The Trial of strength between the Conservative Party and the National Party begins as three Members of Parliament resign

The reformist policies of P.W Botha may be considered one of the key factors that led to the resignation of Fanie Botha, Dr Treurnicht, and Tom Langley from parliament on the 21 February 1983. It was not clear whether the Herstigte Nasionale Party or the Conservative Party constituted the official opposition to the National Party. The terms of Fanie Botha wanted Treurnicht and Langley to resign from the seats they held in Waterberg and Waterkloof respectively, after which he would relinquish his seat in Soutpansberg. Botha together with Langley and Treurnicht would then contest the Soutpansberg seat. A secondary factor that came into play in this challenge to the National Party, was that the Waterkloof seat was never going to be an easy win for any of the parties that could be considered ultra-white nationalist, including the Herstigte Nasionale Party and the Conservative Party. Dr Treurnicht and Langley gained their respective seats under the banner of the National Party. One possible outcome of this electoral challenge was that PW Botha could lose his seat and thus signal a motion of no-confidence for his reformist policies. The converse was that if the Conservative Party, the Herstigte Nasionale Party, or the National Party won the Waterkloof seat, it would severely undermine the standing of the Progressive Federal Party and its claims to be the opposition.