Group Areas Act

Promulgated in 1950. One of a series of acts passed by the Nationalist Party government (1948-1990?) to regulate racial interaction and relationships in South Africa, on the basis of the political philosophy of “separate development” or what came to be known as “Apartheid”. This particular act provided for separate areas for each race group (as defined by the Population Registration Act of 1950), in cities, towns and villages, and prohibited the occupation or ownership of property in those areas by members of another race group. This act was the source of some of the most objectionable facets of Apartheid, such as the forced removals, the development of dehumanized and temporary urban “townships”, the breaking up of families, etc ***. Its primary tools were the pass system which stipulated that every African had to carry a “pass” (also known as the hated “dompas”) which was both an identity document and used as a passport to indicate whether the person had permission to be in the particular (“European” or “ white”) area. It was amended ** times, in 19**, 19**. Repealed in June 1991. (See Boonzaier and Sharp1988, ***)

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