The Extension of University Education Act, Act 45 of 1959, formed part of the

apartheid 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 ...

system of racial segregation 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 ...

. This act made it a criminal offense for a non-white student to register at a formerly open university without the written permission of the Minister of Internal Affairs. New universities were then established for various non-white groups.

Background

Prior to the passing of the ''University Education Act'', in 1958, students classified as Black, Asian, or Coloured accounted for only 17% of the students in white universities. From 1959 there were few options for non-whites. The

University of Fort Hare The University of Fort Hare () is a public university in Alice, Eastern Cape, Alice, Eastern Cape, South Africa. It was a key institution of higher education for Africans from 1916 to 1959 when it offered a Western-style academic education to ...

was open to

Xhosa Xhosa may refer to: * Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa * Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people See als ...

speakers, the

University of Natal The University of Natal was a university in the former South African province Natal which later became KwaZulu-Natal. The University of Natal no longer exists as a distinct legal entity, as it was incorporated into the University of KwaZulu- ...

's medical school was given an exemption to admit only non-whites and

University of South Africa The University of South Africa (UNISA) is the largest university system in South Africa by enrollment. It attracts a third of all higher education students in South Africa. Through various colleges and affiliates, UNISA has over 400,000 student ...

(UNISA), a correspondence university, was open to all races. The emphasis now was also to separate the non-whites, classifying them to universities based on certain ethnic groups. New universities were opened. The

University of the Western Cape The University of the Western Cape (UWC; ) is a Public university, public research university in Bellville, South Africa, Bellville, near Cape Town, South Africa. The university was established in 1959 by the Politics of South Africa, South ...

(1959) was established in Bellville for coloureds, the

University of Zululand The University of Zululand or UNIZULU is a comprehensive tertiary educational institution north of the uThukela River in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The university has established partnerships with schools in the United States and Europe suc ...

(1960) at Ngoye was created in Zululand for Zulus. The University College for Indians (1972) was established at Durban in

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 organised int ...

after the establishment of University College for Indians in 1961, the

University of the North The University of Limpopo () is a public university in the Limpopo Province, South Africa. It was formed on 1 January 2005, by merger of the University of the North and the Medical University of South Africa (MEDUNSA). These previous institutio ...

(1959) at Turfloop in the

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name ''Transvaal''. * South African Republic (1856–1902; ...

for the Sotho-Tswanans, while Fort Hare, the former Lovedale Mission College, became "Lovedale College" and restricted to

s. By 1974, the legislation had achieved what it had intended and only 2% of students registered in the country were attending a university that was not of their own ethnicity. Apartheid also extended to staffing, with white academics employed only at white universities but staffing mixed at non-white universities. Because of the ''

Bantustan A Bantustan (also known as a Bantu peoples, Bantu homeland, a Black people, black homeland, a Khoisan, black state or simply known as a homeland; ) was a territory that the National Party (South Africa), National Party administration of the ...

'' policy of Apartheid, the newly established Black homelands needed their own universities but usually affiliated to an existing Black university inside South Africa. The

University of Transkei The University of Transkei was a university in Umtata in the former bantustan of Transkei in South Africa. It was founded in 1976 as a branch of the University of Fort Hare and after the Transkei gained nominal independence in 1977, it became th ...

opened in 1976,

University of Venda The University of Venda (Univen; , ) is a South African comprehensive rural-based institution, located in Thohoyandou in Limpopo province. It was established in 1981 under the then Republic of Venda government. History The university was es ...

(1982) and the University of Bophuthatswana (1978). In the urban areas of South Africa proper, further Black higher educational institutions were opened to cater for the increasing population such as the Medical University of South Africa outside Pretoria in 1976 and the

Vista University Vista University, South Africa was founded by the apartheid government to ensure that urban black South Africans seeking tertiary education would be accommodated within the townships rather than on campuses reserved for other population groups. ...

in Soweto in 1983. In 1979, the laws governing ethnicity at Black universities was abolished and students could attend any Black university. In 1985, universities were allowed to enrol any race at their educational facilities.

Repeal

The act was repealed by the Tertiary Education Act, 1988.

References

Apartheid laws in South Africa 1959 in South African law {{statute-stub