Constitution Amendment Act, 1965

by enacted by the Parliament of South Africa

Act

To amend sections forty, forty-two and forty-three of the Republic of South Africa Constitution Act, 1961.

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(Afrikaans text signed by the State President.)
(Assented to 18th June, 1965.)

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Be it enacted by the State President, the Senate and the House of Assembly of the Republic of South Africa, as follows:―

Amendment of section 40 of Act 32 of 1961.

1. Section forty of the Republic of South Africa Constitution Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act), is hereby amended by the substitution for paragraph (a) of the following paragraph:

“(a)

one hundred and sixty members, each of whom shall be directly elected by the persons entitled to vote at an election of such a member in an electoral division delimited as provided in section forty-three;”.

Substitution of section 42 of Act 32 of 1961.

2. The following section is hereby substituted for section forty-two of the principal Act:

“Delimitation of electoral divisions.

42. (1) At intervals of not less than five years and not more than ten years commencing from the last delimitation of electoral divisions under the South Africa Act, 1909, the State President shall appoint a delimitation commission consisting of three judges of the Supreme Court of South Africa, which shall divide the Republic into one hundred and sixty electoral divisions in such a manner that no electoral division is situated partly in one province and partly in another province. (2) No judge shall be appointed under sub-section (1) as a member of a delimitation commission unless he has served as a judge either in a permanent or temporary capacity, for a total period of not less than five years. (3) In dividing the Republic into electoral divisions in terms of sub-section (1) the said commission shall act in accordance with the provisions of section forty-three.”.

Substitution of section 43 of Act 32 of 1961.

3. The following section is hereby substituted for section forty-three of the principal Act:

“Method of dividing Republic into electoral divisions.

43. (1) For the purposes of any division of the Republic into electoral divisions, the quota of the Republic shall be obtained by dividing the number of white voters in the Republic, in terms of the current voters’ lists, duly corrected up to the latest possible date, by one hundred and sixty.

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

(3) The delimitation commission shall give due consideration to―

(a)		community or diversity of interests;
(b)		means of communication;
(c)		physical features;
(d)		boundaries of existing electoral divisions;
(e)		sparsity or density of population;
(f)		probability of increase or decrease of population;
(g)		local authority and magisterial district boundaries,

in such manner that, while taking the quota of voters as the basis of division, the commission may depart therefrom whenever it is deemed necessary, but in no case to any greater extent than fifteen per cent more or fifteen per cent less than the quota: Provided that in the case of an electoral division with an area of ten thousand square miles or more, the commission may reduce the number of voters to eight thousand or a number equal to seventy per cent of the quota, whichever is the greater.”.

Short title.

4. This Act shall be called the Constitution Amendment Act, 1965.