Pre-Apartheid Legislation
Various segregation laws were passes before the Nationalist Party took complete power in 1948. Probably the most significant were The Natives Land Act No 27 of 1913 and The Natives (Urban Areas) Act No 21 of 1923. The former made it illegal for blacks to purchase or lease land from whites except in reserves; this restricted black occupancy to less than eight per cent of South Africa's land. The latter laid the foundations for residential segregation in urban areas.
Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act No 55 of 1949
The Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act No 55 of 1949 prohibited marriages between white people and people of other races. Between 1946 and the enactment of this law, only 75 mixed marriages had been recorded, compared with some 28,000 white marriages.
Immorality Amendment Act No 21 of 1950 (amended in Act 23 of 1957)
The Immorality Amendment Act No 21 of 1950 prohibited adultery, attempted adultery or related immoral acts (extra-marital sex) between white and black people. The act was amended in 1957.
Population Registration Act No 30 of 1950
The Population Registration Act No 30 of 1950 led to the creation of a national register in which every person's race was recorded. A Race Classification Board took the final decision on what a person's race was in disputed cases.
Group Areas Act No 41 of 1950
The Group Areas Act No 41 of 1950 forced physical separation between races by creating different residential areas for different races. Led to forced removals of people living in "wrong" areas, for example Coloureds living in District Six in Cape Town.
Suppression of Communism Act No 44 of 1950
The Suppression of Communism Act No 44 of 1950 outlawed communism and the Community Party in South Africa. Communism was defined so broadly that it covered any call for radical change. Communists could be banned from participating in a political organization and restricted to a particular area.
Bantu Building Workers Act No 27 of 1951
The Bantu Building Workers Act No 27 of 1951 allowed black people to be trained as artisans in the building trade, something previously reserved for whites only, but they had to work within an area designated for blacks. Made it a criminal offense for a black person to perform any skilled work in urban areas except in those sections designated for black occupation.
Separate Representation of Voters Act No 46 of 1951
The Separate Representation of Voters Act No 46 of 1951 (together with the 1956 amendment) led to the removal of Coloureds from the common voters' roll.
Prevention of Illegal Squatting Act No 52 of 1951
The Prevention of Illegal Squatting Act No 52 of 1951 gave the Minister of Native Affairs the power to remove blacks from public or privately owned land and to establishment resettlement camps to house these displaced people.
Bantu Authorities Act No 68 of 1951
The Bantu Authorities Act No 68 of 1951 provided for the establishment of black homelands and regional authorities and, with the aim of creating greater self-government in the homelands, abolished the Native Representative Council.
