Founding of The Party
The party was founded on 9 May 1953 at a meeting of the South African Liberal Association in Cape Town (Paton 1968 p28). Essentially it grew out of a belief that the United Party was unable to achieve any real liberal progress in South Africa. Its establishment occurred during the "Coloured Vote" Constitutional Crisis of the 1950s, and the division of the Torch Commando on the matter of mixed membership.
Founding members of the party included (original positions in the party given):
- Margaret Ballinger (South African MP) - President of party
- Alan Paton (novelist) - Vice-President
- Leo Marquard - Vice President
- Dr Oscar Wolheim - National Chairperson
- Peter Brown - National Chairman
- Leslie Rubin (South African Senator) - Vice-Chairman
- H. Selby Msimang
Read more about this topic: Liberal Party Of South Africa
Famous quotes containing the words founding and/or party:
“... there is no way of measuring the damage to a society when a whole texture of humanity is kept from realizing its own power, when the woman architect who might have reinvented our cities sits barely literate in a semilegal sweatshop on the Texas- Mexican border, when women who should be founding colleges must work their entire lives as domestics ...”
—Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)
“We will have to stay in this house until 8 o’clock in the morning. But we have some party favors for you in these little coffins.”
—Robb White, and William Castle. Frederick Loren (Vincent Price)