Group Areas Act was the title of three
acts of the
Parliament of South Africa
The Parliament of the Republic of South Africa is South Africa's legislature. It is located in Cape Town; the country's legislative capital city, capital.
Under the present Constitution of South Africa, the bicameralism, bicameral Parliamen ...
enacted under the
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 ...
government of South Africa
The Government of South Africa, or South African Government, is the national government of the Republic of South Africa, a parliamentary republic with a three-tier system of government and an independent judiciary, operating in a parliamentary ...
. The acts assigned
racial groups to different residential and business sections in urban areas in a system of
urban apartheid. An effect of the law was to exclude people of colour from living in the most developed areas, which were restricted to Whites (e.g.
Sea Point,
Claremont). It required many people of colour to commute large distances from their homes to be able to work. The law led to people of colour being forcibly removed for living in the "wrong" areas. People of colour, who were the majority at the time, were given much smaller areas (e.g.,
Tongaat,
Grassy Park) to live in than the white minority.
Pass Laws
In South Africa under apartheid, and South West Africa (now Namibia), pass laws served as an internal passport system designed to racially segregate the population, restrict movement of individuals, and allocate low-wage migrant labor. Also ...
required people of colour to carry pass books and later "reference books", similar to passports, to enter the "white" parts of the country.
The first Group Areas Act, the ''Group Areas Act, 1950'' was promulgated on 7 July 1950, and it was implemented over a period of several years. It was amended by Parliament in 1952, 1955 (twice), 1956 and 1957. Later in 1957, it was repealed and re-enacted in consolidated form as the ''Group Areas Act, 1957'', which was amended in 1961, 1962, and 1965. In 1966, that version was, in turn, repealed and re-enacted as the ''Group Areas Act, 1966'', which was amended in 1969, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1982, and 1984. It was repealed, along with many other discriminatory laws, on 30 June 1991 by the
Abolition of Racially Based Land Measures Act, 1991.
Background
After the
1948 general election,
D.F. Malan's administration commenced its policy of
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 ...
that sought to segregate the races in South Africa. The government hoped to achieve this through "separate development" of the races and this entailed passing laws that would ensure a distinction on social, economic, political and, in the case of the Group Areas Act, geographical lines. The Group Areas Act may be regarded as an extension of the
Asiatic Land Tenure Act, 1946
Asiatic refers to something related to Asia.
Asiatic may also refer to:
* Asiatic style, a term in ancient stylistic criticism associated with Greek writers of Asia Minor
* In the context of Ancient Egypt, beyond the borders of Egypt and the cont ...
.
Provisions
The Act empowered the Governor-General to declare certain geographical areas to be for the exclusive occupation of specific racial groups. In particular the statute identified four such racial groups: whites,
coloureds, indians, and natives. This authority was exercised on the advice of the Minister of the Interior and the Group Areas Board.
Once an area had been designated for sole occupation by certain racial groups, the proclamation would not become legally effective for at least one year.
Once this time had expired, it became a criminal offence to remain in occupation of property in that area with the punishment potentially being a fine and two years' imprisonment.
The Act also applied to businesses with racial designation being applied on the basis of the individuals who held a controlling interest in the company.
Impact
The Act became an effective tool in the separate development of races in South Africa. It also granted the Minister of the Interior a mandate to forcibly remove non-whites from valuable pieces of land so that they could become white settlements.
One of the most famous uses of the Group Areas Act was the destruction of
Sophiatown, a suburb of
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...
. On 9 February 1955, 2,000 policemen began removing residents to Meadowlands,
Soweto
Soweto () is a Township (South Africa), township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western T ...
and erected a new white-only area called ''Triomf'' (Victory).
[http://www.southafrica.info/about/history/sophiatown140206.htm#.Vbzqm_lViko Sophiatown again, 50 years on]
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 ...
said of the Act in his book, ''
Long Walk to Freedom'':
See also
*
Apartheid laws
References
External links
List of apartheid-era legislation
Original copy of statuteCape Town's District Six Museum which examines forced removals
{{Apartheid legislation navbox
Apartheid laws in South Africa
1950 in South African law
1957 in South African law
1966 in South African law