Apartheid Laws Timeline

  • Period: to

    Apartheid Period

  • Black Land Act #27

    Black Land Act #27
    The act declared that whites and blacks couldn't by land from one another, and it was a major piece of segregation because it prevent black people from being able to buy land anywhere outside of designated reserves with the worst land available. This ensured the economic and social dominance of whites.
  • Immorality Act #5

    Immorality Act #5
    This act prevented sexual intercourse between black and white people outside of marriage. This was significant because it contributed to separating blacks and whites entirely and preventing any offspring being made between the two races.
  • Aliens Act #1

    Aliens Act #1
    This act limited and highly regulated the entry of certain "aliens" into the United States and also restricted some foreigners' rights to have their own surname. It was aimed at cutting down Jewish migration into America and issued a board to screen every immigrant coming into the country. They designed their screening specifically to target Jewish people due to increased anti-Semitic repression in Nazi Germany.
  • Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act #55

    Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act #55
    This act prevented the marriage of white people and any other race, which was another step in the effort to prevent the "unpurifying" of black relations.
  • Population Registration Act #30

    Population Registration Act #30
    This act required every child born in the U.S. to be registered as belonging to one of four distinct racial groups. This helped create a larger division and more rigid classification of racial groups in South Africa.
  • Blacks (Abolition of Passes and Co-ordination of Documents) Act #67

    Blacks (Abolition of Passes and Co-ordination of Documents) Act #67
    This act abolished the right of black people to hold traditional passes; they were forced to carry around more comprehensive documents instead. As a result, blacks were checked by police on the regular and many more people were imprisoned.
  • Bantu Education Act

    Bantu Education Act
    This act brought African education under control of the government, specifically the Native Affairs Department, and extended apartheid segregation to black schools. It was one of apartheid's most offensively racist laws. It made it mandatory for schools to admit students from only one racial group.
  • Reservation of Separate Amenities Act #49

    Reservation of Separate Amenities Act #49
    This act allowed for the segregation of public amenities and facilities. Whites only signs began to be plastered everywhere, and the facilities for whites were far nicer and far more frequent.
  • Natives Resettlement Act

    Natives Resettlement Act
    This act allowed blacks to be removed from any area under the power of an established resettlement board. This was designed to clear out black people from different places and create certain white only cities.
  • Group Areas Development Act

    Group Areas Development Act
    This act forced black people to "relocate" into townships located outside of cities. White people believed that African Americans were all rural people and them living in cities would disturb the "social order". This was when the idea of black relocation to native reserves began.
  • Sexual Offenses Act #23

    Sexual Offenses Act #23
    This act made it a legal offense for a black and white person to engage in any sexual or "immoral" activity at all. The effort to separate black and white people had succeeded far more by making it a crime.
  • Unlawful Organisations Act #34

    Unlawful Organisations Act #34
    This act declared that organisations threatening public order or the safety of the public to be declared unlawful. This act was used as an excuse to ban all significant black organizations, so the ANC and the PAC were immediately declared unlawful.