The Government’s Policy and Practice of Racial Discrimination and Oppression in the Union of South Africa

Spotlight on African, August 13, 1953


I. Apartheid Madness


Speaking in the South African Parliament on March 14, 1945, Dr. Malan’s predecessor Jan Smits remarked that everybody “except fools” was agreed on “our fixed policy to maintain white supremacy in South Africa.” He was answering a charge from Opposition Leader Malan that the Government was not using the proper measures to “keep the Natives in their place.” Nevertheless, Malan and the Nationalist Party won power in 1948 by outdoing the United party in posing as the white electorate’s only true savior against “the black menace.” They retained power by repeating their performance.


Although the system of racial discrimination and segregation in order to maintain domination by the white minority was firmly established by the white minority was firmly established in all spheres of South African life long before Malan came to power, it may be said that during the five years of his administration the South African way of life which Malan calls apartheid has been made immensely more rigid, circumscribed and cruel for the non-white population. The spate of Malan-sponsored legislation enacted since 1948 includes:


The Asiatic Laws (Amendment Act) Act repealing the limited Indian franchise;


The Mix-Marriages Act, making the marriage of whites and non-whites a criminal offense;


Amendment of the Immorality Act, making sexual relations between “Colored” and white persons, as well as between Africans and whites, a criminal offense;


The Population Registration Act, intended to establish the racial identity of every person over 16 years of age, so that there shall be no question of who is subject to the various “apartheid” measures;


The Group Areas Act, empowering the Government to delimit areas in which only members of a particular racial group or sub-group may reside or own property (this Actis being enforced despite repeated recommendations of non-implementation by the U.N. General Assembly in 1950, 1951, and 1952; at the present writing, 146,000 Indians in Durban face eviction from their homes, businesses and institutions, and 75,000 Africans face imminent removal from Western Areas of Johannesburg, with no alternative housing accommodations whatever afforded);


The Bantu Authorities Act, which seeks to establish puppet tribal councils and foster tribal division of the Africans (the present councils and foster tribal division of the Africans (the present limited representation of Africans – by white members – in the South African Parliament is to be abolished);


The Separate Representation of Voters’ Act, which would strike some 48,000 “Colored” voters in the Cape Province from the common list of voters and establish a system of separate representation for them such as the Africans now have (declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, but the Government continues to seek to have it upheld).


The subservient status of non-white labor, which is the foundation of South African’s economy, has been established in law through such measures as the Industrial Conciliation Act No. 36 of 1937, excluding African trade unions from authorized collective bargaining and strike procedures, the Masters and Servants Act, and the Riotous Assemblies Act.


The Malan Government’s policy of tightening still further the shackles of African labor is reflected in the statement of Dr. Theo Wassenger, a Nationalist Party, made leader in the House of the Assembly, September 1948: “Africans must be re-tribalized: Zulus must remain Zulus, Swazis must remain Swazis and Xosas Xosas – this is one of the ultimate objectives of apartheid. We cannot allow the development of a mass black proletariat which would be able to muster against the whites.” (Guardian, [Cape Town] 23 September 1948). It is reflected in the Government’s reply to a question from Senator W.G. Ballinger, June 1949, acknowledging that a Department circular of 28 March 1948, “reaffirms the policy outlined in its circular of the 31st of October, 1924 which enjoins Departments and Provincial Administrations wherever possible to substitute civilized [white] labor for uncivilised [African] labour. The former circular also modified this Departments circular No. 8 of 1948, which authorizes the employment of Natives as messengers, to the extent that Natives should only be employed as messengers where the services of European youth at not available.”


Under the Malan regime the great majority of Africans have been excluded from the benefits of the Unemployment Insurance Act, and Africans have been legally barred from skilled labor in the building trades by the terms of the Native Building Workers Act. The Native Laws Amendment Act was passed providing for the removal of an African from an urban area, even though he may have ben born and lived there permanently, if he is unemployed for 72 hours. Legislation now pending would abolish independent African trade unions altogether and establish Government-approved “company unions” in their place. Minister of Labor B.J. Schoeman reported NY Times correspondent Albion Ross from Pretoria, April 18, 1953, was prepared to secure Parliament’s approval of “something close to a system of concentration camps for the black proletariat.”


NEXT: Part II:Tyrannical Suppression of Opposition



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Spotlight on Africa, August 13, 1953