1913 Natives Land Act

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The Natives Land Act of 1913 was the first significant piece of territorial segregation legislation by the South Africa Union parliament. Act twenty-three of the act restricted the Black population of South Africa from purchasing and occupying land, except as employees of a white landlord.
        Once the act was implemented, the apartheid government began the forced mass relocation of Blacks to poorly planned and agriculturally infertile areas, or reserves. Black land ownership was limited to about seven percent of arable land, leaving ninety-three percent of the most fertile ground for the white population. Although the law was written to apply to the whole of South Africa, it was only enforced within the Transvaal and Natal regions.
        “This act had a profound effect on the African population across the country. It also laid down the foundation for other legislation which further entrenched dispossession of African people and segregation later of Coloured and Indian people.”

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