1966 South Africa General Election

A general election was held on 28 May 1966 to elect the 350 members of the National Legislative Assembly. The results have seen the National Party strenghtening it's position, for the first time gaining two thirds of the entire parliament, while the United Party registered a decisive defeat and decrease on both seats and popular vote shares.

Background
In 1960, South Africa held a referendum whether the Union should remain affiliated with the United Kingdom or become an independent nation. The Prime Minister at the time was Hendrik Verwoerd, whose strongly advocated for racial segregation under the new "apartheid" system, which he announced it would be implemented if the referendum passed.

On May 1961, following the departure from the Commonwealth due to the referendum having a positive result, Verwoerd addressed the nation through radio and TV unified broadcasts, announcing that the National Party was satisfied and happy of the results. New legislation on racial segregation passed in June of the same year under the "Apartheid Implementation Act" which would then be merged in 1965 under the "Apartheid Segregation Act". In 1964, a law was passed to label black nationalist organizations as "disrupters of the peaceful co-habitation between different ethnic groups" and was banned in Bantustan local elections, under the "National Security Act".

Regarding foreign policy, the successful resistance of Portuguese colonialism in Mozabique and Angola but also the Unilateral Declaration of Independence made by Ian Smith government enabled South Africa to have new allies.