Cape Qualified Franchise
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The Cape Qualified Franchise was the system of non-racial franchise that was adhered to in the Cape Colony, and in the Cape Province in the early years of the Union of South Africa. Qualifications for the right to vote at parliamentary elections were applied equally to all men, regardless of race.
Engraving of the first opening of the Cape Parliament in 1854. The new constitution barred discrimination on the basis of race or colour and, in principle at least, the Parliament and other government institutions at the time were explicitly colour-blind.
Bust of John Fairbairn, politician, educator and one of the principal architects of the Cape's first, non-racial constitution
John Molteno, first Prime Minister and a fierce proponent of non-racialism.
Saul Solomon, strongest proponent of the franchise through the 1860s and 70s.
Cape Colony
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The Cape Colony, also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope. It existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with three other colonies to form the Union of South Africa, then became the Cape Province, which existed even after 1961, when South Africa had become a republic, albeit, temporarily outside the Commonwealth of Nations (1961–94).
Skirmish during the Xhosa Wars
Mossel Bay on the Indian Ocean, 1818
Table Bay, Cape Town, circa 1832