Slums Act

The Slums Act ( Act No. 76/1979 ), roughly German as the Slum Law , was a South African legal provision during apartheid , by means of which a rigorous procedure against informal settlements was legalized in the legal system of that time.

The Slums Act empowered Börden to demolish structures in informal settlements without compensating their owners or residents. The reasons for this were when, in the opinion of the competent authorities, the premises were classified as unsafe, harmful to health or overcrowded; even if there was an inadequate water supply or inadequate toilets . A previous piece of legislation with a similar effect was the 1951 Prevention of Illegal Squatting Act ( Act No. 52/1951 ).

Individual evidence

1. ^ SAIRR : Survey of Race Relations in South Africa 1979 . Johannesburg 1980, p. 459
2. ^ SAIRR: Race Relations Survey 1987/88 . Johannesburg 1988, p. 459
3. ^ SAIRR: A Survey of Race Relations in South Africa 1950–1951 . Johannesburg (1951), pp. 13-14