The group areas act of 1950, which was in force until 1991, ensured whites lived closer to. Thousands of coloureds, blacks, and indians were removed from areas classified for white occupation. The acts assigned racial groups to different residential and business sections in urban areas in a system of urban apartheid. The group areas act designated areas of south africa for people to live, based on their racial classification in the population registration act. All these acts were designed to bring about the separation of races. Indians and coloreds were uprooted from homes at enormous cost to the families. The primary purpose of apartheid laws was to promote the superiority of whites and to establish and elevate the minority white regime. When the group areas act gaa was passed in 1950, it imposed control over interracial property transactions and property occupation throughout south africa horrell, 1978. The group areas act was an explicit territorial strategy to implement apartheid ideology and constituted a major exercise in sociospatial engineering. This law states that no individual who was classified as being colored in the population registration act can live in a mining district where public digging is.
The group areas act allowed for the infamous destruction of sophiatown, a suburb of johannesburg. At the time these areas where heavily populated by nonwhite. This act may be cited as the land group settlement areas act 1960. This act, along with its subsequent amendments, gave the government the power to divide urban areas into separate zones, segregated by race. Immortality act 1950 made interracial sex illegal population registration act 1950 had to be registered in 1 of the 4 official race groups group areas act 1950 implemented racial zoning in urban areas suppression of communism act 1950 anyone who opposed the government was considered a communist. This act established the distinct areas of south africa in which members of each race could live and work, typically setting aside the best urban, industrial, and agricultural areas for whites. This also includes a group work activity on race perspectives. The group areas act of 1950 set out a tone of racial segregation. The provisions of paragraph hof subsection 2 of sec tion ten of the group areas act, 1950, shall apply 1 in any urban area or rural township situated in the controlled area only in so far as they relate to. The group areas act gaa systematized segregation in the control of transfers of land and immovable property property which cannot be moved without being severely altered or destroyed, like a house as well as occupation rights throughout the union of south africa, with the exception of reserves. 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. All africans over 16 to carry passbooks which contained information on employment, poll tax, etc. That the act was in part intended to codify and strengthen the attack on some indian property rights in natal is not in. This act shall be called the klipfontein organic products short title.
Group areas act 1950 the population registration act of 1950. In durban, the implementation of the group areas act gaa of 1950 in. This is an excerpt from the group areas act, which was implemented by the south african government. On 11 february 1966 under the group areas act, the apartheid government announced the district 6, in the greater cape town area would be declared a whites only area, this in part was due to the fact that only white citizens where aloud to reside in developed residential areas.
Racial segregation, sanctioned by law, was widely practiced in south africa before 1948, but the national party, which gained office that year, extended the policy and gave it the name apartheid. Natives abolition of passes and coordination of documents act. The generally poor, but stable mixed community living below the railway line increasingly began to receive the attention of apartheid authorities and planners, who as early as 1953, identified the area as a black spot and expressed concerns about the. These names were coined to express happiness and safety for the victims. Act to provide for the control of the disposal and for the acquisition of immovable property in group areas and other areas defined under the group areas act, 1950, and for the proper development of such areas, and for the said purposes to establish a board and to define its functions, and to provide for matters incidental thereto. Group areas act no 41 according to this act, urban areas were to be divided into racially segregated zones where members of one specific race alone could live and work thompson 1990. Apartheid and socioreligious change in the cape town muslim community, south africa article pdf available may 2017 with 11,501 reads how we measure reads. It a copy of the original legal papers that documented the laws included in the act. African group areas act is one of apartheids pillars. The group areas act of 1950 established residential and business sections in urban areas for each race, and members of other races were barred from living, operating businesses, or owning land in them. The group areas act of 1950 set aside places in south africa called group areas where people had to live with others in their same race group. According to this act, urban areas were to be divided into racially segregated zones where members of one specific race alone could live and work thompson 1990. Group areas act lies in defining just what changes the act introduced.
The group areas act in south africa 1950 teaching resources. Group areas were created for the exclusive ownership and occupation of a. The first of these acts made provision for the establishment of locations, and under section 91 it could be proclaimed in the government gazette that. Group areas act, act no 41 of 1950 digital innovation south. Nationalist government made it a criminal offense for people of colour to own or. Schools and health and welfare services for blacks, indians, and coloureds remained segregated and inferior, and most nonwhites, especially blacks, were still desperately poor. The group areas act of 1950 divided the lands in which blacks and whites resided into distinct residential zones.
Pdf oral history interviews with elders of the cape town muslim community were conducted in order to record and explore the socioreligious. The most significant acts were the group areas act no 41 of 1950, which led to over three million people being relocated through forced removals. Oral history interviews with elders of the cape town muslim community were conducted in order to record and explore the socioreligious changes that occurred over the last century. This black and white photograph of school children protesting against the group areas act was taken in 1955 on behalf of the international defence and aid fund idaf. It was amended by parliament in 1952, 1955 twice, 1956 and 1957. The impact of apartheid aft human rights resources. The group areas act, freedom days sad, angry anteceden. Oct 16, 2009 lessons to be learnt from poison of apartheid reversal of legacy. Group areas act click here to read about the development of harfield village. Our research explored experiences related to culture, society. The group areas act has been called one of the four pillars of apartheid, along with the prohibition of mixed marriages act, the immorality amendment act, and the population registration act. The strvdom co mmission recommendations merely closes up loopholes in the group areas act. In february 1955, 2,000 policemen began removing sophiatown residents to meadowlands, soweto and established the suburb as an area for whites only, newly called triomf victory.
Group areas act was the title of three acts of the parliament of south africa enacted under the. Immortality act 1950 made interracial sex illegal population registration act 1950 had to be registered in 1 of the 4 official race groups group areas act 1950 implemented racial zoning in urban areas suppression of communism act 1950 anyone who opposed the government was considered a. Group areas were created for the exclusive ownership and occupation of a designated group christopher 1994. Group areas act of 1950 south african history online. The group areas act of 1950 established residential and business sections in urban areas for each race, and members of other races were barred from living. The entire population was to be segregated and allocated separate residential areas. The act was to provide for 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. It was amended almost annually and was reenacted in the consolidation acts of 1957 and 1966. As he understood it, the group areas act passed in 1950 by the recently elected.
Conceptually and analytically, this study was influenced by the statecentred approach to human geography which emphasises the concrete role of the state and its various apparatus and. More than twenty years after the repeal of the group areas. Cato manor similarly reflected, at the microlevel, the conflicts and tensions which were. It was passed in 1950 by the national party and repealed when the anc came to power in 1994. Government institutions, scholars, ngos and local communities have been looking for innovative ways to improve the housing conditions of all south africans. Later in 1957 it was repealed and reenacted in consolidated form as the group areas act, 1957, which was amended in 1961, 1962, and 1965. The reservation of separate amenities act, passed in south africa in 1953, legalized segregation based on race in public spaces, vehicles, and services.
As the country celebrated its freedom day on tuesday, there was another anniversary to be marked. The group areas act and community destruction in south africa. The group areas act and forced removals from lower claremont. The group areas act was one of the cornerstones of grand apartheid. In practice this act and two others 1954, 1955, which became known collectively. The group areas act was the beginning of true apartheid in south africa, established by the government in 1950 as a way to officially segregate the people and to steal the best lands for the. Review content areas that you have studied but are not fresh in your mind. If some content areas of the act are unfamiliar to you, consider taking coursework in those areas before you take the test.
The group areas act of 1950 established residential and business sections in urban areas for each race, and members of other races were barred from. Basically, the group areas act was designed to separate the races geographically in south africa. Urban areas act and the 1950 group areas act are more striking than the discontinuities. While some indian and col ouredbusiness people will be allowed to operate in the cen tral business districts, hund. May 31, 2002 the group areas act designated areas of south africa for people to live, based on their racial classification in the population registration act. Under the group areas act 1950 the cities and towns of south africa were divided into segregated residential and business areas. This intention was futile, as there were many urban areas where black and. The laws under which the local authorities acted were the natives urban areas consolidation act of 1945 as amended in 1952 and 1955 and the prohibition of illegal squatting act 52 of 1951. The south african government passes the group areas act south. In fact, this new bill retains the most repug nant provisions of the group areas act. This is a copy of the group areas act, act no 41 of 1950.
Saha south african history archive group areas act, act. Refresh your knowledge in the content areas that make up large portions of the tests. Group areas act was the title of three acts of the parliament of south africa enacted under the apartheid government of south africa. School children protesting against the group areas act. The group areas act and the land acts maintained residential segregation. The act was designed to restrict the black or colored race group to its own residential and trading area. A third aspect of the present article explores the multiplicity of changes introduced by the group areas act, which certainly suggests a complex genesis. This photograph was digitised by africa media online amo in 2009. A short presentation on the group areas act under apartheid south africa.
The group areas act was fashioned as the cornerstone of apartheid policy and aimed to eliminate mixed neighbourhoods in favour of racially. As a system, apartheid used longestablished race classifications to maintain the dominance of the colonial occupation of the country. This act, along with its subsequent amendments, gave the government the power to divide urban areas into. The gaa created the legal framework for varying levels of government to. Lessons to be learnt from poison of apartheid reversal of legacy. South african urban historical research has also provided a clearer understanding of such themes as housing policy, urban native administration and influx control, but has. More than twenty years after the repeal of the group areas act, south africa is facing a number of challenges with regards to housing, spatial planning and urban development. To control the purchase or occupation of land or dwellings in a specified area under the act. With this special issue, we aim to demonstrate that.
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