- +27 82 328 2755
- [email protected]
- The Old Mushroom Farm, 11 Karkloof Rd, Howick, RSA
R0.00
R17500.00
The Original of Mr. N.C. Havenga’s Budget Speech – The original 58-page Afrikaans typescript of Finance Minister N.C. Havenga’s budget speech, delivered in the House of Assembly on 22 July 1953, with his manuscript corrections throughout. Inscribed and signed by Havenga to Col. O.L. Shearer, MP for Pietermaritzburg City, and later in the library of Senator Achilles Bozas. A unique piece of South African parliamentary history, specially bound and in very good condition.
1 in stock
A unique survival from the Union Parliament: the original typescript of the budget speech delivered by Nicolaas Christiaan Havenga, Minister of Finance, in the House of Assembly on Wednesday 22 July 1953.
Specially bound in oblong format, the upper board is lettered in gilt The Original of Mr. N.C. Havenga’s Budget Speech, House of Assembly, 1953.
The text of Havenga’s Budget Speech runs to 58 typed leaves in Afrikaans, headed Begrotingstoespraak, with manuscript corrections and amendments throughout, believed to be in Havenga’s own hand, made before or during delivery.
The first leaf carries a presentation inscription in ink: “To Col. O.L. Shearer M.P. Original manuscript of my Budget speech delivered on Wednesday 22nd July 1953”, signed N.C. Havenga and dated Treasury, Cape Town, 27 July ’53.
The 1953 budget was delayed four months by the April general election, as the speech itself notes. It was among the last budgets Havenga presented before his retirement in 1954.
The recipient, Col. O.L. Shearer, C.B.E., E.D., was United Party MP for Pietermaritzburg City from 1943 to 1958 and wartime commanding officer at Oribi Military Hospital.
That a National Party minister presented his reading copy of Havenga’s Budget Speech to an opposition member speaks of personal regard across the floor of the House.
The volume later passed to Senator Achilles Bozas of Empangeni, Zululand historian and collector, whose bookplate it bears.
A one-of-one item of considerable interest to collectors of Africana, South African political and parliamentary history, and Natal and Pietermaritzburg history.
Havenga’s Budget Speech will also interest institutions concerned with South African fiscal history.
Condition – Very Good
Bound in dark green boards, the upper board lettered in gilt, with gilt decorative rolls to the spine edge and corners of both boards. Boards bright and clean, with only light rubbing to the extremities.
Binding firm. Text leaves clean, with no real defects to note. Bookplate of Achilles Bozas to the front endpaper.
Presentation inscription and manuscript corrections as described, and integral to the item.
See new arrivals first
Join our list for first dibs on rare and collectable finds
