ACTS

SA

Population Registration Act

1950

Provided for the creation of a national population register

Each citizen was defined according to the racial group they belonged —> Based on biological rather than cultural factors

A code representing their racial group was in their ID # —> Connection to Holocaust

The complicated, running wording of the law suggests this task was a fool’s errand

The Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act / Immortality Act

1949

Gov believed miscegenation = racial degeneration

First major law passed by the NP gov

Made it illegal for White SAs to marry people of other races

Introduced despite it being a tiny problem: only 75 recorded in the 3 years prior to the act

The Reservation of Separate Amenities Act

1953
Often seen as the epitome of the petty apartheid system
Provided the strict segregation by race of all public amenities
A method to emphasizing how you are SEPARATE
Ex: Separate entrances, parks etc
Difference to US: The amenities did not have to be equal in quality

The Pass Laws Act

1952
Also known as The Natives (Abolition of Passes and Co-ordination of Documents) Act
Replaced existing passbooks with 96page “reference books” => Incredibly detailed
It was made a criminal offence for a Black person not to present their passbook on demand, any white person could ask.
Reference books were used as a weapon against the regime.

The Group Areas Act

1951
Policies of forced removals and creation/expansion of townships would not have been possible without this Act

Based on the premise that Africans were a rural people
Total residential segregation: removing coloured people from inner city areas

1 in 4 coloured people were forced to move under the act

The Bantu Education Act

1953
Made it mandatory for schools to admit one racial group only
Made education of Africans under direct control of the Native Affairs Department (headed by Verwoerd)
Cirriculums tailored to what the authorities believe was appropriate for intelectual capacity of races:

→ Coloured = mines/cook/clean.

The act reconciled some of the basic philosphical imperatives of baasskap and grand apartheid.

The Extension of University Education Act

1959
Introduced to extend apartheid to tertiary education
Unis had to admit students of one race
Senior academics resigned their positions in protest

The Bantu Authorities Act

1951
Flagship of grand apartheid
Plan: to give each of the Black peoples their own self-gov homeland
They would be citizens of various Bantustans rather than SA —> SA is solely white country now
Got rid of the old Natives Rep Council (repped all Africans)

The Promotion of Bantu Self-Government Act

1959
Most important law in the creation of the Homelands system
Divided population into 8 ethnic groups
Effect: millions of Blacks who did not live in the homelands became foreigners, under constant threat of deportation

The homelands only became fully independent in the 1970s

Bantustans Act

• 1949

• Early step later formalized as the Bantu Authorities Act/Bantu Self gov act

• Aimed to create separate homelands for black South Africans

Mines and Works Act

• 1911

• First major racially discriminatory labor law

• Reserved skilled mining jobs for white works

• Introduced the colour bar, legally enforcing racial job segregation

Ensured white economic dominance by keeping Black workers in low-wage, unskilled labor.

Thus ESP

Natives Land Act

• 1913

• First major land segregation law

• Restricted black SAs to only 7% of the land

• Prohibited them from buying, renting or using land outside designated areas

Natives Resettlement Act

• 1954

• Enabled the forced removal of black people to townships

Group Areas Development Act

• 1955

• Expanded on the Group Areas Act (1950) by outlining how segregated areas would be developed

• Accelerated the displacement of coloured people from white areas

• Led to the destruction of multi-racial commuinities such as District Six in Cape Town

Criminal Law Amendment Act

• 1953

• Aimed to suppress anti-apartheid protests by increasing penalities for civil disobedience

• Result of the defiance campaign

• Made “incitement” to break apartheid laws a criminal offense, even if no crime was committed.

Public Safety Act

• 1953

• Gave the SA gov sweeping powers to declare states of emergency:

  • Suspend laws and impose curfews to suppress anti-apartheid resistance

• Enabled mass arrests, detentiosn and banning order

• Used to justify crackdowns such as Sharpeville Massacre