SAP, noun1

Forms:
Also S.A.P., Sap.
Origin:
Initial letters of South African Party.
1. /es eɪ ˈpiː/ In historical contexts. Any of several political groupings, but especially: a. A party representing conciliation between white English- and Afrikaans-speaking people, founded in 1911 after Union by Generals Smuts and Botha, and fusing with the Nationalist Party in 1934 to form the United Party (see UP); Nationalist Party sense (a), see Nationalist noun sense c; see also Unionist, volk sense 3 a i. b. A short-lived party (from 1977 to 80) formed by a conservative group which broke away from the United Party. Also attributive.
1908 Star 3 Feb. 7S.A.P. Leaders...The South African Party..is likely to be in power for years to come.
1927 Star 31 May 9An S.A.P. victory in the Cape. Hopetown regained from the Nationalists.
1974 D.W. Krüger in Std Encycl. of Sn Afr. X. 103At its inception the South African Party (S.A.P. for short) was representative of all the nation-minded sections of the population, English- as well as Afrikaans-speaking.
1978 Daily Dispatch 25 Jan. 1Both men were leading figures in the old United Party before the breakaway last year to form the SAP with four other conservative MPs.
1989 Reader’s Digest Illust. Hist. of S. Afr. 346In December 1984, after a long debate and acrimonious splits in both the NP and the SAP, the United South African National Party (later the United Party) came into being.
2. /sap/, /sæp; es eɪ ˈpiː/ Plural Saps, Sappe /ˈsapə/. a. In historical contexts. A member or supporter of the South African Party. b. In historical contexts. A (conservative) member or supporter of the United Party (see UP); see also bloedsap. c. In historical contexts. In the plural : The South African Party; the United Party; collectively, the members of either party. d. transferred sense. Any conservative opposition politician. Also attributive.
Note:
Used chiefly as an acronym, frequently in contrast to ‘Nat’ (see Nat noun sense a).
1920 S. Black Dorp 9The scornful word ‘Sappers’, which he knew to be a term of contempt applied by members of Hertzog’s Party (the Nationalists) to all those of the Botha-Smuts element or ‘SAP’ (South African Party).
1920 R.Y. Stormberg Mrs Pieter de Bruyn 20Don’t talk politics, or if you have to, be an S.A.P. to du Preez and Mr van Rooyen.
1933 J.C. Smuts in J. Van der Poel Sel. Smuts Papers (1973) V. 567It may be a case of Sap predominance, with a Nat prime minister with a small following of his own.
1943 I. Frack S. Afr. Doctor 89Complete disregard of politics on the part of a citizen rendered him liable to be regarded as a Sap. by the Nats. and as a Nat. by the Saps., incurring the displeasure of both and becoming a subject of endless gossip to the whole population.
1963 A. Delius Day Natal Took Off 8An aspirant politician, a third generation Sap, bitter from having been for so many years on the losing side.
1972 Daily Dispatch 20 July 10That silly Second World War those naughty Allies — and the Sappe — insisted on fighting.
1972 Argus 27 Nov. 23The Broederbond — those extra streamlined super de-luxe Afrikaners, who do not just discriminate against the English, or the Jews, or the Sappe (U.P.), but against their fellow Afrikaners.
1975 Sunday Times 3 Aug. 19People are born Nat or Sap and die that way.
1977 F.G. Butler Karoo Morning 99Political humanity at this time was entirely white, and was divided into two species or races: Nats and Saps. Nats were all Afrikaans, Saps were mostly English, plus Jews, and some very brave Afrikaners.
1980 Sunday Times 3 Feb.My father..often changed his politics and we went to Afrikaans schools when he was a Nat and to English schools when he was a Sap.
1981 Sunday Times 14 June (Mag. Sect.) 9It’s an area that still thinks in terms of ‘Nat’ and ‘Sap’...‘Here the Progs don’t stand much of a chance.’
1988 Smuts & Alberts Forgotten Highway through Ceres & Bokkeveld 131The lawyer in Ceres was United Party — a Sap — and Pa was a Nat.
1991 A. Van Wyk Birth of New Afrikaner 56At school we had gangs of pro-Germans and pro-British, corresponding closely to parental party-political affiliations. The Nats were pro-German and the Saps pro-British. The term Saps for the followers of the South African Party, formed in 1911, remained in existence for decades after its merger with the United Party.
1991 A. Van Wyk Birth of New Afrikaner [see bloedsap].
1991 [see Engelsman sense 2].
A party representing conciliation between white English- and Afrikaans-speaking people, founded in 1911 after Union by Generals Smuts and Botha, and fusing with the Nationalist Party in 1934 to form the United Party (see UP); Nationalist Party sense (a), see Nationalist noun sense c;
A short-lived party (from 1977 to 80) formed by a conservative group which broke away from the United Party. Also attributive.
A member or supporter of the South African Party.
A (conservative) member or supporter of the United Party (see UP);
In the plural :The South African Party; the United Party; collectively, the members of either party.
Any conservative opposition politician. Also attributive.
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