South Africa -- Legislation

1911 Mines and Works Act

Excluded Africans from skilled jobs in the mines, which were reserved for white people.

1911 Natives' Labour Regulation Act

Set out working conditions for Africans: rural recruitment, no trade unions, pass books issued, whites promoted, lower wages for Black people (20x less in agriculture, 5x less in manufacture).

1913 Natives' Land Act

Restricted African land ownership to 7% of South Africa; forced many into working for white farmers and living in near-imprisonment compounds.

1923 Natives' (Urban Areas) Act

Restricted Africans to cities only to serve white needs (e.g., as domestic workers); required to live in townships on city outskirts and leave after contract expiry.

1927 Native Administration Act

Created the Department of Native Affairs; legally separated Africans from civic rights; limited voting based on land ownership (women excluded).

1936 Representation of the Natives

Disenfranchised Africans; treated as foreigners outside reserves.

1949 Mixed Marriages Act

Banned interracial marriages; imprisonment for whites who broke the law.

1950 Immorality Act

Prohibited sexual relations across racial lines.

1950 Population Registration Act

Mandated racial classification of all South Africans into categories (white, Black, Asian, Indian).

1950 Group Areas Act

Designated separate residential areas for different races; central to spatial apartheid.

1950 Suppression of Communism Act

Banned the Communist Party and allowed banning of individuals deemed communist.

1951 Law for Separate Registration of Voters Act

Removed coloured people from electoral rolls in Cape; passed with a ⅔ majority.

1951 Bantu Authority Act

Established tribal homelands on 13.5% of land for Africans (who made up 70% of population); entrenched racial separation and loss of urban communities.

1952 National Abolition of Passes Act

Required all African adults to carry reference books (pass books); enhanced surveillance; humiliating and criminalised.

1952 Urban Areas Act

Restricted coloured people's access to urban areas.

1953 Reservation of Separate Amenities Act

Legalised segregation of public amenities (buses, toilets, restaurants); similar to U.S. Jim Crow laws.

1953 Bantu Education Act

Established separate and unequal education for Black South Africans under Ministry of Native Affairs.

1953 Public Safety Act

Allowed government to declare a state of emergency for 12 months, renewable indefinitely.

1953 Criminal Law Amendment Act

Made people automatically guilty if they accompanied someone who committed a crime; shifted burden of proof.

1954 Native Resettlement Act

Legalised forced removals from mixed-race areas to segregated ones.

1956 Riotous Assemblies Act

Gave government power to ban public meetings if deemed threatening; targeted anti-apartheid gatherings.

1959 Promotion of Bantu Self-Government Act

Finalised the Bantustan system; created 8 tribal homelands to justify exclusion of Black people from national citizenship and politics.

1959 Extension of University Education Act

Segregated higher education; created "non-European" university sections.

1960 Unlawful Organisations Act

Banned the ANC and PAC following the Sharpeville Massacre.

1962 Sabotage Act

Outlawed sabotage; used to prosecute anti-apartheid activists and justify repression of MK.

1967 Terrorism Act

Allowed indefinite detention without trial and permitted torture; greatly increased police power under Vorster.

1982 Internal Security Act

Enabled the banning of individuals and groups without explanation; weakened all opposition.

1982 Black Local Authorities Act

Token reform: created local councils with limited power; increased rents by 12.5%; allowed access to central funds, but seen as "sellout" by Black communities.

1986 Identification Act

Abolished pass laws—symbolically significant but had limited impact on entrenched apartheid structures; viewed as cosmetic reform.