Smuts had angered South African nationalists by his moderate stance on South African independence from the British Empire. The worldwide depression after the end of the First World War had led to a strike in South Africa, known as the Rand Rebellion, which had been defused through a combination of military force and negotiation with the outgunned unions, earning Smuts the enmity of the labour vote. As a consequence Smuts's SAP was defeated by a Nationalist–Labour Pact, J. B. M. Hertzog formed the government and became Prime Minister – a position he was to hold until 1939.
Delimitation of electoral divisions
The South Africa Act 1909 had provided for a delimitation commission to define the boundaries for each electoral division. The representation by province, under the fourth delimitation report of 1923, is set out in the table below. The figures in brackets are the number of electoral divisions in the previous (1919) delimitation. If there is no figure in brackets then the number was unchanged.[3]
South Africa 1982: Official Yearbook of the Republic of South Africa, published by Chris van Rensburg Publications
^"Smuts Is Certain of Victory Today— Dramatic Turn Throughout Country Towards Premier— Hertzog Distrusted", Montreal Gazette, 17 June 1924, p.1
^"Smuts Loses Seat; Party May Be Beaten; Returns From Urban Districts Show Defeats for His Supporters in Many Instances", The New York Times, 18 June 1924, p.11