National Party

The National Party of South Africa had been the standing political party in South Africa soon after its foundation in 1914 up until the rise of the ANC and eventual dominance of it in 1994.  General JBM Hertzog founded it in the Afrikaner heartlands of Bloemfontein.  Known as the party that started apartheid, they originally believed very strongly in white superiority.  The 1922 Rand Rebellion was a large turning point for this group, as it was this rebellion caused by labor unrest that resulted in the pact between the national party and the labour party.  Both parties joined the pact with the goal of protecting white labor.  It was this pact that allowed the national party to defeat the South African Party on June 27^th, 1924.  This victory also resulted in Afrikaans becoming the official language as well as a new country flag. 
 It was the election of May 26^th, 1948 that finally resulted in the institution of Apartheid.  D.F. Malan's National Party, in alliance with N.C. Havenga's Afrikaner Party, won the election, and following the election, Malan is quoted as saying, “Today South Africa belongs to us once more. South Africa is our own for the first time since Union, and may God grant that it will always remain our own.”  The new ruling party was essentially comprised of two groups; those who wanted white supremacy, introduced apartheid, and worked to secure white political dominance, and those who wished to establish a sense of common history through all of South Africa.  
In the time between the 1948 election and 1957, all signs of British citizenship were removed from South Africa, increasing their view of themselves as their own nation.  J.G. Strijdom succeeded Malan as prime minister in 1954, and in 1958 the National Party won 103 seats while the competing United Party only had 53, completing the National Party’s dominance over the country.  This dominance was used to consolidate all power in Whites, as well as to institute racial classification and racial sex laws.  This large-scale power was finally eroded with the institution of Nelson Mandela as president in 1994.

That was not the end of the National Party though, as they have begun to reemerge now with a new focus as they campaign for the 2014 election.  They promise to reject apartheid and any racial segregation, and according to party spokesman Juan-Duval Uys, “We want to move on and embrace every race in South Africa.”  Mr. Uys is also quoted as saying,  "Our figures show that 85 per cent of those wanting to join are black. They're fed up of corruption and the lack of support from the ANC and want to join us in a non-racial party which represents everyone, not the few."  This quote shows their determination to no longer be a racially segregated party, and instead have entirely new views to try and counter the now allegedly corrupt ANC government.  Some views of the new “21^st-century National Party” include strong views on the death penalty, where violent crimes such as rape, drug dealing, and murder will all be put to the death penalty without question if convicted.  It will now be left up to the people to decide whether or not they can trust the party that started apartheid to now run their country again.