First Cabinet of Louis Botha

The Louis Botha government appointed the members of the government in South Africa led by Prime Minister Louis Botha between 31 May 1910 and 3 September 1919.

First Botha Cabinet
1st Cabinet of the Union of South Africa (since the 1909 South Africa Act)
1910–1915
Louis Botha (c. 1919)
Date formed	15 September 1910 (1910-09-15)
Date dissolved	20 October 1915 (1915-10-20)
People and organisations
Monarch	King George V
Governor-General	The Viscount Gladstone (until 1914) The Viscount Buxton
Prime Minister	Louis Botha
Member party	South African Party
Status in legislature	Majority
Opposition party	Unionist Party
Opposition leader	Leander Starr Jameson
History
Election(s)	1910 election
Legislature term(s)	5 years, 1 month and 5 days
Successor	Botha II

(c.1910)
Front (left to right): J. W. Sauer, Louis Botha and Abraham Fischer.
Back (left to right): J. B. M. Hertzog, Henry Burton, F. R. Moor, C. O'Grady Gubbins, Jan Smuts, H. C. Hull, F. S. Malan and David Graaff.

The former boer general Louis Botha, Prime Minister of Transvaal was appointed by the British crown to become the first Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa during its formation on 31 May 1910. The very first national general elections were held on 15 September 1910 and ended in the victory of the coalition led by the "Het Volk" party led by Louis Botha (67 seats) against the 37 seats won by the Unionists of Leander Starr Jameson. The remaining 26 seats were won by small parties.

The Botha coalition, made up of Anglo-Afrikaner parties, became the South African Party. In Elections of October 1915, the South African Party won 54 seats against 40 for Unionists 27 seats in the National Party, 4 seats to the Labour Party of South Africa and six seats distributed among small groups.

Cabinet

Post		Minister	Term		Party
	Prime Minister	Gen. Louis Botha	1910	1915	SAP
	Minister of Agriculture	The Hon. H.C. van Heerden MP	1913	1915	SAP
		Gen. Louis Botha	1912	1913	SAP
		The Hon. J.W. Sauer MP	1912	1912	SAP
		Gen. Louis Botha	1910	1912	SAP
	Minister of Commerce and Industry (merged with Department of Mines in 1912)	The Hon. George Leuchars MP	1911	1912	SAP
		The Hon. F.R. Moore MP	1910	1911	SAP
	Minister of Defence (newly formed)	Gen. Jan Smuts	1912	1915	SAP
	Minister of Education	The Hon. F.S. Malan MP	1910	1915	SAP
	Minister of Finance	Gen. Jan Smuts	1912	1915	SAP
		The Hon. Henry Charles Hull MP	1910	1912	SAP
	Minister of Interior Affairs	Gen. Jan Smuts	1913	1915	SAP
		The Hon. Abraham Fischer MP	1912	1913	SAP
		Gen. Jan Smuts	1910	1912	SAP
	Minister of Justice	The Hon. Nicolaas de Wet MP	1913	1915	SAP
		The Hon. J.W. Sauer MP	1912	1913	SAP
		The Hon. J.B.M. Hertzog MP	1910	1912	SAP
	Minister of Lands and Irrigation	The Hon. Hendrik Schalk Theron MP	1913	1915	SAP
		The Hon. Abraham Fischer MP	1910	1913	SAP
	Minister of Mines and Industry	The Hon. F.S. Malan MP	1912	1915	SAP
		Gen. Jan Smuts	1910	1912	SAP
	Minister of Native Affairs	Gen. Louis Botha	1913	1915	SAP
		The Hon. J.W. Sauer MP	1912	1913	SAP
		The Hon. J.B.M. Hertzog MP	1912	1912	SAP
		The Hon. Henry Burton MP	1910	1912	SAP
	Minister of Posts and Telegraphs	The Hon. Thomas Watt MP	1912	1915	SAP
		The Hon. George Leuchars MP	1912	1912	SAP
		The Hon. D.P. de Villiers Graaf MP	1910	1912	SAP
	Minister of Public Works	The Hon. Thomas Watt MP	1912	1915	SAP
		The Hon. D.P. de Villiers Graaf MP	1910	1912	SAP
	Minister of Railways and Harbours	The Hon. Henry Burton MP	1912	1915	SAP
		The Hon. J.W. Sauer MP	1910	1912	SAP

Sources

• . Geocities (Web Archive). Archived from the original on 16 October 2007. Retrieved 16 October 2007.