 It was, however, seen as a symbolic action by the Pact government of Prime Minister JBM Hertzog, coming as it did shortly before the merger of his National Party with Jan Smuts's South African Party to form the United Party.The Status of the Union Act was repealed by the Republic of South Africa Constitution Act, 1961, which ended South Africa's membership of the Commonwealth of Nations and transformed it into a republic.The Status Act incorporated the Statute of Westminster into South African law as if it were an act of the South African Parliament.