After a number of local organisations was founded and a tour by Carrie Chapman Catt, the local groups were all united to form the Women's Enfranchisement Association of the Union (WEAU) which became a member of the British Dominions Women's Suffrage Union as well as the International Woman Suffrage Alliance.
The majority of the members of the WEAU were white English elite women.
The South African government, with the approval of the British, ignored the issue and maintained status quo by referring to the complicated political situation of the unification of the South African provinces.
In 1923, however, the Afrikaner population along with the National Party changed its attitude in favor of women's suffrage for white women, because it wished to enlarge the number of white voters.
When the petition of 1929 was presented, therefore, it was treated favorably by the government, which resulted in the introduction of Women's Enfranchisement Act, 1930.