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 Communist Party of South Africa and proscribed any party or group subscribing to

communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

, according to a uniquely broad definition of the term. It was also used as the basis to place individuals under banning orders, and its practical effect was to isolate and silence voices of dissent.

Description

The Act, which came into effect on 17 July 1950, defined

as any scheme aimed at achieving change—whether economic, social, political, or industrial—"by the promotion of disturbance or disorder" or any act encouraging "feelings of hostility between the European and the non-European races ..calculated to further isorder. The

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

could deem any person to be a communist if he found that person's aims to be aligned with these aims, and could issue an order severely restricting the freedoms of anyone deemed to be a communist. After a nominal two-week appeal period, the person's status as a communist became an unreviewable matter of fact, and subjected the person to being barred from public participation, restricted in movement, or imprisoned. The government justified passage of the Act by noting the involvement of 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 ...

in the

internal resistance to apartheid Several independent sectors of South African society opposed apartheid through various means, including social movements, passive resistance, and guerrilla warfare. Mass action against the ruling National Party (South Africa), National Party (N ...

, the subversive tactics of communist parties more widely, as well as the perceived threat of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in the emerging Cold War and decolonisation. The opposition in the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible g ...

protested certain functions of the act, such as the possibility to ban individuals purposedly advocating communist goals, circumventing the normal

rule of law The essence of the rule of law is that all people and institutions within a Body politic, political body are subject to the same laws. This concept is sometimes stated simply as "no one is above the law" or "all are equal before the law". Acco ...

guarantees in the South African legal system. The government responded by watering down the act, explicitly outlining the right to due process before penalties (i.e. fines or imprisonment) were executed, requiring the

to submit requests to ban to a three-member committee, affording the right to redress by those issued a banning order, as well as exempting labour unions from the sanctions included in the act. These guarantees, however, were not followed reliably, and banning orders emerged as one of the most effective tools of the South African government throughout the apartheid era.

Effect

The Act was worded in such a way that anyone who opposed government policy could be deemed a communist. Since the Act explicitly declared that communism sought to encourage racial disharmony, it was frequently used to legally gag critics of

racial segregation Racial segregation is the separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Segregation can involve the spatial separation of the races, and mandatory use of different institutions, ...

and

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 ...

. The Act defined communism so sweepingly that defendants were frequently convicted of "statutory communism". Justice

Frans Rumpff Frans Lourens Herman Rumpff, (5 June 1912 – 4 April 1992) was the Chief Justice of South Africa from 1974 to 1982. Early life and education Born in Standerton, Transvaal, Rumpff was educated at the University of Pretoria, where he obtaine ...

, presiding in the 1952 trial of

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...

(ANC) leaders, observed that such an offence might have "nothing to do with communism as it is commonly known." The Act facilitated the government suppression of organisations such as the ANC and others which advocated for equal rights for blacks, coloureds and Indians. The Act forced these groups to go underground with their activism. Because of this Act, groups such as

uMkhonto we Sizwe uMkhonto weSizwe (; abbreviated MK; ) was the paramilitary wing of the African National Congress (ANC), founded by Nelson Mandela in the wake of the Sharpeville massacre. Its mission was to fight against the South African government to brin ...

, led by

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

as a branch of the ANC, did seek financial support from the Communist Party.

Superseded 1982

Most of the Act was replaced in 1982 by the

Internal Security Act, 1982 The Internal Security Act, 1982 (Act No. 74 of 1982) was an act of the Parliament of South Africa that consolidated and replaced various earlier pieces of security legislation, including the Suppression of Communism Act, 1950, parts of the Ri ...

References

External links

*
Suppression of Communism Act, 1950
(PDF)

* ttp://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/governence-projects/organisations/sacp/chronology.htm South African Communist Party timeline 1870–1996 {{Apartheid legislation navbox Apartheid laws in South Africa Anti-communism in South Africa 1950 in South African law Law enforcement in South Africa Political and cultural purges Counterinsurgency Cold War in Africa Democratic backsliding in South Africa South African Communist Party Censorship in South Africa

Description

Effect

Superseded 1982

References

Further reading

External links