About this site

This resource is hosted by the Nelson Mandela Foundation, but was compiled and authored by Padraig O’Malley. It is the product of almost two decades of research and includes analyses, chronologies, historical documents, and interviews from the apartheid and post-apartheid eras.

United Party (UP)

Formed in 1934 by the fusion of the NP* and Smuts' South African Party* (SAP). The UP, which was committed to white supremacy, was the ruling party until 1948 when in a shock defeat it lost to the NP; thereafter it became the official opposition. By the 1960s it was in disarray and several splinter groups broke away. It faded from the scene by 1977.

This resource is hosted by the Nelson Mandela Foundation, but was compiled and authored by Padraig O’Malley. Return to theThis resource is hosted by the site.