This Day in History: February 22, 1968
Additional Date: February 22, 1968
On this day in history, the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Amendment Bill was adopted - despite opposition from the United and Progressive Parties. This amendment furthered the existing ban on marriages between White and Black people (Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act (1949) by extending it to White and Coloured people. Marriage officers were given the power to decide the race of couples wanting to be married.
If South African citizens of mixed racial descent were married outside of the country, the marriage would not be recognized in South Africa.
One year after the original Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act (1949) was adopted, a supplementary law, known as the Immorality act, was adopted. It prohibited sex between people of different races. These laws often split families, and entrenched racial division. President P W Botha removed the Act from the statutes book in 1986.