The Draconian 1913 Native Land Act is Passed
On 19 June 1913, the Natives Land Act (No. 27 of 1913) was passed to allocate only about 7% of arable land to Africans and leave the more fertile land for whites. This law incorporated territorial segregation into legislation for the first time since the Union of South Africa was declared in 1910. It created reserves for Blacks and prohibited the sale of territory in white areas to Black people and vice versa. According to debates in Parliament, the Act was passed in order to limit friction between White and Black, but Black people maintained that its aim was to meet demands from White farmers for more agricultural land and to force Blacks to work as their labourers.
An annexure designated the territory initially allocated to Blacks, with a provision that a commission was to investigate the matter further for a more realistic delimitation. In effect, over 80% went to White people, who made up less than 20% of the population. The Act further stipulated that Black people could live outside the reserves only if they could prove that they were in employment. According to Sol Plaatje, the First Secretary-General of the SANNC, “Awaking on Friday morning, June 20, 1913, the South African native found himself, not actually a slave, but a pariah in the land of his birth.”
Although the law was applicable to the whole of South Africa, in practice it applied only to the Transvaal and Natal. In the Free State, such legislation was
