Statutes and Acts

Population Registration Act, 1950

Civil Rights, Equality and Human Rights Acts

Citation Formats

General Reference

Law Atlas. "Population Registration Act, 1950." Accessed September 2, 2026. https://dev-law.interactiveatlas.org/statutes-and-acts/population-registration-act-1950.

APA Style

Law Atlas. (n.d.). Population Registration Act, 1950. Retrieved September 2, 2026, from https://dev-law.interactiveatlas.org/statutes-and-acts/population-registration-act-1950

BibTeX

@misc{lawatlas-population-registration-act-1950,
  author = {Law Atlas},
  title = {Population Registration Act, 1950},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://dev-law.interactiveatlas.org/statutes-and-acts/population-registration-act-1950},
  note = {Accessed September 2, 2026}
}

The Population Registration Act, 1950 (Act No. 30 of 1950) required every inhabitant of South Africa to be classified and registered according to racial characteristics and culture as part of the system of apartheid. Introduced to the South African parliament by Eben Donges, Minister of the Interior, on 20 February 1950, it received royal assent on 22 June 1950 and commenced on 7 July 1950. As amended, it formally classified Coloured and Indian South Africans into subgroups including Cape Coloured, Malay, Griqua, Chinese, Indian, Other Asian and Other Coloured. The South African Parliament repealed the act on 17 June 1991, with 178 members of the white parliament voting, 38 against and 11 abstaining, by the Population Registration Act Repeal Act, 1991.

Facts

Enacted Year

1950 1

Enacted Date

1950-06-22 1

Jurisdiction

South Africa 1

Enacted By

Parliament of South Africa 1

Official Citation

Act No. 30 of 1950 1

Legal Status

Repealed on 17 June 1991 by the Population Registration Act Repeal Act, 1991. 1

Cross-Tradition Connections

In Legal System

South African Law

Sources

1. Population Registration Act, 1950 (Wikipedia)

WikipediaLede (opening sentence)

Quote, Lede (opening sentence)

The Population Registration Act of 1950 required that each inhabitant of South Africa be classified and registered in accordance with their racial characteristics and culture as part of the system of apartheid.

View the Source

1. Population Registration Act, 1950 (Wikipedia)

WikipediaInfobox (Act number field)

Quote, Infobox (Act number field)