speaker. When speaking about politics he was always asking for a realignment of South African politics away from the crass divides that polarised Afrikaners and English South Africans. Thus in 1933 he helped negotiate a coalition between J.B.M. Hertzog and Jan Smuts, along with a fusion of their two parties. Consequently, he spent the rest of his life as a member of the United Party. Whilst a Cabinet Minister, Hofmeyr was the inaugural Patron of the Transvaal Inter-Race Cricket Board from 1936. Minister Hertzog became leader of the new party and thus remained Prime Minister. Smuts was his deputy. As a compromise the two men split their new cabinet down the middle. Hofmeyr was one of six who Smuts nominated for the cabinet. As it turned out, Hofmeyr was awarded the portfolios for Education, Interior, and Public Health. Before fusion these exact portfolios had belonged to D.F. Malan, but the latter had refused to be a part of Fusion and broke away from Hertzog to form a Purified National Party. Smuts did a great deal to hold the fusion government together. This involved a great show of capitulation towards Hertzog's legislative agenda. Hofmeyr was not inclined to behave in this manner and showed an almost inflexible adherence to principle. So when other cabinet members leant over backwards in the interests of staying in government, Hofmeyr stood alone to oppose destructive legislation such as the laws aimed at removing the black franchise. Any patience that he had wore out when Hertzog appointed A.P.J. Fourie to the Senate as a minister specially "acquainted with the reasonable wants and wishes of the Coloured people of South Africa". Hofmeyr protested that the new senator had none of these qualifications and he resigned from the Cabinet. Later he also left the party caucus because of his opposition to the Asiatics Bill, which restricted Indians from buying land except in defined areas. In 1938 it looked as if Hofmeyr might form his own party; there was encouragement for him to form a Liberal Party. Any such designs were nipped in the bud when Britain declared war on Germany after Hitler invaded Poland. Second World War The United Party finally split over the war. Hertzog was not prepared to declare war on Germany, as Britain had done in September 1939. At that time South Africa was a Dominion and also a member of the then British Commonwealth.