1961 South African general election

General elections were held in South Africa on 18 October 1961. They were the first general elections after South Africa became a republic following the 1960 South African referendum. The National Party (NP) under H. F. Verwoerd won a majority in the House of Assembly.

The National Union Party, led by Japie Basson and ex-Chief Justice Henry Allan Fagan in alliance with the United Party, had been formed as a "bridge" to the United Party by disgrunted ex-Nationalists who were unhappy with Verwoerd's leadership, aiming at the National, Afrikaner electorate. With the exception of the constituency of Bezuidenhout, won by Basson in a landslide, the party failed and later merged with the United Party.

The elections also saw the first general election appearance of the liberal Progressive Party, which had broken away from the United Party in 1959. The new party retained one MP, in the form of Helen Suzman. She was to remain its sole parliamentary representative until 1974. Only White South Africans were allowed to vote, as non-whites had last taken part in a general election in 1953. The voting age for whites was also lowered from 21 to 18, yet turnout in this herrenvolk democracy was only around 44%, which was 29.81 percentage points lower than the previous election.