Natives Land Act, 1913

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Natives Land Act, 1913

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Precursors (before 1948)
Hut tax (1884)
Franchise and Ballot Act (1892)
Glen Grey Act (1894)
Natal Legislative Assembly Bill (1894)
Transvaal Asiatic Registration Act (1906)
South Africa Act (1909)
Mines and Works Act (1911 as amended)
Natives Land Act (1913)
Natives (Urban Areas) Act (1923)
Immorality Act (1927)
Native Administration Act (1927)
Representation of Natives Act (1936)
Native Trust and Land Act (1936)
Native (Urban Areas) Consolidation Act (1945)
Asiatic Land Tenure Act (1946)

From Malan to Verwoerd (1948–1966)
Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act (1949)
Immorality Amendment Act (1950)
Population Registration Act (1950)
Group Areas Act (1950)
Suppression of Communism Act (1950)
Native Building Workers Act (1951)
Separate Representation of Voters Act (1951)
Prevention of Illegal Squatting Act (1951)
Bantu Authorities Act (1951)
Native Laws Amendment Act (1952)
Pass Laws Act (1952)
Public Safety Act (1953)
Native Labour (Settlement of Disputes) Act (1953)
Bantu Education Act (1953)
Reservation of Separate Amenities Act (1953)
Natives Resettlement Act (1954)
Group Areas Development Act (1955)
Riotous Assemblies Act (1956)
Industrial Conciliation Act (1956)
Natives (Prohibition of Interdicts) Act (1956)
Immorality Act (1957)
Bantu Investment Corporation Act (1959)
Extension of University Education Act (1959)
Promotion of Bantu Self-government Act (1959)
Unlawful Organizations Act (1960)
Indemnity Act (1961)
Coloured Persons Communal Reserves Act (1961)
Republic of South Africa Constitution Act (1961)
Urban Bantu Councils Act (1961)
General Law Amendment Act (1963)

After Verwoerd (1966–1994)
Terrorism Act (1967)
Coloured Persons Representative Council
Amendment Act
(1968)
Prohibition of Political Interference Act (1968)
Bantu Homelands Citizenship Act (1970)
Bantu Homelands Constitution Act (1971)
Aliens Control Act (1973)
Indemnity Act (1977)
Black Local Authorities Act (1982)
Republic of South Africa Constitution Act (1983)

No new legislation introduced, rather
the existing legislation named was amended.

The Natives Land Act, 1913 (subsequently renamed Bantu Land Act, 1913 and Black Land Act, 1913; Act No. 27 of 1913) was an act of the Parliament of South Africa aimed at regulating the acquisition of land by "natives", i.e. black people. The Act formed an important part of the system of Apartheid and is of importance for both legal and historic reasons.

Contents

Overview of the Act

The Natives Land Act of 1913 [1] was the first major piece of segregation legislation passed by the Union Parliament, and remained a cornerstone of Apartheid until the 1990s when it was replaced by the current policy of land restitution. The act decreed that only certain areas of the country could be owned by natives. These areas totalled only 7% of the entire land mass of the Union.[2]

Impact of Act

The Act created a system of land tenure that deprived the majority of South Africa's inhabitants of the right to own land which had major socio-economic repercussions. Had the Supreme Court not rendered the Acts application void for a few years it also would have disenfranchised all "natives" in the Cape Colony. For forty years the apartheid laws were to be followed.

Political Irony

A fair amount of political irony surrounds the Act:

  • The minister at the time of its introduction, J.W. Sauer, was a Cape Liberal who opposed disenfranchisement of blacks. He did however advocate for "separate residential areas for Whites and Natives" in the Parliamentary debate on the bill.
  • John Tengo Jabavu, a prominent "educated African" welcomed the Act, whilst Merriman and Schriener opposed the Act on principle.[3]

A fair analysis therefore concludes that the Act in retrospect was a severe self-inflicted wound on South Africa and that it was the start of a long road of modern oppression, however that was not at the outset of the Act its intention, further that the full repercussions of the Act were not fully understood until it was too late, and the tide of White Supremacy had reached its full height.[citation needed]

See also

References

  1. ^ "19 June 1913 Native Land Act", This day in history, publish date unknown (accessed 20 December 2007).
  2. ^ Collins, Robert O. and James M. Burns: A History of Sub-Saharan Africa, page 346. Cambridge University Press, 2007
  3. ^ see C.F.J Muller (ed), 500 Years, History of South Africa as well as references therein

Bibliography

L.M. Thompson, A History of South Africa

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1912 (chronology)
National Party (South Africa)