1920: The Unionist Party merged into the ⇒ South African Party.
South African Party
1911: The South African Party was formed of various pre-Union parties. Led by the moderate Louis Botha, it formed the first government of a united South Africa. The party's support base included English-speaking white South Africans who developed a pattern of supporting the most moderate Afrikaner politicians to avoid domination. The party's own 'liberal' wing was led by Jan Hofmeyr.[1]
1939: Hertzog left the party and a split formed following South Africa's entry into the Second World War.[2] The party increasingly resembled the former South African Party.[1]
1948: The United Party, led by Jan Smuts, lost in the 1948 election to the Reunited National Party. The United Party based its platform on the recommendations of the Fagan Commission, which determined total segregation to be impossible, and advocated a relaxation of restrictions on black African migration into urban areas.[3][4] The Reunited National Party, conversely, had campaigned on total racial separation.[3]
1968: The SALP decided to disband rather than obey legislation outlawing multiracial political parties. The decision was also influenced by the fact that the leadership of the SALP had been decimated by banning orders and other restrictive measures, and by the fact that many stalwarts had been forced into exile.
Progressive Party to Democratic Alliance
1959: Liberal members of the United Party seceded and formed the liberal Progressive Party. The parliamentary party is led by Helen Suzman
1977: After the dissolution of the United Party, former members merged into the PRP, which is renamed the Progressive Federal Party
1987: National Party MP Wynand Malan quit the governing party to protest PW Botha's policies. South African Ambassador to the UK Denis Worrall quit his post in order to return to South Africa and fight apartheid. The two formed and led the liberal Independent Party.
1988: The PFP merged with the newly founded National Democratic Movement and the Independent Party into the Democratic Party
2000: The DP merged with the conservative New National Party into an alliance, the Democratic Alliance.
2001: The NNP left the alliance and the DP continues as the present-day Democratic Alliance
On 4 January 1974, TransvaalUnited Party leader Harry Schwarz met with Mangosuthu Buthelezi and signed a five-point plan for racial peace in South Africa, which came to be known as the Mahlabatini Declaration of Faith. Its purpose was to provide a blueprint for the government of South Africa by consent and racial peace in a multi-racial society, stressing opportunity for all, consultation, the federal concept, and a bill of rights. It also affirmed that political change must take place though non-violent means, at a time when neither the National Party nor the African National Congress were looking to peaceful solutions or dialogue. The declaration enshrined the principles of peaceful transition of power and equality for all, the first of such agreements by acknowledged black and white political leaders in South Africa and was heralded by many as a breakthrough in race relations in South Africa. Liberal figures and others such as Alan Paton praised the declaration. The declaration drew much media interest both inside and outside South Africa. Schwarz, leader of the liberal 'Young Turks' in the UP, would be expelled with other liberals from the party the following year.
Prominent individuals
Politics
South African Party: Louis Botha, Jan Smuts, Jan Hofmeyr. Botha and Smuts were the first and second prime ministers of South Africa respectively
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