1984 South African general election

House of Representatives election, 1984

22 August 1984
All 80 elected seats in the House of Representatives
First party   Leader Allan Hendrickse Party Labour Seats won 76
House of Representatives after the election

House of Delegates election, 1984

28 August 1984
All 40 elected seats in the House of Delegates
First party Second party   Leader Amichand Rajbansi JN Reddy Party National People's Solidarity Seats won 18 17
House of Delegates after the election

General elections were held in South Africa in August 1984 to elect Coloured and Indian representatives to their respective houses of the Tricameral Parliament. The Coloured elections for the House of Representatives took place on 22 August, and resulted in a victory for the Labour Party, headed by the Reverend Allan Hendrickse, which won 76 of the 80 seats. The Indian elections for the House of Delegates were held on 28 August and saw the National People's Party emerge as the largest party, winning 18 of the 40 seats. The Indian elections were opposed by the United Democratic Front and were marked by boycotts and protests.

Background

In addition to the whites-only House of Assembly, a November 1983 referendum had approved the creation of two new houses an 80-member House of Representatives for Coloureds and a 40-member House of Delegates for Asians.

Results

House of Representatives

Party	Votes	%	Seats
Labour Party			76
People's Congress Party			2
Freedom Party			1
Independents			1
Invalid/blank votes		–	–
Total			80
Registered voters/turnout		30.9	–
Source: African Elections Database

House of Delegates

Party	Votes	%	Seats
National People's Party			18
Solidarity			17
Progressive Independent Party			1
Independents			4
Invalid/blank votes		–	–
Total			40
Registered voters/turnout		16.2	–
Source: African Elections Database

Reactions

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.