of the Chief Justice of South Africa, or of any ordinary or additional judge of appeal, appoint any other judge of the Supreme Court of South Africa to act temporarily as such chief justice, ordinary judge of appeal, or additional judge of appeal, as the case may be.

98. (1) The several supreme courts of the Cape of Good Hope, Natal, and the Transvaal, and the High Court of the Orange River Colony shall, on the establishment of the Union, become provincial divisions of the Supreme Court of South Africa within their respective provinces, and shall each be presided over by a judge-president.

(2) The court of the eastern districts of the Cape of Good Hope, the High Court of Griqualand, the High Court of Witwatersrand, and the several circuit courts, shall become local divisions of the Supreme Court of South Africa within the respective areas of their jurisdiction as existing at the establishment of the Union.

(3) The said provincial and local divisions, referred to in this Act as superior courts, shall, in addition to any original jurisdiction exercised by the corresponding courts of the Colonies at the establishment of the Union, have jurisdiction in all matters:

(a) in Which the Government of the Union or a person suing or being sued on behalf of such Government is a party:

(b) in which the validity of any provincial ordinance shall come into question …

99. All judges of the supreme courts of the Colonies, including the High Court of the Orange River Colony, holding office at the establishment of the Union shall on such establishment become judges of the Supreme Court of South Africa, assigned to the divisions of the Supreme Court in the respective provinces, and shall retain all such rights in regard to salaries and pensions as they may possess at the establishment of the Union. The Chief Justices of the Colonies holding office at the establishment of the Union shall on such establishment become the Judges-President of the divisions of the Supreme Court in the respective provinces, but shall so long as they hold that office retain the title of Chief Justice of their respective provinces.

100. The Chief Justice of South Africa, the ordinary judges of appeal, and all other judges of the Supreme Court of South Africa to be appointed after the establishment of the Union shall be appointed by the Governor-General in Council, and shall receive such remuneration as Parliament shall prescribe, and their remuneration shall not be diminished during their continuance in office.

101. The Chief Justice of South Africa and other judges of the Supreme Court of

South Africa shall not be removed from once except by the Governor-General in

Council on an address from both Houses of Parliament in the same session praying

for such removal on the ground of misbehaviour or incapacity …

103. In every civil case in which, according to the law in force at the establishment of the Union, an appeal might have been made to the Supreme Court of any of the Colonies from a Superior Court in any of the Colonies, or from the High Court of Southern Rhodesia, the appeal shall be made only to the Appellate Division, except in cases of orders or judgments given by a single judge, upon applications by way of motion or petition or on summons for provisional sentence or judgments as to costs only, which by law are left to the discretion of the court. The appeal from any such orders or judgments, as well as any appeal in criminal cases from any such Superior Court, or the special reference by any such court of any point of law in a criminal case, shall be made to the provincial division corresponding to the court which before the establishment of the Union would have had jurisdiction in the matter. There shall be no further appeal against any judgment given on appeal by such provincial division except to the Appellate Division, and then only if the Appellate Division shall have given special leave to appeal.

104. In every case, civil or criminal, in which at the establishment of the Union an appeal might have been made from the Supreme Court of any of the Colonies or from the High Court of the Orange River Colony to the King in Council, the appeal shall be made only to the Appellate Division: Provided that the right of appeal in any civil suit shall not be limited by reason only of the value of the matter in dispute or the amount claimed or awarded in such suit.

105. In every case, civil or criminal, in which at the establishment of the Union an appeal might have been made from a court of resident magistrate or other inferior court to a superior court in any of the Colonies, the appeal shall be made to the corresponding division of the Supreme Court of South Africa; but there shall be no further appeal against any judgment given on appeal by such division except to the Appellate Division, and then only if the Appellate Division shall have given special leave to appeal.

106. There shall be no appeal from the Supreme Court of South Africa or from any division thereof to the King in Council, but nothing herein contained shall construed to impair any right which the King in Council may be pleased to exercise to grant special leave to appeal from the Appellate Division to the King in Council …

109. The Appellate Division shall sit in Bloemfontein, but may from time to time for the convenience of suitors hold its sittings at other places within the Union.

110. On the hearing of appeals from a court consisting of two or more judges, five judges of the Appellate Division shall form a quorum, but, on the hearing of appeals from a single judge, three judges of the Appellate Division shall form a quorum. No judge shall take part in the hearing of any appeal against the judgment given in a case heard before him …

VII. Finance and Railways.

117. All revenues, from whatever source arising, over which the several Colonies have at the establishment of the Union power of appropriation, shall vest in the Governor-General in Council. There shall be formed a Railway and Harbour Fund, into which shall be paid all revenues raised or received by the Governor-General in Council from the administration of the railways, ports, and harbours, and such fund shall be appropriated by Parliament to the purposes of the railways, ports, and harbours in the manner prescribed by this Act. There shall also be formed a Consolidated Revenue Fund, into which shall be paid all other revenues raised or received by the Governor-General in Council, and such fund shall be appropriated by Parliament for the purposes of the Union in the manner prescribed by this Act, and subject to the charges imposed thereby.

118. The Governor-General in Council shall, as soon as may be after the establishment of the Union, appoint a commission, consisting of one representative from each province, and presided over by an officer from the Imperial Service, to institute an inquiry into the financial relations which should exist between the Union and the provinces. Pending the completion of that inquiry and until Parliament otherwise provides, there shall be paid annually out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund to the administrator of each province:

(a) an amount equal to the sum provided in the estimates for education, other than higher education, in respect of the financial year, 1908-9, as voted by the Legislature of the corresponding colony during the year nineteen hundred and eight;

(b) such further sums as the Governor-General in Council may consider necessary for the due performance of the services and duties assigned to the provinces respectively.

Until such inquiry shall be completed and Parliament shall have made other provision, the executive committees in the several provinces shall annually submit estimates of their expenditure for the approval of the Governor-General in Council, and no expenditure shall be incurred by any executive committee which is not provided for in such approved estimates …

121. All stocks, cash, bankers’ balances, and securities for money belonging to each of the Colonies at the establishment of the Union shall be the property of the Union

122. Crown lands, public works, and all property throughout the Union, movable, or immovable, and all rights of whatever description belonging to the several Colonies at the establishment of the Union, shall vest in the Governor-General in Council subject to any debt or liability specifically charged thereon.

123. All rights in and to mines and minerals, and all rights in connection with the searching for, working for, or disposing of, minerals or precious stones, which at the establishment of the Union are vested in the Government of any of the Colonies, shall on such establishment vest in the Governor-General in Council.

124. The Union shall assume all debts and liabilities of the Colonies existing at its establishment, subject, notwithstanding any other provision contained in this Act, to the conditions imposed by any law under which such debts or liabilities were raised or incurred, and without prejudice to any rights of security or priority in respect of the payment of principal, interest, sinking fund, and other charges conferred on the creditors of any of the Colonies, and may, subject to such conditions and rights, convert, renew, or consolidate such debts.

125. All ports, harbours, and railways belonging to the several Colonies at the establishment of the Union shall from the date thereof vest in the Governor-General in Council. No railway for the conveyance of public traffic, and no port, harbour, or similar work, shall be constructed without the sanction of Parliament.

126. Subject to the authority of the Governor-General in Council, the control and management of the railways, ports, and harbours of the Union shall be exercised through a board consisting of not more than three commissioners, who shall be appointed by the Governor-General in Council, and a minister of State, who shall be chairman. Each commissioner shall hold office for a period of five years, but may be reappointed. He shall not be removed before the expiration of his period of appointment, except by the Governor-General in Council for cause assigned, which shall be communicated by message to both Houses of Parliament within one week after the removal, if Parliament be then sitting, or, If Parliament be not sitting, then within one week after the commencement of the next ensuing session. The salaries of the commissioners shall be fixed by Parliament and shall not be reduced during their respective terms of office.

127. The railways, ports, and harbours of the Union shall be administered on business principles, due regard being had to agricultural and industrial development within the Union and promotion, by means of cheap transport, of the settlement of an agricultural and industrial population in the inland portions of all provinces of the Union …

132. The Governor-General in Council shall appoint a Controller and Auditor-General who shall hold office during good behaviour …

133. In order to compensate Pietermaritzburg and Bloemfontein for any loss sustained by them in the form of diminution of prosperity or decreased rateable value by reason of their ceasing to be the seats of government of their respective colonies, there shall be paid from the Consolidated Revenue Fund for a period not exceeding twenty-five years to the municipal councils of such towns a grant of two per centum per annum on their municipal debts, as existing on the thirty-first day of January nineteen hundred and nine, and as ascertained by the Controller and Auditor-General …

VIII. General.

134. The election of senators and of members of executive committees of the provincial councils as provided in this Act shall, whenever such election is contested, be according to the principle of proportional representation, each voter having one transferable vote. The Governor-General in Council, or, in the case of the first election of the Senate. the Governor in Council of each of the Colonies, shall frame regulations prescribing the method of voting and of transferring and counting votes and the duties of returning officers in connection therewith, and such regulations or any amendments thereof after being duly promulgated shall have full force and effect unless and until Parliament shall otherwise provide.

135. Subject to the provisions of this Act, all laws in force in the several Colonies at the establishment of the Union shall continue in force in the respective provinces until repealed or amended by Parliament, or by the provincial councils in matters in respect of which the power to make ordinances is reserved or delegated to them. All legal commissions in the several Colonies at the establishment of the Union shall continue as if the Union had not been established.

136. There shall be free trade throughout the Union, but until Parliament otherwise provides the duties of custom and of excise leviable under the laws existing in any of the Colonies at the establishment of the Union shall remain in force.

137. Both the English and Dutch languages shall be official languages of the Union, and shall be treated on a footing of equality, and possess and enjoy equal freedom, rights, and privileges; all records, journals, and proceedings of Parliament shall be kept in both languages, and all Bills, Acts, and notices of general public importance or interest issued hy the Government of the Union shall be in both languages.

138. All persons who have been naturalised in any of the Colonies shall be deemed to be naturalised throughout the Union.

139. The administration of justice throughout the Union shall be under the control of a minister of State, in whom shall be vested all powers, authorities, and functions which shall at the establishment of the Union be vested in the Attorneys-General of the Colonies, save and except all powers, authorities, and functions relating to the prosecution of crimes and offences, which shall in each province be vested in an officer to be appointed by the Governor-General in Council, and styled the Attorney-General of the province, who shall also discharge such other duties as may be assigned to him by the Governor-General in Council: Provided that in the province of the Cape of Good Hope the Solicitor-General for the Eastern Districts and the Crown Prosecutor for Griqualand West shall respectively continue to exercise the powers and duties by law vested in them at the time of the establishment of the Union.

140. Subject to the provisions of the next succeeding section, all officers of the public service of the Colonies shall at the establishment of the Union become officers of the Union.

141. (1) As soon as possible after the establishment of the Union, the Governor-General in Council shall appoint a public service commission to make recommendations for such reorganisation and readjustment of the departments of the public service as may be necessary. The commission shall also make recommendations in regard to the assignment of officers to the several provinces …

142. After the establishment of the Union the Governor-General in Council shall appoint a permanent public service commission with such powers and duties relating to the appointment, discipline, retirement, and superannuation of public officers as Parliament shall determine …

145. The services of officers in the public service of any of the Colonies at the establishment of the Union shall not be dispensed with by reason of their want of knowledge of either the English or Dutch language …

147. The control and administration of native affairs and of matters specially or differentially affecting asiatics throughout the Union shall vest in the Governor-General in Council, who shall exercise all special powers in regard to native administration hitherto vested in the Governors of the Colonies or exercised by them as supreme chiefs, and any lands vested in the Governor or Governor and Executive Council of any colony for the purpose of reserves for native locations shall vest in the Governor-General in Council, who shall exercise all special powers in relation to such reserves as may hitherto have been exerciseable by any such Governor or Governor and Executive Council, and no lands set aside for the occupation of natives which cannot at the establishment of the Union be alienated except by an Act of the Colonial Legislature shall be alienated or in any way diverted from the purposes for which they are set apart except under the authority of an Act of Parliament

IX. New Provinces and Territories.

149. Parliament may alter the boundaries of any province, divide a province into two or more provinces, or form a new province out of provinces within the Union, on the petition of the provincial council of every province whose boundaries are affected thereby.

150. The King, with the advice of the Privy Council, may on address from the Houses of Parliament of the Union admit into the Union the territories administered by the British South Africa Company on such terms and conditions as to representation and otherwise in each case as are expressed in the addresses and approved by the King, and the provisions of any Order in Council in that behalf shall have effect as if they had been enacted by the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

151. The King, with the advice of the Privy Council, may, on addresses from the Houses of Parliament of the Union, transfer to the Union the government of any territories, other than the territories administered by the British South Africa Company, belonging to or under the protection of His Majesty, and inhabited wholly or in part by natives, and upon such transfer the Governor-General in Council may undertake the government of such territory upon the terms and conditions embodied in the Schedule to this Act.

X. Amendment of Act.

152. Parliament may by law repeal or alter any of the provisions of this Act: Provided that no provision thereof, for the operation of which a definite period of time is prescribed, shall during such period be repealed or altered: And provided further that no repeal or alteration of the provisions contained in this section, or in sections thirty-three and thirty-four (until the number of members of the House of Assembly has reached the limit therein prescribed, or until a period often years has elapsed after the establishment of the Union, whichever is the longer period), or in sections thirty-five and one hundred and thirty-seven, shall be valid unless the Bill embodying such repeal or alteration shall be passed by both Houses of Parliament sitting together, and at the third reading be agreed to by not less than two-thirds of the total number of members of both Houses. A Bill so passed at such joint sitting shall be taken to have been duly passed by both Houses of Parliament.

Schedule.*

*Die verdere inhoud staan in verband met die inlywjng van die Protektorate en word hier weggelaat.