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 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 proscribe ...

, parts of the Riotous Assemblies Act, 1956, the

Unlawful Organizations Act, 1960 The Unlawful Organizations Act No 34 of 1960 (commenced 7 April 1960) allowed the apartheid government of South Africa to declare unlawful any organizations deemed to threaten public order or the safety of the public. This legislation was enacted ...

and the

Terrorism Act, 1967 The Terrorism Act No 83 of 1967 was a law of the South African Apartheid regime until all except section 7 was repealed under the Internal Security and Intimidation Amendment Act 138 of 1991. Detention without trial Section 6 of the Act allowed s ...

. It gave the

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 wa ...

government broad powers to

ban Ban, or BAN, may refer to: Law * Ban (law), a decree that prohibits something, sometimes a form of censorship, being denied from entering or using the place/item ** Imperial ban (''Reichsacht''), a form of outlawry in the medieval Holy Roman ...

or restrict organisations, publications, people and public gatherings, and to detain people without trial. The Act was passed as a consequence of the recommendations of the Rabie Commission, which had enquired into the state of security legislation. It took over from the Suppression of Communism Act as the basis for serving banning orders on people. It also provided for house arrest. Most of the Act was progressively repealed during the transitional period between 1990 (when in October, the last of five successive years of states of emergency concluded) and 1996, with the last remaining sections repealed in 2005.

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* Apartheid laws in South Africa Terrorism in South Africa Terrorism laws 1982 in South African law {{Apartheid-sa-law-stub