Group Areas Act

Group Areas Act was the title of three acts of the Parliament of South Africa enacted under the apartheid government of South Africa. 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 color from living in the most developed areas, which were restricted to Whites (Sea Point, Claremont). It required many people of color to commute large distances from their homes to be able to work. The law led to people of color 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 who owned most of the country. Pass Laws required people of color to carry pass books and later "reference books",[1] similar to passports, to enter the "white" parts of the country.

Group Areas Act
Parliament of South Africa 
  • Act to providefor the establishment of group areas, for the control of the acquisition of immovable property and the occupation of land and premises, and for matters incidental thereto.
CitationAct No. 41 of 1950
Enacted byParliament of South Africa 
Commenced30 March 1951 (Cape, Transvaal, Natal)
31 October 1952 (O.F.S.)
Repealed1 November 1957
Administered byMinister of the Interior
Legislative history
Passed7 July 1969
Repealed by
Group Areas Act, 1957
Status: Repealed
Group Areas Act, 1957
Parliament of South Africa 
  • Act to consolidate the law relating to the establishment of group areas, the control of the acquisition of immovable property and the occupation of land and premises and matters incidental thereto.
CitationAct No. 77 of 1957
Enacted byParliament of South Africa 
Royal assent24 June 1957
Commenced1 November 1957
Repealed26 October 1966
Administered byMinister of the Interior
Repeals
Group Areas Act, 1950
Repealed by
Group Areas Act, 1966
Status: Repealed
Group Areas Act, 1966
Parliament of South Africa 
  • Act to consolidate the law relating to the establishment of group areas, the control of the acquisition of immovable property and the occupation of land and premises, and matters incidental thereto.
CitationAct No. 36 of 1966
Enacted byParliament of South Africa 
Assented to5 October 1966
Commenced26 October 1966
Repealed30 June 1991
Administered byMinister of Planning
Repeals
Group Areas Act, 1957
Repealed by
Abolition of Racially Based Land Measures Act, 1991
Status: Repealed

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 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.[2] The Group Areas Act may be regarded as an extension of the Asiatic Land Tenure Act, 1946.[3] Nelson Mandela stated in his book, Long Walk to Freedom that "the Groups Areas Act was the foundation of residential apartheid. Under its regulations, each racial group could own land, occupy premises, and trade only in its own separate area. Indians could henceforth only live in Indian areas, Africans in African, Coloureds in Coloured. If whites wanted the land or houses of the other groups, they could simply declare that land a white area and take them".[4]

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 three such racial groups: whites, coloureds, and natives. This authority was exercised on the advice of the Minister of the Interior and the Group Areas Board.[5]

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.[5] 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.[6]

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.[5]

Impact
Mass Meeting at Durban on May 28, 1950 to protest against the Group Areas Bill and Suppression of Communism Bill. Over 20,000 people joined in. The meeting was held under joint auspices of the African National Congress, Natal Indian Congress, and the Coloured People Organisation.

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.[5]

One of the most famous uses of the Group Areas Act was the destruction of Sophiatown, a suburb of Johannesburg.[7] On 9 February 1955, 2,000 policemen began removing residents to Meadowlands, Soweto and erected a new white-only area called Triomf (Victory).[8]

See also

References
  1. Women's Anti-Pass Law Campaigns in South Africa http://africanhistory.about.com/od/apartheid/a/WomensAntiPass.htm
  2. http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/history-separate-development-south-africa The History of Separate Development in South Africa
  3. Davenport, T.R.H. (1978). South Africa: A Modern History. CUP. p. 259-9.
  4. Mandela, Nelson (2004). The Long Walk to Freedom. Little Brown Book.
  5. Loveland, Ian (1999). By Due Process of Law: Racial Discrimination & the Right to Vote in South Africa 1855-1960. Hart. p. 242-3. ISBN 9781841130491.
  6. s. 34, Group Areas Act 1950
  7. "Urban Removals - the Destruction of Sophiatown | South African History Online".
  8. http://www.southafrica.info/about/history/sophiatown140206.htm#.Vbzqm_lViko Archived 2008-12-07 at the Wayback Machine Sophiatown again, 50 years on
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