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eventREF E-0081907Revised

Event record

President F.W. de Klerk announces the Group Areas Act will be repealed.

President F.W. de Klerk announces the Group Areas Act will be repealed.

Date
19 Apr 1990
Updated
30 Sep 2019
President F.W. de Klerk announces the Group Areas Act will be repealed.

On 19 April 1990, President Frederick Willem de Klerk announced in Parliament that the Group Areas Act of 1950 will be replaced by new non-discriminatory measures acceptable to all Houses of Parliament. The announcement meant a new dawn which brought liberty to many whom were affected by the enactment of the Group Areas Act. The Act vigorously dictated where people could live according to their ethnic groups. Developed areas were allocated to White people while Black, Coloured and Indian people were removed to areas outside the urban areas or to remote areas. The announcement was part of the new legislation the government had planned to repeal major apartheid laws. To mention a few, the Land Act of 1913, the Population Registration Act were all to be amended with the Group Areas Act. Equally the Acts were discriminatory and segregating, this was in accordance with the apartheid policy. 

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How we know this

  1. 01The Item, (1990),’ Report: South African government will scrap major apartheid laws’, from The Item, 20 December [online], Available at news.google.com [Accessed: 9 April 2014]
  2. 02New York Times News Services (1991), ‘S.Africa Laws On Land Ownership Are Repealed’, from the Chicago Tribune News, 6 June [online], Available at  articles.chicagotribune.com [Accessed: 9 April 2014]

Last updated · 30 Sep 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2012, April 13). President F.W. de Klerk announces the Group Areas Act will be repealed.. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0081907

South African History Online (2012) 'President F.W. de Klerk announces the Group Areas Act will be repealed.', South African History Online, 13 April. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0081907 (Accessed: 11 August 2026).

South African History Online, President F.W. de Klerk announces the Group Areas Act will be repealed. [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0081907, (accessed 11 August 2026).

"President F.W. de Klerk announces the Group Areas Act will be repealed.." South African History Online, 13 Apr. 2012, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0081907. Accessed 11 Aug. 2026.

South African History Online. "President F.W. de Klerk announces the Group Areas Act will be repealed.." South African History Online. April 13, 2012. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0081907.

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