1898 Transvaal presidential election

Presidential elections were held in the South African Republic between 3 January and 4 February 1898.[1] The result was a victory for incumbent Paul Kruger.[2][3]

1898 Transvaal presidential election
3 January–4 February 1898
 
Nominee Paul Kruger Schalk Willem Burger Piet Joubert
Popular vote 12,858 3,753 2,001
Percentage 69.08% 20.16% 10.75%
President before election

Paul Kruger

 Elected President

Paul Kruger

Background

The incumbent president Paul Kruger was involved in a constitutional battle with Chief Justice John Gilbert Kotzé. After trying to unsuccessfully remove Kotzé though legislation, he waited until after the election to dismiss him.[4]

Candidates

Kruger ran for re-election alongside two challengers.

A distinguished member of the Volksraad and commandant of the Lydenburg Commando, Schalk Willem Burger was popular with the British and the capitalists of Johannesburg.[5] This was due to the South African Industrial Report of 1897, produced by a committee under his leadership, which called for the lowering of tariffs, among other suggestions.[6] Despite the conclusions of the report, Burger was an ardent patriot; however, the conclusions of the report and support from anti-ZAR newspapers led some voters to distrust him.[5]

Vice-President and Commandant-General Piet Joubert had previously run against Kruger three times without success.[7][2] He had narrowly lost against him in 1893, losing by around 900 votes, with allegations of electoral manipulation in favour of Kruger and reports of voter turnout being greater than 100%.[8]

Claims were made that former Cape Colony Prime Minister Cecil Rhodes colluded against Kruger during the election campaign.[9]

Results
CandidateVotes%
Paul Kruger12,85869.08
Schalk Willem Burger3,75320.16
Piet Joubert2,00110.75
Total18,612100.00
Source: Annual Register[1]

Aftermath

After his re-election Kruger removed Kotzé from office.[4]

References
  1. Annual Register for the Year 1898. Longmans, Green, and co. 1899. p. 353. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  2. "Joubert, Petrus Jacobus" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 15 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 522.
  3. Dunning, Wm. A. (1898). "Record of Political Events". Political Science Quarterly. 13 (2): 387–388. doi:10.2307/2140186. JSTOR 2140186.
  4. Saturday review of politics, literature, science and art: Volume LXXXV. John W. Parker and Son. 1898. pp. 381–382. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  5. Rompel, Frederik (1903). Heroes of the Boer War. Review of Reviews Office. p. 81. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  6. Kruger, Paul (1902). The memoirs of Paul Kruger, four times president of the South African republic. The Century Co. p. 252. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  7. Souza, Francis Hugh De (2004). A Question Of Treason. Kiaat Creations. ISBN 978-0-620-32030-6.
  8. Annual Register for the Year 1893. Longmans, Green, and co. 1894. p. 442. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  9. "CECIL RHODES'S SCHEME.; Alleged Plan to Defeat Krueger in the Coming Transvaal Election". The New York Times. 14 November 1897. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
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