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The Mines and Works Act of 1911
This Act protected white labor and reserved skilled and paid jobs for whites while blacks had to work in dangerous, low-paying jobs. This is an early example of Petty Apartheid and the preference for whites. One can conjecture that a social darwinist lens was used to justify this law- perhaps the people promoting the law pronounced that it was one races' "natural inclination" to work in certain roles that their biology was "predisposed" to. This law marks a beginning of mining discrimination. -
Natives Law Act of 1913
Prohibited Africans (2/3 of population) from owning or renting land anymore outside certain parcels of territory designated. Reduced to living in 7.5 percent of total land. Obvious and early discrimination. The government chose to discriminate the majority population, which will obviously lead to resistance. The land that was reserved for the natives was often poor land for agriculture. It was an early underpinning for Grand Apartheid. -
Industrial Conciliation Act 1924
This law prohibited the formation of black unions, but white unions were still allowed. This law is striking because at this time, native blacks are a migrant labor force that are subjected to poor living conditions and are migrant labor with low wages. They would be most in need of forming unions to demand their rights, but this act did not allow them to do so. -
Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act 1949
Prohibited marriages between different races, even though mixed marriages made up only .23% of marriages in South Africa. Example of implemented social darwinism. Whites didn't want their bloodlines "dirtied." Continual separation of the races to the extent that the authority of the government is now saying that one's love is wrong. Violated personal rights- in the realm that a government probably shouldn't have authority. -
Population Registration Act of 1950
Division and classification of racial groups in South Africa. Creation of a National Population Registry. The division of the races was the epitome of social darwinism. The races were classified on a biological, not cultural basis. There were only three groups: White, Coloured, and Bantu (coloured had 7 subcategories). It led to tests to determine "whiteness", such as linguistic proficiency, skull measurements, and the "pencil test." The tests were arbitrary and subjective divided people more. -
Group Areas Act of 1950
City centers were for Whites only. Entertainments, culural, and education centers were restricted for blacks. Essence of Apartheid. Rested on the premise that Africans were a "rural" race (townships now), even though many Africans continued to work in cities if their employment was economically beneficial for Whites. Whites believed that having blacks in cities would "break down the social order." The races became very isolated from one another. Also targeted Indian business owners in cities. -
Bantu Education Act 1953
Mandatory racial segregation in which Africans were put under direct control of the Native Affairs Department with separate school boards. Blacks were now denied the right to a decent and fair education. Blacks were now educated in only rudimentary technical skills and basic levels of literacy and numeracy. They were being trained for a life of servitude to whites. It finally linked Petty and Grand Apartheid. -
Native Resettlement Act of 1954
Cleared out "black spots" by forcing people to move from their homes. Case study of Sophiatown- it was packed with illegal drinking "shebeens" and was a center of intellectual and political activity, such as the African National Congress and other Anti-Apartheid groups. Armed police moved in and forced people to relocate, and then Sophiatown was made into the white suburb of Triomf. Blacks were increasingly marginalized and discriminated against, and this began to register internationally. -
Bantu Self-Gov Act of 1959
Divided African population into eight distinct groups that were each assigned a White Commissioner General to govern distinctive bantustans that were apart from South Africa. Essence of Grand Apartheid- the creation of separate states for the races. The Commissioner General was assigned because, in the patronizing manner of social darwinism, the whites didn't trust Blacks to be able to govern themselves. Blacks who were not living in their homelands became aliens in their own country. -
1963 Transkei Act
Creation of Transkei Legislative Assembly- emphatically democratic government. Showed that the bantustans were not in reality what was being said. They were not self-governed as the Pretoria Government controlled all spheres of government. It showed that the bantustans were a failure and the people living within them did not trust their governments.
