Page 34 - SARB: 100-Year Journey

Politics
At the outset of the Union, there was disagreement among the Afrikaner political elites about the status of the British monarchy.
The nationalists formed part of General Botha’s South African Party (SAP) government in 1910. However, by 1912, there was friction. James Barry Munnik Hertzog (better known as J B M Hertzog), Botha’s justice minister and SAP colleague, expressed open disagreement about British influence in South Africa. In 1914, Hertzog and other nationalists founded a new political party, the National Party.
The National Party agitated for the Union’s political freedom from Britain. The party also demanded equal prominence and recognition for Afrikaans and English. The influence of the Afrikaner Bond was apparent, although not confirmed until much later.
Botha and Smuts, both of whom served on the British war cabinet, were derided as moderates who acquiesced to the Crown.
The increasing pressure on Smuts resulted in reduced electoral support in the 1920 poll. The SAP entered into a coalition with the Labour Party and managed to hang on to power, with Smuts as Prime Minister. This political arrangement ensured that the process to establish a central bank was not derailed.
Although the SAP and the Labour Party shared a deference for Britain, the Labour Party’s internal political leanings were more aligned to those of the National Party. As such, the SAP’s political arrangement with the Labour Party was short- lived. During the violent labour strikes in the 1920s, the Labour Party and the National Party were sympathetic to the cause of white workers. The two parties reached an understanding not to contest each other in certain constituencies. In 1924, the collaborative efforts between the Labour Party and the National Party helped place Hertzog in power.
J B M Hertzog. /Getty Images
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