Heads of Auralia

Republic of Six United South African States (Auralia)

State Presidents of the Republic of South Africa to the North of the Vaal River; or the Transvaal Republic

1852-1863: Francois Uys †

1852: Republic constituted under the Union of New Utrecht

1852: Ran unopposed

1856: Ran unopposed

1860: Ran unopposed


-unifies various republics north of the vaal into one govt which incorporates transorange migrants, secures recognition from cape govt

-four constituent states being New Utrecht, Bantjesburg [Johannesburg] Uysburg, and Zuid-Nassau

-constitution based on Union of Utrecht, with capital at New Utrecht

1863-1868: Victor Beyers

1864: Ran unopposed


-modernizing, to scandal of very traditionalist nation

-faced with war with Bapedi in 1865 over cattle disputes, no support from people

-resulting in many defeats

-escalates more with Zulu war

-results in total peace treaty acceding to demands

-though this leaves most of country intact, sight of farmers fleeing back into territory scares many

1868-1877: Stephanus Grobler [resigned]

1868 def. Victor Beyers

1872 def.

1876 def.

1876: Constitutional amendment, formation of Witwatersrand municipal government


-with France's Wars > Franco-Portuguese War (1871-2), France gets Lourenco Marques

-and its banks immediately sign infrastructure deals with the Transvaal government

-results in infrastructure being constructed to connect country to French network over that of the British network

-discovery of gold in Witwatersrand in 1869

-with California gold rush having slowed down in this era, causes sudden migration from around the world of uitlanders

-incl. Australians, Americans, Brits, Natalians, but most astonishingly is Chinese and Catholics

-connects country heavily to Laurent Marc which they go through

-and fuckton of people from Port Natal go through it

-with some even walking through Zulu Empire

-rising crisis over uitlanders, their enfranchisement

-naturalization laws extended to exclude them

-by 1875, uitlanders outnumber burghers

-form Reform Committee to advocate reform of government

-seeing writing on wall, formation of municipal government as compromise bill

-however, this fails to extinguish agitation, and Reform Committee quickly dominates the municipal council

-and States-General votes him out as viewed as failure

1877-1879: Cornelis van Rensburg [resigned]

1877: Elected by States-General

1878: Witwatersrand municipal government declares the Union of New Utrecht abrogated, constitutes Uitlander Army


-elected on a more hardcore and uncompromising stance towards Uitlanders

-with new uncompromising States-General elected, he is able to pass through such a policy

-attempt to dissolve municipal government goes badly

-instead Reform Committee section of government illegally assembles and declares revolution

-with war going badly, forced to resign

1879-1882: Piet Smit

1879: Elected by States-General

1882: Peace of New Utrecht, Transvaal Constitutional Convention held


-military man who prosecutes war

-deflects against charge towards New Utrecht in 1880

-however, slow approach of front is something even he sees and he moves the capital

-eventually, decides to come to terms

-agrees to constitutional convention which signs a constitution granting

-wide-range autonomy for lands - New Utrecht, Witwatersrand, Uysburg, and Zuid-Nassau

-and also near-equal representation in upper house (with each land having 2-4 councillors)

-though bittereinders refuse to accept this and choose to flee westwards rather than surrender

State Presidents of the Republic of Four United South African Provinces; or the Transvaal Republic

1882-1897: Joseph Turner (Reform Committee)

1882 def. Piet Smit (Transvaal First)

1886 def.

1890 def.

1894 def. Paul Grobler (Burgher's Alliance)


-Witwatersrand's man and leader of the Reform Committee

-which launched the rebellion in the first place

-gets a massive amount of money from commercial interests from British Isles banks

-with Laurent Marc awash in settlers thanks to gold rush France finally decides to deal with agitation for union

-in 1897 France makes agreement with Transvaal for union in return for broad land grants and naval basing rights

State Presidents of the Republic of Five United South African Provinces; or Auralia

1897-1898: Joseph Turner (Reform Committee)
1898-1910: Willem Rudolph Fouche (Reform Committee)

1898 def. Paul Grobler (Burgher's Alliance)

1902 def.

1906 def.

1910-1918: Francis F. Robinson (Reform Committee)

1910 def.

1914 def.


-sees Recessions > Panic of 1911 cook up

-results in economic crash, albeit slower than elsewhere

-economic crash especially connected with Laurent Marc and Witwatersrand initially, which ironically results in economy in three Dutch states being stronger than ever before

-helps to hollow out the Reform Committee

-opposition increasingly unifies as a result

1918-1922: Hendrik van Tonder (People's Party)

1918 def.

1922-1925: (National Reform) †

1922 def.

1925-1926: (National Reform)
1926-1930: Andrew H. Law (Labor)

1926 def.


-product of series of white supremacist labor strikes

-tenure sees a colossal economic decline

-due to the absence of African labor

-also attempt to strip Halfbreeds of their vote

-this causes a truly colossal backlash because they are often viewed as white

-and also long-term sees Halfbreeds alienated from system and elements start to build coalitions with African classes

-and these ultimately causes the party to lose much of its steam

1930-1950: William Harrington (National Reform)

1930 def. Andrew H. Law (Labor)

1934 def.

1938 def.

1942 def.

1946 def.


-with the British Empire in a slump seeks to

-talk emerges of expanding Wits' relatively expansive electoral franchise to the rest of the nation

-but nothing done

-and following Cape Republic formation issue is bunked entirely

1950-1958: Pieter van der Kemp (Constitutional)

1950 def.

1954 def.


-sees rising public outcry for African suffrage

-attempts to resolve this by creating a "native" assembly with some jurisdiction

-eligibility for this determined by passing literacy tests

-as well as to expand suffrage somewhat to Wits levels

-does not succeed and helps kick off more protests

-and members "native" assembly protest their status

1958-1962: Hendrik Coetzee (Party of Order)

1958 def. Pieter van der Kemp (Constitutional)


-attempts to block and end attempts at racial liberalization

-fails as blocked in legislature and backfires hard

1962-1963: Joseph R. Beckett (Constitutional) †

1962 def.


-electorate expands a little further

-collapses "native" electorate into general electorate

-but is then faced with military coup as this is considered an attempt to "destroy" white people

-ensuing 1963 military putsch sees assassination and martyrdom of Beckett

1963-1968: Willem F. Herzog (Constitutional)

1966: ran unopposed


-defeats military putsch with national rising, also states all rally behind him

-but faced with grueling terrorism crisis with military elements going out about it

-in the end bittereinders crushed

-in its wake Herzog ratifies into law universal suffrage

-in what is essentially a fait accompli due to weakened position

-also he's something of a liberalizer

-also after threats to overthrow New Delft which is viewed as pro-putsch it annexes it

Presidents of the Republic of Six United South African Provinces; or Auralia

1968-1970: Willem F. Herzog (Constitutional)

-however defeated by huge margin in next election

1970-1982: Oliver O'Neill (Auralian National Association)

1970 def. Willem F. Herzog (Constitutional)

1974 def.

1978 def.


-first nonwhite president

-a "Halfbreed" coming from a family of mixed-race Irish-Zulu extraction

-elected by weirdly huge landslide as a result of issues with housing and social inequality

-enacts a series of cooperativist policies

-the lynchpin of which is land redistribution

-comes along with a wave of nationalizations of all kinds

1982-1990: Shadrach Naidoo (Constitutional)

1982 def.

1986 def.


-descended from Indian indentured laborers

-a Christian, to reassure people that not too much is changing

-and made leader of the Constitutionalists as part of ploy to attract more nonwhite votes

-enacts land value taxes

-as part of land redistribution