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Native (Black) Urban Areas Act No 21
South Africa was divided into two different areas. Urban areas were for the white South Africans as they were the “prescribed” areas of the country. Rural areas were for the non-white as they could not 'handle' living in prescribed areas and should therefore be confined to “non-prescribed” areas. The movement between these different areas was very limited and strictly enforced. Native advisory boards reduced the undesirables in the urban areas, unemployed and large influx populations. -
Development Trust and Land Act No 18
‘Homelands/Reserves’ for the non-white South Africans totaled 13, where 75% of the population occupied 6% of the land, most of which was barely habitable. ‘Black spots’ were eliminated by the Department of Bantu Administration and Development so that white areas were solely composed of white people. This Act allowed the government to create black only settlements in each of the provinces of South Africa. -
Black (Native) Laws Amendment Act No 46
Total segregation was furthered by this Act as blacks were not allowed to buy or live on land in white, urban areas. Non-white people were isolated to the ‘reserves’ that were set up by the government and were attempted to be kept out of city settings at all costs as they were not thought to be able to handle living in cities among whites. -
Native (Urban Areas) Consolidation Act No 25
Another attempt at completely removing non-whites from urban areas. The government was allowed to decide who the ‘undesirables’ were in the urban areas; unemployed, homeless, criminals, etc. These people were allowed to be removed from the urban areas in an attempt to reduce the influx of people. -
Group Areas Act No 41
This act further segregated South Africa as it accentuated the divide between all white areas and all black areas by not allowing any intermingling. White South Africans were allowed to live in the nice cities that had plenty of jobs, nice housing, and good transportation. Non-white South Africans however, were not allowed to live in the white cities and were only allowed to live in designated reserves that had few economic opportunities, were overcrowded, dirty, and extremely isolated. -
Black Building Workers Act No 27
The reserves that the non-white South Africans were forced to live on were overcrowded and had very few job opportunities. So, many would travel to white, urban areas to seek work. This Act, however, outlawed blacks from being hired for skilled labor in white cities. This increased the poverty rate in the black reserves as the men were forced to find work on farms and in mines while being severely underpaid and poorly treated. -
Black (Native) Laws Amendment Act No 54
This act furthered the institution of pass laws. Under this, black persons of both genders over the age of sixteen were required to carry pass books and could be detained if they did not have them in possession. They had to have documentation to enter urban areas and were not allowed to stay longer than 72 hours. It allowed blacks to be arrested without warrant and sent to their homelands if they were unemployed or ‘undesirable,’ as they were considered ‘agitators’ of the white, urban community. -
Reservation of Separate Amenities Act No 49
This act furthered the segregation of whites and non-whites in South Africa by completely segregating life, including public facilities, transportation, and leisure areas. -
Black Labour Relations Regulation Act (Black Labour and Settlement of Disputes Act) No 48
Non-whites were confined to ‘reserves’ in which there were very few opportunities for work. The jobs they could get were generally underpaid and dangerous. However, under this Act, the men working these dangerous jobs could not join or form a union as they were not legally defined as ‘employees.’ Also, they could not go on strike or go on lock-outs and they would be arrested and punished if they did. -
Group Areas Act No 77
Amended the original act from 1950. Saw black South Africans forcibly removed from land that was to be ‘white-only.’ The people removed from these areas were sent to their designated homelands. An example of this was Sophiatown, where blacks were forcibly removed and several areas were bulldozed in order to make a white settlement in the area.
