Reservation of Separate Amenities Act, 1953

Reservation of Separate Amenities Act, 1953
Parliament of South Africa
  • Act to provide for the reservation of public premises and vehicles or portions thereof for the exclusive use of persons of a particular race or class, for the interpretation of laws which provide for such reservation, and for matters incidental thereto.
CitationAct No. 49 of 1948
Enacted byParliament of South Africa
Enacted9 October 1953
Royal assent5 October 1953
Commenced9 October 1953
Repealed15 October 1990
Repealed by
Discriminatory Legislation regarding Public Amenities Repeal Act, 1990
Status: Repealed

Separate Amenities Act, Act No 49 of 1953, formed part of the apartheid system of racial segregation in South Africa. The Act legalized the racial segregation of public premises, vehicles and services. Only public roads and streets were excluded from the Act. The Section 3b of the Act stated that, the facilities for different races did not need to be equal, while Section 3a, made it legal not only to supply segregated facilities, but also to completely exclude people, based on their race, from public premises, vehicles or services. In practice the best facilities were reserved for whites while those for other races were inferior.