The Bantu Authorities Act, 1951 (Act No. 68 of 1951; subsequently renamed the Black Authorities Act, 1951) was to give authority to Traditional Tribal Leader within their traditional tribal homelands in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
. It also gave the government extensive powers to proclaim these chiefs and councillors, despite the backlash it may receive. This legislation, succeeding the Native Affairs Act (Act No. 23 of 1920), created the legal basis for Self Determination of the various ethnic and linguistic tribes into traditional
homeland reserve areas and established tribal, regional and territorial authorities. This Act was augmented by the
Bantu Homelands Citizens Act of 1970.
The law established a basis for ethnic government in African homeland reserve areas. All political rights (including
voting
Voting is the process of choosing officials or policies by casting a ballot, a document used by people to formally express their preferences. Republics and representative democracies are governments where the population chooses representative ...
) held by Africans were restricted to the designated homeland. It was opposed by Africans who rejected government-sponsored '
retribalization'.
Many years after the end of apartheid, and with a new framework for traditional leadership present in South African governance, the act became obsolete. It was formally repealed in 2010, 59 years after it was enacted.
See also
*
Apartheid in South Africa
Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...
References
Apartheid laws in South Africa
1951 in South African law
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