Leila Reitz

Leila Agnes Buissinné Reitz, (née Wright ; 13 December 1887 – 27 December 1959) was a South African politician who served as the first woman elected to Parliament in South Africa. She represented Parktown in the House of Assembly of South Africa from 1933 until 1943.

Leila Reitz
Member of the House of Assembly of South Africa for Parktown
In office 1933–1943
Personal details
Born	(1887-12-13)13 December 1887 Cape Town, Cape Colony
Died	27 December 1959(1959-12-27) (aged 72) Wynberg, Cape Town, Province of the Cape of Good Hope, Union of South Africa
Nationality	South African
Political party	South African Party
Spouse	Deneys Reitz

Following the passage of the Women's Enfranchisement Act, 1930 which granted white women aged over 21 the right to vote, Reitz contested the 1933 South African general election and was elected to represent Parktown.^[1][2] During her parliamentary career Reitz served as a member of the Interdepartmental Committee on Destitute, Neglected, Maladjusted and Delinquent Children and Young Persons and as Honorary Vice-President of the National Conference on Social Work.^[3]

She left politics in 1943 to accompany her husband, Deneys Reitz, to London after he was appointed South African High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. She retired to Cape Town and died in 1959 aged 72.

References

1. "In 1930, white women secured the right to vote in South Africa for the first time". yworld.co.za. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
2. "Leila Reitz was the country's first female MP, elected in 1933 on a South Africa Party ticket". hsf.org.za. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
3. Klausen, Susanne M. (4 September 2017). "Fears of National Decline and the Politics of Birth Control". Race, Maternity, and the Politics of Birth Control in South Africa, 1910–39. Palgrave Macmillan, London. pp. 12–39. doi:10.1057/9780230511255_2. ISBN 978-1-349-51722-0.