The system of racial segregation and oppression in South Africa known as ''

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

'' was implemented and enforced by many

acts The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its message ...

and other laws. This legislation served to institutionalize racial discrimination and the dominance by

white people White is a racialized classification of people and a skin color specifier, generally used for people of European origin, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, and point of view. Description of populations as ...

over people of other races. While the bulk of this legislation was enacted after the election of the National Party government in 1948, it was preceded by discriminatory legislation enacted under earlier British and Afrikaner governments. Apartheid is distinguished from segregation in other countries by the systematic way in which it was formalized in law.

Segregationist legislation before apartheid

Although apartheid as a comprehensive legislative project truly began after the National Party came into power in 1948, many of these statutes were preceded by the laws of the previous British and Afrikaner administrations in South Africa's provinces. An early example is the Glen Grey Act, passed in 1894 in Cape Colony, and which had the effect of diminishing the land rights of Africans in scheduled areas.Smythe, N C: 'The origins of apartheid: race legislation in South Africa - 1836 - 1910', p 262. ELM thesis, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 1994.

List of apartheid segregation in South Africa

Population registration and segregation

* The Population Registration Act, 1950, required that every South African be classified into one of a number of racial "population groups". This act provided the foundation upon which the whole edifice of apartheid would be constructed. * The

Reservation of Separate Amenities Act, 1953 Separate Amenities Act, Act No 49 of 1953, formed part of the apartheid system of racial segregation in South Africa. The Act legalized the racial segregation Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into racial or other ...

allowed public premises, vehicles and services to be segregated by race, even if equal facilities were not made available to all races. The Reservation of Separate Amenities Act was repealed by the

Discriminatory Legislation regarding Public Amenities Repeal Act, 1990 {{Infobox legislation , short_title = Discriminatory Legislation regarding Public Amenities Repeal Act, 1990 , image = , imagesize = , imagelink = , imagealt = , caption = , lo ...

, and the Population Registration Act was repealed by the

Population Registration Act Repeal Act, 1991 The Population Registration Act Repeal Act, 1991 (Act No. 114 of 1991) is an act of the Parliament of South Africa which repealed the Population Registration Act, 1950, ending the legal racial classification of South Africans which formed the basi ...

, but the racial classifications remained on the population register until 1992.

Job reservation and economic apartheid

* Mines and Works Act, 1911 *

Native Building Workers Act, 1951 The Native Building Workers Act, 1951 (Act No. 27 of 1951; subsequently renamed the Bantu Building Workers Act, 1951 and the Black Building Workers Act, 1951) formed part of the apartheid system of racial segregation in South Africa South ...

Native Labour (Settlement of Disputes) Act, 1953 The Native Labour (Settlement of Disputes) Act, 1953 (renamed in 1964 to the Bantu Labour (Settlement of Disputes) Act, in 1973 to the Bantu Labour Relations Regulation Act, and in 1978 to the Black Labour Relations Regulation Act) was a South Afr ...

Industrial Conciliation Act, 1956 The Industrial Conciliation Act, 1956 (Act No. 28 of 1956; subsequently renamed the Labour Relations Act, 1956), formed part of the apartheid system of racial segregation in South Africa. It prohibited the registration of any new 'mixed' trade uni ...

Segregation in education

Bantu Education Act, 1953 The Bantu Education Act 1953 (Act No. 47 of 1953; later renamed the Black Education Act, 1953) was a South African segregation law that legislated for several aspects of the apartheid system. Its major provision enforced racially-separated educati ...

Extension of University Education Act, 1959 The Extension of University Education Act, Act 45 of 1959, formed part of the apartheid system of racial segregation in South Africa. This act made it a criminal offense for a non-white student to register at a formerly open university without th ...

* Coloured Persons Education Act, 1963 *

Indians Education Act, 1965 Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

Sexual apartheid

* The Immorality Act, 1927 forbade extramarital sex between white people and black people. * The Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act, 1949 forbade marriages between white people and people of other races. * The

Immorality Amendment Act, 1950 The Immorality Act, 1927 (Act No. 5 of 1927) was an act of the Parliament of South Africa that prohibited extramarital sex between white people and people of other races. In its original form it only prohibited sex between a white person and a bl ...

forbade extramarital sex between white people and people of other races. These laws were repealed by the Immorality and Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Amendment Act, 1985.

Land tenure and geographic segregation

* The

Natives Land Act, 1913 The Natives Land Act, 1913 (subsequently renamed Bantu Land Act, 1913 and Black Land Act, 1913; Act No. 27 of 1913) was an Act of the Parliament of South Africa that was aimed at regulating the acquisition of land. According to the ''Encyclopæd ...

limited land ownership by black people to 8% of the land area of South Africa. * The

Native Trust and Land Act, 1936 The Native Trust and Land Act, 1936 (Act No. 18 of 1936; subsequently renamed the Bantu Trust and Land Act, 1936 and the Development Trust and Land Act, 1936) in South Africa passed a law that served as the reorganization of its agricultural struc ...

expanded this limit to encompass about 13% of the land area of South Africa. * The

Asiatic Land Tenure and Indian Representation Act, 1946 The Asiatic Land Tenure and Indian Representation Act, 1946 (Act No. 28 of 1946; subsequently renamed the Asiatic Land Tenure Act, 1946, and also known as the "Ghetto Act") of South Africa sought to confine Asian ownership and occupation of land ...

restricted land ownership by Asians in towns and cities. * The

Group Areas Act, 1950 Group Areas Act was the title of three acts of the Parliament of South Africa enacted under the apartheid government of South Africa. The acts assigned racial groups to different residential and business sections in urban areas in a system of u ...

(re-enacted in 1957 and 1966) divided urban areas into "group areas" in which ownership and residence was restricted to certain population groups. * The

Group Areas Development Act, 1955 The Group Areas Development Act, 1955 (Act No. 69 of 1955; subsequently renamed the Community Development Act, 1955), formed part of the apartheid system of racial segregation in South Africa. It was enacted to help effect the purpose of the Grou ...

formed part of the machinery for the implementation of the Group Areas Act. * The

Coloured Persons Communal Reserves Act, 1961 The Coloured Persons Communal Reserves Act of 1961, was an Apartheid South Africa piece of legislation, which was enacted to apply the Mission Stations and Communal Reserves Act 1909, of the Cape of Good Hope, to coloured persons settlement areas ...

and the

Rural Coloured Areas Act, 1963 In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...

established "reserve" areas for coloured people in rural areas. * The

Preservation of Coloured Areas Act, Act No 31 of 1961 The Preservation of Coloured Areas Act of 1961, was an Apartheid South Africa piece of legislation. It was ostensibly enacted to prevent land in coloured areas from being taken without compensation to the owner even if the owner had not registere ...

further entrenched "Coloured Areas" in law and created a legal mechanism to seize land for white Guardians. * The

Aliens Control Act, 1973 The Aliens Control Act No 40 of 1973 of South Africa led to the exemption of the racial group of Indians from the need to obtain permits for travel between provinces. However, in terms of provincial legislation at the time, Indians were not allo ...

loosened the restrictions on residence by Asians in parts of South Africa. These and other discriminatory acts related to land tenure were repealed by the

Abolition of Racially Based Land Measures Act, 1991 The Abolition of Racially Based Land Measures Act, 1991 (Act No. 108 of 1991) is an act of the Parliament of South Africa which repealed many of the apartheid laws that imposed race-based restrictions on land ownership and land use. Among the law ...

Pass laws and influx control

Natives (Urban Areas) Act, 1923 Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

* Natives (Urban Areas) Consolidation Act, 1945 * Prevention of Illegal Squatting Act, 1951 *

Native Laws Amendment Act, 1952 The Native Laws Amendment Act, 1952 (Act No. 54 of 1952, subsequently renamed the Bantu Laws Amendment Act, 1952 and the Black Laws Amendment Act, 1952), formed part of the apartheid system of racial segregation in South Africa South Afric ...

* Natives (Abolition of Passes and Co-ordination of Documents) Act, 1952 * Natives Resettlement Act, 1954 * Natives (Prohibition of Interdicts) Act, 1956 * Urban Bantu Councils Act, 1961 * Black Local Authorities Act, 1982 The pass laws were repealed by the

Identification Act, 1986 Identification or identify may refer to: * Identity document, any document used to verify a person's identity Arts, entertainment and media * ''Identify'' (album) by Got7, 2014 * "Identify" (song), by Natalie Imbruglia, 1999 * Identification ...

and the influx control laws by the Abolition of Influx Control Act, 1986.

Political representation

* The

South Africa Act 1909 The South Africa Act 1909 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which created the Union of South Africa from the British Cape Colony, Colony of Natal, Orange River Colony, and Transvaal Colony. The Act also made provisions for ...

, which united the four South African colonies into a unitary state, preserved electoral arrangements unchanged, meaning that qualified black voters in the

Cape Province The Province of the Cape of Good Hope ( af, Provinsie Kaap die Goeie Hoop), commonly referred to as the Cape Province ( af, Kaapprovinsie) and colloquially as The Cape ( af, Die Kaap), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequen ...

could vote for the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony adm ...

. This was an

entrenched clause An entrenched clause or entrenchment clause of a constitution is a provision that makes certain amendments either more difficult or impossible to pass. Overriding an entrenched clause may require a supermajority, a referendum, or the consent of the ...

, protected by a provision requiring a two-thirds majority in a joint sitting of Parliament to alter the

Cape Qualified Franchise The Cape Qualified Franchise was the system of non-racial franchise that was adhered to in the Cape Colony, and in the Cape Province in the early years of the Union of South Africa. Qualifications for the right to vote at parliamentary elections ...

. * The

Representation of Natives Act, 1936 The Representation of Natives Act No 12 of 1936 (commenced 10 July) was legislation passed in South Africa which further reduced black rights at the time. The Cape province had a qualified franchise which had allowed a small number of blacks in t ...

, passed with the necessary two-thirds majority, removed black voters in the Cape from the common voters' roll and placed them on a separate roll, allowing them to elect only three members to the House of Assembly. The act also provided for four indirectly elected senators to represent black people countrywide. Qualified

coloured Coloureds ( af, Kleurlinge or , ) refers to members of multiracial ethnic communities in Southern Africa who may have ancestry from more than one of the various populations inhabiting the region, including African, European, and Asian. South ...

voters in the Cape remained on the common roll. * The

allowed Indians in the

Transvaal Province The Province of the Transvaal ( af, Provinsie van Transvaal), commonly referred to as the Transvaal (; ), was a province of South Africa from 1910 until 1994, when a new constitution subdivided it following the end of apartheid. The name "Trans ...

and

Natal Province The Province of Natal (), commonly called Natal, was a province of South Africa from May 1910 until May 1994. Its capital was Pietermaritzburg. During this period rural areas inhabited by the black African population of Natal were organized into ...

to elect three members of the House of Assembly and two senators, but this representation was removed by the

Asiatic Laws Amendment Act, 1948 Asiatic refers to something related to Asia. Asiatic may also refer to: * Asiatic style, a term in ancient stylistic criticism associated with Greek writers of Asia Minor * In the context of Ancient Egypt, beyond the borders of Egypt and the cont ...

. * The

Separate Representation of Voters Act, 1951 The Separate Representation of Voters Act No. 46 was introduced in South Africa on 18 June 1951. Part of the legislation during the apartheid era, the National Party introduced it to enforce racial segregation, and was part of a deliberate proc ...

removed coloured voters in the Cape from the common voters' roll and placed them on a separate roll, allowing them to elect only four members to the House of Assembly. It was not, initially, passed with a two-thirds majority, and the Appellate Division of the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

invalidated it on this basis, precipitating the " coloured vote constitutional crisis". The government subsequently altered the method of election of the Senate and passed the

South Africa Act Amendment Act, 1956 The Coloured vote constitutional crisis, also known as the Coloured vote case, was a constitutional crisis that occurred in the Union of South Africa during the 1950s as the result of an attempt by the Nationalist government to remove coloured v ...

with a two-thirds majority, validating the Separate Representation of Voters Act. * The

Promotion of Bantu Self-government Act, 1959 The Promotion of Bantu Self-Government Act, 1959 (Act No. 46 of 1959, commenced 19 June; subsequently renamed the Promotion of Black Self-government Act, 1959 and later the Representation between the Republic of South Africa and Self-governing ...

abolished the remaining parliamentary representation for black people under the Representation of Natives Act. * The

Separate Representation of Voters Amendment Act, 1968 The Separate Representation of Voters Amendment Act, 1968 (Act No. 50 of 1968) was an act of the Parliament of South Africa enacted under the government of B. J. Vorster, which repealed the Separate Representation of Voters Act, 1951. This had th ...

, abolished the remaining parliamentary representation for coloured people, and the Coloured Persons Representative Council Amendment Act, 1968 replaced it with an elected "Representative Council" with limited powers. * The Prohibition of Political Interference Act, 1968 prohibited multi-racial political parties. * The

Republic of South Africa Constitution Act, 1983 The Constitution of 1983 (formally the Republic of South Africa Constitution Act, 1983) was South Africa's third constitution. It replaced the republican constitution that had been adopted when South Africa became a republic in 1961 and was in ...

established a tricameral Parliament with separate houses representing whites, coloureds and Indians. Blacks remained unrepresented. The

Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1993 The Interim Constitution was the fundamental law of South Africa from the first non-racial general election on 27 April 1994 until it was superseded by the final constitution on 4 February 1997. As a transitional constitution it required th ...

established universal non-racial adult suffrage.

Separate development and bantustans

* The Native Administration Act, 1927 gave the executive government wide-ranging authority to govern the "native reserves", and the people living in them, by proclamation. * The Bantu Authorities Act, 1951 established a hierarchy of tribal, regional and territorial authorities, led by chiefs and appointed councillors, to govern the reserves. * The

provided for the development of the territorial authorities into self-governing

bantustan A Bantustan (also known as Bantu homeland, black homeland, black state or simply homeland; ) was a territory that the National Party administration of South Africa set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa and South West Africa (n ...

s. * The Bantu Investment Corporation Act, 1959 established a corporation to develop the economies of the bantustans. * The Transkei Constitution Act, 1963 made the

Transkei Transkei (, meaning ''the area beyond he riverKei''), officially the Republic of Transkei ( xh, iRiphabliki yeTranskei), was an unrecognised state in the southeastern region of South Africa from 1976 to 1994. It was, along with Ciskei, a Ba ...

an autonomous self-governing territory, with a partially elected assembly. * The

Bantu Homelands Development Corporations Act, 1965 Bantu may refer to: *Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages *Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language * Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle *Black Association for National ...

established separate economic development corporations for the various homelands. * The Bantu Homelands Citizenship Act, 1970 made black people citizens of one of the bantustans, with the intention that when the bantustans became independent they would cease to be South African citizens. * The Bantu Homelands Constitution Act, 1971 allowed other homelands to become autonomous self-governing territories, similar to the Transkei. * The Status of the Transkei Act, 1976 declared the Transkei to be an independent state and no longer part of South Africa. This independence was not recognised by any country other than South Africa. * The Status of Bophuthatswana Act, 1977, the Status of Venda Act, 1979, and the Status of Ciskei Act, 1981, similarly declared

Bophuthatswana Bophuthatswana (, meaning "gathering of the Tswana people"), officially the Republic of Bophuthatswana ( tn, Riphaboliki ya Bophuthatswana; af, Republiek van Bophuthatswana), was a Bantustan (also known as "Homeland"; an area set aside for mem ...

Venda Venda () was a Bantustan in northern South Africa, which is fairly close to the South African border with Zimbabwe to the north, while to the south and east, it shared a long border with another black homeland, Gazankulu. It is now part of t ...

and

Ciskei Ciskei (, or ) was a Bantustan for the Xhosa people-located in the southeast of South Africa. It covered an area of , almost entirely surrounded by what was then the Cape Province, and possessed a small coastline along the shore of the Indian O ...

to be independent states. The bantustans were abolished by the

, and the nominally independent states were integrated back into South Africa.

Banning, detention without trial and state security

Suppression of Communism Act, 1950 The Suppression of Communism Act, 1950 (Act No. 44 of 1950), renamed the Internal Security Act in 1976, was legislation of the national government in apartheid South Africa which formally banned the Communist Party of South Africa and proscribed ...

* Public Safety Act, 1953 *

Riotous Assemblies Act, 1956 The Riotous Assemblies Act, Act No 17 of 1956 in South Africa (taking effect 16 March) prohibited gatherings in open-air public places if the Minister of Justice considered they could endanger the public peace. Banishment was also included as a for ...

* Unlawful Organizations Act, 1960 * Indemnity Act, 1961 *

General Law Amendment Act, 1963 The General Law Amendment Act, number 37 of 1963 (commenced 2 May), commonly known as the 90-Day Detention Law, allowed a South African police officer to detain without warrant a person suspected of a politically motivated crime for up to 90 days ...

* Terrorism Act, 1967 * Indemnity Act, 1977 *

Internal Security Act, 1982 The Internal Security Act, 1982 (Act No. 74 of 1982) was an act of the Parliament of South Africa that consolidated and replaced various earlier pieces of security legislation, including the Suppression of Communism Act, 1950, parts of the Ri ...

References

External links

African History: Apartheid Legislation in South Africa
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