Apartheid - SL English : Race & Segregation

Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act, No 55, 1949

The 1st major law to be passed by the Nationalist Party, the act made it illegal for white South Africans to marry people of other races.  

Immorality Act, 1950

Banned all extra-marital sexual relations between Whites and non-Whites.

The Population Registration Act, No 30, 1950

This law classified every South African according to their particular racial group.  This would determine where they were allowed to live and what work they could do.  This law had a terrible effect on people whose racial identity was not clear.

For example, families could suddenly find themselves divided.  Parents who were classified as African might be told that their children had been classified as colored.  Their children had to go and live in a so-called colored area, while the parents had to live in an area reserved for Africans.

In an attempt to maintain racial purity, officials used a variety of strange tests to determine whether a person was white, colored, African or Indian.

The Pass Laws Act, 1952

A form of internal passport system designed to segregate the population, manage urbanization, and allocate migrant labour. Also known as the Natives Law, pass laws severely limited the movements of not only black African citizens, but other people (of color) by requiring them to carry pass books when outside their homelands or designated areas.

The Reservation of Separate Amenities Act, No 49,1953

The Act legalized the racial segregation of public premises, vehicles and services. Only public roads and streets were excluded from the Act. Section 3b stated that the facilities for different races did not need to be equal, while Section 3a made it legal not only to supply segregated facilities, but also to completely exclude people, based on their race, from public premises, vehicles or services.