The non-justiceable constitution : the dilemma of the disfranchised Black South African, 1910-1980
The constitutional history and the constitutional status quo in the Republic of South Africa have been written on, commented upon many times- But no Black man has ever committed to writing the legal impact of South Africa's laws from a Black perspective. This paper does not seek to deal exhaustively with all the racial legislation of the Republic of South Africa. Such a task would require the writing of a 500 page work to be entitled, "The Theory and Practice of Racial Discrimination in S.A.". It is also clearly out¬side the scope of this paper. What the writer has sought to do in this paper is to highlight those historical, legal, political and social forces that have shaped and spawned "Apartheid" in South Africa and to show how the Blacks have reacted to the enforcement of apartheid laws. The writer has elected to discuss just a few pieces of legislation which, it seems to the writer, best re¬flect the interaction of the forces referred to above. The legislation referred to directly affects constitu¬tional issues and it is for that reason that it is re¬ferred to. The choice of laws to be referred to has been somewhat arbitrary and coloured by the writer's perceptions but it is the firm view of the writer that the treatment of the subject has been fair in the cir¬cumstances . A brief explanatory note is called for at this stage. » 1. The terms "Black" or Bantu" or "Native" as they appear in the text refer to the people of African descent in South Africa. Although since the rise of the Black Power Movement in the Republic, the term "Black" has come to include "Coloured" or mixed race people and Indians, this is not the meaning attached to it in this treatise. The reason is obvious. The Indians and Coloureds have been treated differently and have reacted differently to racial discrimination in S.A. and it would require a paper about two or three times as long as this paper to examine their position legally. The motivation has not been to discriminate against other people of colour, but the choice has been dictated by academic requirements. 2. Many Acts of Parliament have been cited with their original titles such as "The Natives Lands Act 1913", the "Native Administration- Act, No. 38, of 1927". How- ever, the titles of many of these laws have been changed, e.g., the Native Administration Act 38 of 1927 is now called nThe Black Administration Act, No. 38 of 1927." The "Suppression of Communism Act, No. 44 of 1950" is now called "The Internal Security Act No. ,44 of 1950." The writer has decided to retain the original titles for in his view they reflect very fully the attitudes prevailing at the time of the passing of the statute and the new titles more often than not are misleading euphemisms 3. The Suppression of Communism Act, No. 44 of 1950 " which has been re—named the-Internal-Security Act, No. 44 of 1950 has not been specifically analysed in the paper. The reason for this is that it did not specifically dis¬criminate on the basis of colour but on the basis of political belief and affiliation. However, many of its provisions were later incorporated by reference to other statutes which were obviously racial, e.g.:, the "Unlawful Organisations Act of 1960". A reading knowledge of this Act will be advantageous in any attempt to assess the last-chapter of this paper.
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