Apartheid Legislation
Apartheid legislation began in 1949 with the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act No 55 of 1949, which prohibited the marriage between whites and other races.
In 1950 South Africa began passing laws that further reduced the civil liberties of all non-white South Africans
These laws all served to legally segregate the black and Indian peoples from the white upper class by forcing indigenous people to register as one of four "categories" (white, colored, Bantu, or other), prohibiting adultery, attempted adultery or extramarital sex between races, to banning certain individuals from being members of certain organizations or attending gatherings or public places for a given period of time.
Blacks were not allowed to own property, and in some cases were forcibly removed from land they had owned before Apartheid legislation took effect. Education was relegated to each black "homeland" with funding being a paltry sum compared to the schools for white children.
Blacks were required to carry passbooks which listed their category (legislated by the Population Registration act of 1950). On March 21, 1960 10,000 plus people in the township of Sharpeville offered themselves up to the police for arrest for not carrying their passbooks. The police and armed forces fired on the crowd, resulting in 69 fatalities and over 180 injuries.
In 1950 South Africa began passing laws that further reduced the civil liberties of all non-white South Africans
- The Population Registration Act of 1950
- The Group Areas Act of 1950
- The Immorality Act of 1950
- The Reservation of Separate Amenities Act (1953)
- The Bantu Education Act (1953)
- Bantu Act No 15 of 1954u Authorities Act of 1951
- Riotous Assemblies and Suppression of Communism Amendment Act of 1954
These laws all served to legally segregate the black and Indian peoples from the white upper class by forcing indigenous people to register as one of four "categories" (white, colored, Bantu, or other), prohibiting adultery, attempted adultery or extramarital sex between races, to banning certain individuals from being members of certain organizations or attending gatherings or public places for a given period of time.
Blacks were not allowed to own property, and in some cases were forcibly removed from land they had owned before Apartheid legislation took effect. Education was relegated to each black "homeland" with funding being a paltry sum compared to the schools for white children.
Blacks were required to carry passbooks which listed their category (legislated by the Population Registration act of 1950). On March 21, 1960 10,000 plus people in the township of Sharpeville offered themselves up to the police for arrest for not carrying their passbooks. The police and armed forces fired on the crowd, resulting in 69 fatalities and over 180 injuries.