Reservation of Separate Amenities Act

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Durban beach sign in English, Afrikaans and Zulu, declaring the beach "Whites Only"
Durban beach sign in English, Afrikaans and Zulu, declaring the beach "Whites Only"
"Whites only" sign
"Whites only" sign

The Reservation of Separate Amenities Act, Act No 49 of 1953, formed part of the apartheid system of racial segregation in South Africa.

The Act enforced segregation of all public facilities, including buildings, and transport, in order to limit contact between the different races in South Africa. The Act also stated that the facilities for different races did not need to be equal, and in practice, the best facilities were reserved for whites while those for other races were inferior.

The Act was scrapped by President F.W. de Klerk on November 16, 1989, a few months before the unbanning of political parties in 1990 and the start of negotiations to end apartheid.

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