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Black Land Act No 27
Prohibited blacks from owning or renting land outside designated reserves. This is significant because it kept the best land for the white populous and left the worst for the black populous. -
Immortality Act No 5
Extra-marital intercourse between whites and blacks was prohibited. This is significant because it created a metaphorical wall between the races. It showed that they were not to interact in an intimate way. -
Representation of Blacks Act No 12
Removed black voters in the Cape from the common roll and placed them on a separate roll. This was significant because it took away the ability of the black population to make a significant difference politically. -
Black (Native) Laws Amendment Act No 46
Prohibited acquisition of land in urban areas by blacks from non-blacks except with the Governor-General’s consent. This is significant because it proved to kick the black population out of the cities to reserve them for the white people. -
Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act No 55
Prohibited marriages between whites and members of other racial groups. This was significant because it only stopped other races from marrying whites and not each other so it proved that the white government of South Africa firmly believed in white supremacy and did not believe they should interacting with the other races. -
Population Registration Act No 30
Required people to be identified and registered from birth as belonging to one of four distinct racial groups. This Act was more rigid than earlier race classification laws. This is significant because it created a method for defining different races in South Africa. This is important because it was a way for whites to remove those who had black parents or grandparents but were still considered white. It seems almost that they needed to be "purebred" whites. -
Group Areas Act No 41
Provided for areas to be declared for exclusive use of one particular racial group. It became compulsory for people to live in an area designated for their classification group. This was significant because it was the act that finally removed all the other races from the lands reserved for whites. -
Black (Native) Laws Amendment Act No 54
The 1945 Urban Areas Consolidation Act was amended to specify that all black persons, men and women, over the age of sixteen were to carry passes and that no black person was to be allowed to stay in the urban areas longer than seventy-two hours unless they had permission to do so. This was significant because now blacks were not only not allowed to live in the white areas, but now were not able to be there for more than 72 hours and needed a pass to do so. -
The Bantu Education Act is passed
A law is passed that creates a separate education system for blacks and whites. Blacks are trained to prepare them for a life as part of the working class since it is not expected that they will be allowed to do anything more than that. -
Separate Representation of Voters Amendment Act No 30
Amended the 1951 Separate Representation of Voters Act to remove coloureds from the common roll. The Senate was enlarged to obtain the required majority. This act was significant because it clearly had the goal of solidifying the political power of whites over the majority black population.