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't I i,t ERRAT.*. P. 2. Tronspose lines 20 cnd 2l in {irst porogtoph. P. 13. 4lh line - Ior "weory" reod "wory". P. 14- 6th lin€i - olter "Iorm" delete "that". 9th line - {or "complyment" read "complicnce". P. 25. 25th line - Ior "in deteriorcting" reod "is deteriorqting I Thoughts on Relations" I A limited redition of three Hoernl6 Lectures containing will thoAe who wish to order please write to: I The Editor," l S.A. Institute of Race Relations, 1 Box 97, Johannesburg- ) I I l I l Donaldson Blueprmt Series No. 1. o A DIGEST OF THE NATIVE LAWS (FAGAN) COMMISSION (Prepcred by Helen Suzmqn) A DIGEST of the 1947 11948 BROOME COMMISSION (Prepcred by Mcrurice Webb) "One of the moin objections to the Notive Lcws Conmission Report is thot those who hove crilicised it most bitterly hove not reod it. Thot meons 99 I per cent of the Europeon populotion in South Africo." i\4r. Justice H. A. Fogon, Cope Town, July 13th, 1946 SOUTH AF]]ICAN INSTITUTE OF RACE RELATIONS P.O. BOX 97. ]OHANNESBURG. Modei Printing Co 7- This d,igest of the Natiue Luws Comm'issioru is the lirst in d, llew Bluepri,nt saries beuring the nam'e of CoL James Donaldson, D.S.O., It lt'us been mq'd,e possible by tlte generos'ity of the Bantu We'ufnre Trust founded bu Col. Dotlulclsoru countrg. \ D IG EST OF TH E FAGAN REPORT rll HE Native Laws Commission under the chairmanship I of Mr. Justice H. A. Fagan, K.C., was appointed by the Government in August, L946, with the following terms of rgfgvsnsg;- To enquire into and report upon- (a) The operation of the laws in force in the Union relating to Natives in or near urban areas, and in areas where Natives are congregated for indus- trial purposes other than mining; (b) the operation of the Native Pass Laws and any laws requiring the production by Natives of documents of identiflcation; (c) the employment in mines and other industries of migratory labour; its economic and social effects upon the lives of the people concerned; and the future policy to be followed in regard thereto; and to draft such legislation as may be necessary to give effect to the recommendations of the Commission. ommission was by Mr. Justice L. Barrett and arsons as secr personnel of the Commission.* Corresponding to the terms of reference, the report is divided into three sections which are all, however, closely interrelated, and should be read and interpreted on this basis. ' Mr. T. J. Chester, who wqs originolly oppointed to the Commission in plcrce of Mr. H. P. Smit. died in 1947. SECTION I. The Operction ol the Laws in Force in the Union relctinE to Nqtives in or necrr Urbcn Arecrs, cnd !n Areqs where Nqtives qre congregcted for Industriql purposes other thcrn Mining. The necessity for uniform legislation relating to Natives in urban areas exercised the minds of authorities long before the of 1923, which lation. Prior t the conditions IJnion, authoritative Commissions such as the Assaults on Women Commission 1913, the T.B. Cornmission 1914, Native Affairs Commission 1920, and the Transvaal Locai Government Commission 7922, advanced suggestion-. with a d unifying legislation. In par- latter body, familiarly known as established the basic premise on on was framecl ;-" ff, should be a recognised principle of, Government that lrl2fiygs-msn, women and children-should only be permitted within municipal areas in so far and for so long esence is demanded by the wants of the whit n and should depart therefrom when they cease to the Natives i reas was so required, the same needs of man." (1) And where the pr of reside egation shouid be follorn'ed as dow-n for rural areas by the Native Land Act of 1g13. Various cluties and powers were handed over to muni- cipal authorities under the Act, the chief of which were.- To provide adequate housing accommodation for all Natives within their areas; to set Llp Native Advisory Boards within Ntrtivc . villages; (l) Annexure 5 Pqra. II. (Foqon Reporl) z to set r-t1-r NrLtive Revenue Accrrunts r,r'hich wet'o lo collect and utilise funds for the benelit of Natives ; to reserve trading rights r,vithin the village for Native residents or the Municipalit-v; to control the influx of Natives into the areas and remove " redundant " Natives i.e. those Natives u'hose labour is not required within the municipal boundaries. Furthermore, the Governrnent recommended that the setting up of a Native Affairs Department in each urban area would be desirable, and nndertook to utilise its porvers Lrnder the Gold Law in order to obtain suitable land for the rnunicipalities for the provision of accommodation. The porvers vestecl in the municipal authorities u'ere strengthened and ex'"ended-particularly those relating to the control of the influx of Natives into the urban areas- by numerous amentlments to the 1923 Act, which was sub- sequently supercecled- by the Natives (Ilrban Areas) Consolidation Act of 1945, zrs amencled. A review of the existing conditions in urban areas makes it clear not only that legislation drafted 25 years ago has been inadeqttate to meet the situation, but also that the very premise on which such legislation rvas based is untenable to-day. DRIFT TO TOWNS. Despite all the efforts of municipalities to utilise their po\^/ers, they have been unable to control the urban drift of the Natives, nor provide :rdequately for them once they have arrived in the area. This is horne out by the over- crowded conditions in the municipal locations and the peri- urban townships, and by the development of shanty towns on the perimeter of the large industrial towns. The present situation has, in some measllre, been accentuated by the great industrial expansion associateri with the war, and the labour requirements of these indus- tries attracting Natives to the towns, coupled with a reduction in the building programme during the war years. But in the main South Africa has, in the past 25 years, witnessec[ bhe economic phenomenon associated v'ith inrltts- trialisation throughout the l'orld-the movement of po;tu- lation from the rural to the urban areas. This movemeni is by no means confined to the Native section of the populzr- tion, but has occurred to a far greater exbent among other sections of the population. Thus between 1921-46 the per- centage of European population in the rural areas decreased from 44.22% to 27.54% i.e. by about +.. Irr the same period the percentage of Natives in rural" aleas decreased from 87.50"1' to 77.01%, or by about 21fi: Asiatics from 69.10fi to 29.72o/n; Color-rred from 54.18-"/. to 41.85'/ . This fact is often overlooked in studying the great increase of Natives in the urban areas. Between 1921-36 the urban Native population increased by 9a.a8%; between 1936-46 bS, 57.\6%. This increase of Native urban popula- tion is not due to the natural rate of increase which, con- trary to popular belief, is practically the same as that of the European population-L8.32/o in 10 years. It is the result of the drift of population from three sources:.- from the Native Reserves; from the rural areas outside the Reserves; from the Territories Jceyond the Union's borders. 'Ihe Natives have come to town and in many cases they have come to stay. Economic forces have proved stronger than legislation-Natives have been pushed out of the rural areas becarrse the Reserves are over-populated, because conditions on European farms are not sufficiently attractive to offset the seemingly higher wages and educational oppor- tr-rnities in the towns, and because the territories outside the Union are economically backward; and they have beert pulled towards the urban areas because of the labour requirements of the expa centres. Nor has it been possible to keep own as migratory workers only, for conditi areas have forced many hundreds of thousands of Natives to regard the towns as their permanent home. To-day there are about lfr million Natives in urban areas, as against ] million in 1921 and 1 million in 1936. Just what percentage of this figure is permanently settled in the urban areas is difficult to estimate-about 340,000 Natives come from territories beyond the Union's borders, the great majority of whom are migrant workers employed in the mines and other industries. Many of the Natives to- day in urban areas who come from the Union's Reserves are also temporary absentees. But it must be accepted as a 4 of our ur' also of a increase s to.-day ; were some 150,000 Native women in the urtra4 areas; in 1936 some 360,000, and in 1946, 640,000-an indication of a considerable settled population in the towns. which have arisen. always ided by had to ation." (2) 2. Para. 4. (Ibid) PRINCIPTES OF POIICY. the nature and ex it i cide on principle suit be suggested. Th are 1. Fi.rstly, thctt of aparthe.icl or total segregution tu h,i c h, tuotilil ,inaolt:e a complete territorial diuision between Europeans und Nati,ues. 2. Second,lpl, that of no racial di,scrimination either '[,n lct,u; oyin adm,inistrfiinn. J. Thi co nce 0l Eut es y side, btr,t d ces ,f,n legi As f ut" u.s tlte poli,r:y ol total segrego,tion is concernecl ec-on-omic arguments against its practicability are over- whelming.