The General Law Amendment Act No. 76 of 1962, also known as the Sabotage Act, was an Act of the

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 ...

n Parliament passed by 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 ...

government. It widened the definition of sabotage to include strikes, trade union activity, and writing slogans on walls. The maximum penalty for sabotage was hanging and the minimum five years' imprisonment. It reversed the normal burden of proof so that the accused were assumed to be guilty and had to prove their innocence. Publications opposing the government were liable to a fine of R20,000. The Act extended the powers of the Minister of Justice, a post held in 1962 by

B. J. Vorster Balthazar Johannes "B. J." Vorster (; 13 December 1915 – 10 September 1983), better known as John Vorster, was a South African politician who served as the prime minister of South Africa from 1966 to 1978 and the fourth state president of So ...

, to ban people and organisations. Anyone who had been charged under 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 South African Communist Party, Communist Party ...

could be banned from holding office in named institutions. Such people became known as "statutory Communists" - even if they had never actually been members of the

South African Communist Party The South African Communist Party (SACP) is a communist party in South Africa. It was founded on 12 February 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), and tactically dissolved itself in 1950 in the face of being declared illegal by t ...

. They could be put under

house arrest House arrest (also called home confinement, or nowadays electronic monitoring) is a legal measure where a person is required to remain at their residence under supervision, typically as an alternative to imprisonment. The person is confined b ...

without trial, made to report daily to the police and be prohibited from attending social gatherings.

References

{{reflist 1962 in South African law Apartheid laws in South Africa Law enforcement in South Africa Counterinsurgency Cold War in Africa