The Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act, Act No. 55 of 1949, was an

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

law in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

that prohibited marriages between "whites" and "non-whites". It was among the first pieces of apartheid legislation to be passed following the National Party's rise to power in 1948. Subsequent legislation, especially the Population Registration and Immorality Acts of 1950, facilitated its implementation by requiring all individuals living in South Africa to register as a member of one of four officially defined racial groups and prohibiting extramarital sexual relationships between those classified as "white" on the one hand and those classified as "non-White" (Blacks, Coloureds, later also Asians) on the other. It did not criminalize sexual relationships between those classified as "non-europeans.

History

Background

Mixed races relationships occurred in South Africa as far back as 1669, and often took place between Dutch colonizers and indigenous South African women. While mixed marriages did not become completely taboo until the rise of the National Party in 1948, in the years immediately preceding the passing of this Act, mixed marriages accounted for just a small fraction of all marriages in South Africa, and occurred almost evenly between the four defined racial groups (

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...

, Coloured,

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

, and Asiatic).

Implementation

It was implemented in 1951, Enforcement of the act was left to the police, who often followed people to their homes to ensure they were not in violation and raided the homes of those believed to be in a mixed marriage. The act applied to all mixed marriages between South Africans, so even marriages which took place in another country were not recognized within South Africa. The punishment for people found to be in a mixed marriage involved arrest and a jail sentence. Anyone who knowingly officiated a marriage that violated the act was also subject to a punishment: a fine was imposed not exceeding 50 pounds. Anyone who was found to have lied to an officiant was also subject to the legal punishment for perjury. Some of the social consequences of entering into a mixed-race marriage included being ostracized from or ridiculed by one's family and community. One example is a white South African sex worker named Ethal, who indicated that she felt more accepted by her peers when she was a sex worker than when she married a black African man.

Legislative history

The Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Amendment Act of 1968 updated the original legislation to invalidate interracial marriages involving a South African citizen that were contracted in other countries. The Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act was repealed by the

Immorality and Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Amendment Act, 1985 The Immorality and Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Amendment Act, 1985 (Act No. 72 of 1985) is an act of the Parliament of South Africa that repealed the laws prohibiting marriage and sexual intercourse between white people and people of other rac ...

, which was passed during the presidency of

P. W. Botha Pieter Willem Botha, (; 12 January 1916 – 31 October 2006), commonly known as P. W. and af, Die Groot Krokodil (The Big Crocodile), was a South African politician. He served as the last prime minister of South Africa from 1978 to 1984 and ...

Immorality amendment Act ,1950

* Anti-miscegenation laws * Apartheid legislation in South Africa *

Interracial marriage Interracial marriage is a marriage involving spouses who belong to different races or racialized ethnicities. In the past, such marriages were outlawed in the United States, Nazi Germany and apartheid-era South Africa as miscegenation. In 1 ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Prohibition Of Mixed Marriages Act 1949 in South African law Apartheid laws in South Africa Marriage reform Marriage, unions and partnerships in South Africa Marriage law Interracial marriage