jun 19, 1959 - The Promotion of Bantu Self-Government Act

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The Promotion of Bantu Self-Government Act, the most important law in the creation of the homelands system, was passed by Verwoerd's government in 1959.

This law divided the African population into 8 distinct ethnic groups, later expanded to 10 groups.

The members of each group were assigned a White commissioner-general, whose task it was to assist them in making the political transition to full self-government in their designated area.

The government could now argue that Black South Africans were no longer its political responsibility, and it accordingly abolished the already extremely limited indirect representation of Africans in the South African parliament.

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