The Terrorism Act No 83 of 1967 was a law of the

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

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 ...

regime until all except section 7 was repealed under the Internal Security and Intimidation Amendment Act 138 of 1991.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 someone suspected of involvement in

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

—which was very broadly defined as anything that might "endanger the maintenance of law and order"—to be detained for a 60-day period (which could be renewed) without

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of Party (law), parties to a :wikt:dispute, dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence (law), evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to Adjudication, adjudicate claims or d ...

on the authority of a senior

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

officer. Since there was no requirement to release information on who was being held, people subject to the Act tended to disappear. The death of

Steve Biko Bantu Stephen Biko (18 December 1946 – 12 September 1977) was a South African anti-apartheid activist. Ideologically an African nationalist and African socialist, he was at the forefront of a grassroots anti-apartheid campaign known ...

in police custody in 1977, while being detained under the Act, was a particular ''

cause célèbre A cause célèbre (,''Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged'', 12th Edition, 2014. S.v. "cause célèbre". Retrieved November 30, 2018 from https://www.thefreedictionary.com/cause+c%c3%a9l%c3%a8bre ,''Random House Kernerman Webs ...

''. It is estimated that approximately 80 people died while being detained under the Act.

Other provisions

Other provisions of the Act included the founding of the Bureau of State Security.

References

External links

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Legislating Against Terrorism in South Africa
Apartheid laws in South Africa Terrorism in South Africa Terrorism laws 1967 in South African law Steve Biko affair {{statute-stub