LANGUAGE, OCCUPATION AND REGIONALISM AS DETERMINANTS OF WHITE POLITICAL ALLEGIANCES IN SOUTH AFRICA: THE 1981 AND 1987 GENERAL ELECTIONS

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Abstract
From the time of the accession to power of the National Party in 1948 until the early 1980's, the source of its political support had primarily been the Afrikaans-speaking White voter. The reforms made by the present government with a view to the liberalisation of its policy of apartheid have, however, alienated a significant proportion of its traditional support base. Right wing opposition grew at a rapid rate after the 1981 General Election and the Conservative Party's inception in 1982. In seeking an alternative source of support, the National Party has increasingly had to rely on the English-speaking component of the White population, hitherto largely allied to opposition parties on the political left While the 1981 General Election and subsequent by-elections indicated shifts of allegiance towards the right of the political spectrum, the full extent of these became clear after the 1987 General Election. The present paper investigates the changes in the geographical distribution of support for each of the White political parties between the two General Elections and the relationship of these changes to home language and occupation. The extent to which geographical factors have played a role in this realignment is also addressed.

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