Editing Union of South Africa (section)

===Final days of the South Africa Act and legacy===

Most English-speaking whites in South Africa supported the [[United Party (South Africa)|United Party]] of [[Jan Smuts]], which favoured close relations with the United Kingdom and the [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]], unlike the Afrikaans-speaking [[National Party (South Africa)|National Party]], which had held anti-British sentiments and was opposed to South Africa's intervention in the [[Second World War]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=TIME |date=1960-09-12 |title=SOUTH AFRICA: R for Republiek |url=https://time.com/archive/6832537/south-africa-r-for-republiek/ |access-date=2025-03-30 |website=TIME |language=en}}</ref> Some Nationalist organisations, like the ''[[Ossewabrandwag]]'', were openly supportive of [[Nazi Germany]] during the [[Second World War]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mafolo |first=Karabo |date=2021-04-23 |title=The Ossewabrandwag and other tales of World War 2 Nazi spies in South Africa |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-04-23-the-ossewabrandwag-and-other-tales-of-world-war-2-nazi-spies-in-south-africa/ |access-date=2025-03-30 |website=[[Daily Maverick]] |language=en}}</ref> Additionally, most English-speaking South Africans were opposed to the creation of a [[republic]], many of them voting "no" in the 5 October 1960 [[South African republic referendum, 1960|referendum]]. But due to the much larger number of Afrikaans-speaking voters, the referendum passed, leading to the establishment of a republic on 31 May 1961.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=October 11, 1960 |title=Secession Talked by Some Anti-Republicans |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=WUVkAAAAIBAJ&sjid=2W8NAAAAIBAJ&pg=5504,1422353&dq=natal+referendum+republic&hl=en |access-date=March 30, 2025 |work=[[Saskatoon Star-Phoenix]] |publisher= |location=Saskatoon, Saskatchewan |pages=17}}</ref> The government led by the National Party consequently withdrew South Africa from the Commonwealth.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |title=Five Hundred Years: A History of South Africa |date=1984 |publisher=Academica |isbn=978-0-86874-199-4 |editor-last=Muller |editor-first=C. F. J. |edition=4th |location=Pretoria |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> Following the results of the referendum, some whites in Natal, which had an English-speaking majority, called for secession from the Union.<ref name=":0" /> Five years earlier, some 33,000 Natalians had signed the [[Natal covenant|Natal Covenant]] in opposition to the plans for a republic.<ref name="Jeffery">{{cite book|last=Jeffery|first=Keith|title=An Irish Empire?: Aspects of Ireland and the British Empire|year=1996|publisher=Manchester University Press|pages=199–201|isbn=9780719038730|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WUTpAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA200}}</ref>

Subsequently, the National Party government had passed a [[Constitution]] that repealed the [[South Africa Act 1909|South Africa Act]]. The features of the Union were carried over with very little change to the newly formed Republic. The decision to transform from a Union to Republic was narrowly decided in the referendum. The decision together with the South African Government's insistence on adhering to its policy of [[apartheid]] resulted in South Africa's ''de facto'' expulsion from the [[Commonwealth of Nations]].<ref name=":1" />