South African general election, 1984

South Africa

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of South Africa

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Progressive Federal Party election rally poster with Harry Schwarz

The 1984 South African general election held in August of that year, it saw a number of Coloured and Indian parties participating in an election for the houses of Parliament created for their respective racial groups, although a majority of people in both of these groups opposed the Tricameral Parliament, as it was called.

In addition to the whites-only House of Assembly, two new bodies were added - an 85-member House of Representatives for Coloureds and a 45-member House of Delegates for Asians.

The election for the House of Representatives was won by the Labour Party, headed by the Reverend Allan Hendrickse, with 76 out of the 80 directly elected seats.

The election for the House of Delegates was contested by five parties, all favouring the protection of minority rights and rejecting a unitary state on the basis of one person-one vote. In the election for the 40 directly elected seats, the National People's Party won 18 seats and Solidarity 17; these two parties formed a governing alliance in January 1986.

No new election was held for the House of Assembly.

The United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 554 (1984) condemning the election, declaring it null and void as it was designed to entrench minority rule.