Suppression of Communism Act, 1950

Apartheid legislation in South Africa 

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.

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The Suppression of Communism Act, No. 44 of 1950 was legislation of the national government in South Africa, passed on June 26 of that year (and coming into effect on July 17),^[1] which formally banned the Communist Party of South Africa and proscribed the ideology of communism, defined by the government as any scheme that aimed "at bringing about any political, industrial, social, or economic change within the Union by the promotion of disturbance or disorder" or that encouraged "feelings of hostility between the European and the non-European races of the Union the consequences of which are calculated to further..." disorder.^[2] It allowed the government to label any person of the Minister of Justice's choice as a "Communist".^[3]

The definition of communism in the wording of the act was so broad that anyone seeking to change a law could be considered a communist, especially if it was a law enforcing racial segregation and apartheid. Communism was so broadly defined in the act that even judge Franz Rumpff stated during the trial of African National Congress (ANC) president James Moroka that "[the charge] has nothing to do with Communism as it is commonly known", and defendants were commonly convicted of "statutory communism.^[4] Most of the Act was repealed in 1982 by the Internal Security Act No 74^[5] and in 1991, with the last provisions of it repealed in 1993.

The Suppression of Communism Act was in large part due to the involvement of communists in the anti-apartheid movement. The act facilitated the government take down of organizations such as the ANC and Pan Africanist Congress of Azania that advocated for black rights.^[6] The Suppression of Communism Act forced these groups to go underground with their activism. Ironically, because of this act, groups such as Umkhonto we Sizwe, led by Nelson Mendela as a branch of the ANC, did seek support from the Communist party for financial aid.

Footnotes

1. ^ General South African History Timelines South African History Online
2. ^ Separate and Unequal South Africa: A Country Study, Library of Congress.
3. ^ "Justice Takes Its Course". Time. July 28, 1952. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,816614,00.html. Retrieved 24 December 2008. 
4. ^ "Death the Leveler". Time. December 15, 1952. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,820489-2,00.html. Retrieved 24 December 2008. 
5. ^ Riotous Assemblies and Suppression of Communism Amendment Act No 15 of 1954 About.Com: African History
6. ^ Byrnes, Rita M. (1996). "Legislative Implementation of Apartheid". South Africa: A Country Study. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress. http://countrystudies.us/south-africa/25.htm. 

External links

• Statement Condemning the First Banning Orders Under the Suppression of Communism Act, May 22, 1952
• South African Communist Party chronology

Further reading

• Benson, Mary. Nelson Mandela: The Man and the Movement, 2nd Edition. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0393312812
• Byrnes, Rita M. (ed.). South Africa a Country Study (Area Handbook Series). Claitor's Law Books and Publishing Division. ISBN 978-1579803551