Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act
The Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act ( Act No. 55/1949 ) ( Afrikaans : Wet op Verbod van Gemengde Huwelike , German about intermarriage Prohibition Act ) was a South African law and an instrument of racial segregation . It was the first law of its kind and initiated the policy of institutional apartheid .
The law was passed in 1949 and prohibited marriage between a " white person" and anyone of any other color . It stood alongside the Immorality Act of 1927, which was amended in 1957. In addition, the Population Registration Act of 1950 continued to have an effect .
In 1968, the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act was amended and repealed in 1985. Since then, marriages and marriage-like connections between people of different demographic groups have been legal again. According to surveys by the Central Statistical Service , 1,393 marriages of this type were concluded in South Africa in 1987. That was 2.1 percent of all marriages in the country.
Individual evidence
- ^ Cyril Sofer: Some Aspects of Inter-Racial Marriages in South Africa, 1925-46. Vol. 19 Issue 3. In: Africa: Journal of the International African Institute. 1949, pp. 187-203 , accessed September 4, 2019 (English).
- ^ Nelson Mandela Center of Memory: Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act No. 55 . Brief description on www.nelsonmandela.org (English)
- ^ South African History Online : The Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act commences . on www.sahistory.org.za (English)
- ^ A b SAIRR : Race Relations Survey 1988/89 . Johannesburg 1989, p. 152