Reservation of Separate Amenities Act, 1953
Precursors
Hut tax
Franchise and Ballot Act (1892)
Natal Legislative Assembly Bill (1894)
General Pass Regulations Bill (1905)
Asiatic Registration Act (1906)
South Africa Act (1909)
Natives Land Act (1913)
Natives in Urban Areas Bill (1918)
Natives (Urban Areas) Act (1923)
Colour Bar Act (1923)
Immorality Act (1927)
Native Administration Act (1927)
Representation of Natives Act (1936)
Native Trust and Land Act (1936)
Asiatic Land Tenure Bill (1946)
After 1948
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)
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)
Industrial Conciliation Act (1956)
Natives (Prohibition of Interdicts) Act (1956)
Bantu Investment Corporation Act (1959)
Extension of University Education Act (1959)
Promotion of Bantu Self-government Act (1959)
Coloured Persons Communal Reserves Act (1961)
Preservation of Coloured Areas Act (1961)
Republic of South Africa Constitution Act (1961)
Urban Bantu Councils Act (1961)
General Law Amendment Act (1963)
Post-Verwoerd
Terrorism Act (1966)
Coloured Persons Representative Council Amendment Act † (1968)
Prohibition of Improper Interference Act (1968)
Bantu Homelands Citizenship Act (1970)
Bantu Homelands Constitution Act (1971)
Black Local Authorities Act (1982)
Republic of South Africa Constitution Act (1983)
† No new legislation introduced, rather
the existing legislation named was amended.
The Reservation of Separate Amenities Act, Act No 49 of 1953, formed part of the apartheid system of racial segregation in South Africa.
The Act legalized the racial segregation of public premises, vehicles and services. Only public roads and streets were excluded from the Act. Section 3b stated that the facilities for different races did not need to be equal, while Section 3a made it legal not only to supply segregated facilities, but also to completely exclude people, based on their race, from public premises, vehicles or services. In practice the best facilities were reserved for whites while those for other races were inferior.[citation needed]
Municipalities quickly made use of the Act to pass by-laws that reserved certain areas for whites only.
On 20 June 1990 the South African Parliament voted to repeal the Act,[1] and on 15 October 1990 it was finally repealed by the Discriminatory Legislation regarding Public Amenities Repeal Act.[2][3]
A notable exception to the segregation that was implemented following the Act was the Johannesburg Zoo and Zoo Lake. Due to requirements in the Deed of Gift, under which the land for the zoo and lake was acquired, segregation was not permitted and consequently the zoo and public park where the lake is located was open to all races from the time they were established.[4]
[edit] References
- ^ "Apartheid Law Repealed". New York Times. 1990-06-20. http://www.nytimes.com/1990/06/20/world/apartheid-law-repealed.html. Retrieved 2009-08-29.
- ^ "S. Africa Abolishes 1953 Law Segregating Public Amenities". Los Angeles Times. 1990-10-15. http://articles.latimes.com/1990-10-15/news/mn-2048_1_public-amenities. Retrieved 2009-08-29.
- ^ "South Africa - Dismantling Apartheid, 1990-94". http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-12105.html. Retrieved 2009-08-29.
- ^ Davie, Lucille (2002-11-04). "Zoo Lake: the park that defied apartheid". City of Johannesburg. http://joburgnews.co.za/nov_2002/nov4_zoolake.stm. Retrieved 2009-02-13.
[edit] External links
- Copy of the Reservation of Separate Amenities Act, Act No 49 of 1953 from the DISA library of the University of KwaZulu-Natal
