33
/
AIzaSyB4mHJ5NPEv-XzF7P6NDYXjlkCWaeKw5bc
November 1, 2025
875438
72439
2
Public Timelines
FAQ Get premium

jul 7, 1950 - Population Registration Act 1950

Description:

-defined which race people belonged to (White, Coloured, Bantu (Black African) or other)
-identity documents to all citizens showing race
-seen as one of the "pillars" of Apartheid
-tests to determine race (could include skin colour, hair on head + body, language, employment, socioeconomic status)
-humiliating tests such as "pencil test": pencil pushed into hair, person classed as coloured if it didn't fall out
-wording wasn't precise; definitions not clear (e.g. people in same family classed as different "races"; could be evicted + split up)

Added to timeline:

Date:

jul 7, 1950
Now
~ 75 years ago