According to the Native Administration Act, 1927 (Act No. 38 of 1927; subsequently renamed the Bantu Administration Act, 1927 and the Black Administration Act, 1927), the
Governor-General of South Africa
The governor-general of the Union of South Africa ( af, Goewerneur-generaal van Unie van Suid-Afrika, nl, Goeverneur-generaal van de Unie van Zuid-Afrika) was the highest state official in the Union of South Africa between 31 May 1910 and 31 ...
could "banish" a 'native' or 'tribe' from one area to another whenever he deemed this 'expedient or in the general public interest'.
This Act set up a separate legal system for the administration of African law and made the proclaimed Black areas subject to a separate political regime from the remainder of the country, ultimately subject only to rule by proclamation, not parliament.
The central imperative behind the Act was to establish a strong enough system of national 'native administration' to contain the political pressures that were likely to result from the legislative measures necessary for the implementation of territorial segregation. It was, together with the
Native Affairs Act, 1920
Native may refer to:
People
* Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth
* Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory
** Native Americans (disambiguation)
In arts and entertai ...
, part of a process of transferring power over the regulation of African life from Parliament to the executive.
Moreover, it included a clause which stated: "Any person who utters any words or does any other act or thing whatever with intent to promote any feeling of hostility between Natives and Europeans, shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to imprisonment not exceeding one year or to a fine of one hundred pounds or both", thus it became popularly known as the "hostility law".
Repeal
Many provisions of the act became unconstitutional on the introduction of the
Interim Constitution of South Africa
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was the fundamental law of South Africa from the first non-racial general election on 27 April 1994 until it was superseded by the final constitution on 4 February 1997.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 ...
on 27 April 1994, which invalidated all laws which unfairly discriminated on the basis of race. The remaining provisions of the act have been repealed, or will be repealed on a future date, by the
.
See also
*
:Apartheid laws in South Africa
*
Apartheid in South Africa
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 ...
References
External links
African History: Apartheid Legislation in South AfricaRemaining provisions of the act presently in force
Apartheid laws in South Africa
1927 in South African law
Censorship in South Africa
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