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Period: to
South African Apartheid
Important South African Apartheid Legislation -
Native (Black) Urban Areas Act (1923)
This act created "Native advisory boards" who were in charge of blacks in certain areas. They strictly controlled the movement of blacks from urban (prescribed) and rural (non-prescribed) areas. This act is important because it further separated blacks from whites while also increasing white control over blacks. -
Mines and Works Amendment (1911 and 1926)
This act allowed for the granting of certificates which verified the "competency" of workers in the mining profession. These certificates allowed for the restriction of blacks from certain professions; hence enabling whites to gain economic superiority over many blacks. This act is significant because it is one of the many examples in which whites restricted black economic opportunity; thus becoming one of major reasons why poverty was widespread throughout the black community in South Africa. -
Representation of Blacks Act (1936)
This act removed black voters from the common roll to a separate roll. Blacks in the union would be represented by four white senators. The significance of this act is that black political representation became further limited as apartheid continued. Political power and representation for blacks was already limited, however acts such as this one further restricted their already limited rights. -
Population Registration Act (1950)
The purpose of this act was to identify and register all citizens, starting from birth, as one of the four distinct racial groups. This was the most strict out of all the race classification laws. This act is significant because allows for further segregation by labeling humans from birth. By giving people labels, it causes further discrimination and hatred towards the groups with "undesired" titles or labels. -
Group Areas Act (1950)
The Group Areas Act declared certain areas/territories for the exclusive use of particular racial groups. For example, a certain area could be determined for the usage only blacks which would prevent other racial groups from using that area. This further segregated all the racial groups, especially the whites from the blacks. It would also grant territories which were difficult to inhabit to blacks, further continuing the discrimination. -
Black (Native) Laws Amendment Act (1952)
Amended the 1945 Urban Areas Consolidation Act by requiring all blacks to carry "passes." These passes would be checked every time they visited an urban area and would restrict their stay in the urban area to 72 hours. These passes would allow for furthering labeling and control of blacks, restricting their right to travel freely and keeping them under constant surveillance. -
Black Education Act (1953)
This act formally separated black education from white education. Of course, white education was superior in every sense whether it was from the curriculum to the teachers or even to the facilities. Black education was specifically curated to fit the mold that whites wanted. The government purposefully made the black curriculum different from the whites, thus further segregating the two races. -
Blacks Resettlement Act (1954)
This act allowed for the removal of blacks from "townships" such as the famous Sophiatown. Many blacks were forcefully removed and displaced from their homes as a result from the act. The reason the act was passed was because blacks weren't legally allowed to reside in "urban" areas. These townships were considered too close to urban areas which resulted in its removal. -
Separate Representation of Voters Amendment Act (1956)
An early act removed the representation of blacks from the common roll, however this act further removed the coloureds from the common roll as well. This act granted more political power to the whites as political representation was taken away from both coloureds and blacks. As a result, the South African Senate was enlarged in order to obtain the required majority (thus allowing for more white control of the government). -
Representation between Republic of South Africa and Self-Governing Territories Act (1959)
This act formalized the creation of Bantustans into fully recognized independent territories. Although these territories were not recognized by other countries, they were considered as separate by South Africa. This act was a result of the main goal of Grand Apartheid: separate the blacks and whites in South Africa completely. It rid of any remaining black political power in South Africa and created mini states that were still dependent on South Africa.
