W.H. Hutt, economic liberalism, and “iron-clad” white rule before the rise of South African apartheid

This paper reviews W.H. Hutt’s work on the economics of race during his first two decades at the University of Cape Town and draws two major conclusions. First, the analytical details of Hutt’s opposition to apartheid were well developed before the National Party victory of 1948. Second, Hutt’s weighted franchise proposal to restrict non-white vote power was also developed earlier than previously understood, in the aftermath of the election of 1948. The original purpose of Hutt’s weighted franchise was to permanently entrench white rule at the dawn of apartheid, not serve as a constitutional transition away from apartheid.