ethnic, racial, and class cleavages took over. The ethnic cleavage impelled
the leading British merchants, professional people, and farmers, who had
the wealth but not the numbers, to opt for high property qualifications for
the franchise and for membership in parliament; Afrikaners, who had
superior numbers but were mostly quite poor, preferred low qualifications.
The racial cleavage prompted many white colonists, both British and Af-
rikaner, to desire high qualifications, whereas a few influential white liber-
als, such as Andries Stockenstrom, the forrnerIanddrost,
and John Fair-
bairn, editor of the Cape Town Commercial Advertiser, favored qualifica-
tions that would bring some of the Khoikhoi and former slaves into the
political system.
When the final draft was prepared at the Cape for submission to London,
Acting Governor Charles Darling and Attorney-General William Porter
opted for a liberal solution. In 1853 the British government thus provided
the Cape Colony with a bicameral parliament empowered to legislate on
domestic matters subject to a British veto, while the executive branch
continued to be filled by officialsresponsible to London. The parliamentary
franchise was open to any male adult inhabitant, irrespective of race or