Population Registration Act, 1950/1964-08-28

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as amended by

Population Registration Amendment Act, No. 71 of 1956 Statistics Act, No. 73 of 1957 Population Registration Amendment Act, No. 30 of 1960 Population Registration Amendment Act, No. 61 of 1962 Bantu Laws Amendment Act, No. 42 of 1964

E IT ENACTED by the King’s Most Excellent Majesty, the Senate and the House of Assembly of the Union of South Africa, as follows:―

1. In this Act, unless the context otherwise indicates— “alien” means an alien as defined in section one of the Aliens Act, 1937 (Act No. 1 of 1937);

“Bantu” means a person who in fact is or is generally accepted as a member of any aboriginal race or tribe of Africa;

“board” means a board constituted in terms of section eleven;

“coloured person” means a person who is not a white person or a Bantu;

“ethnic or other group” means a group prescribed and defined by the Governor-General in terms of subsection (2) of section five;

“fixed date” means the date upon which the census is taken in the year 1951 in terms of section three of the Census Act, 1910 (Act No. 2 of 1910);

“identity card” means the identity card referred to in section thirteen but does not include an identity card which has lapsed in terms of any regulation;

“identity number” means the identity number assigned to a person in terms of section six;

“Minister” means the Minister of the Interior;

“prescribed” means prescribed by regulation;

“register” means the register referred to in section two;

“regulation” means a regulation made under section twenty;

“Secretary” means the Secretary for the Interior and includes any officer acting under a delegation from or under the control or direction of the Secretary for the Interior;

“this Act” includes the regulations;

“white person” means a person who—

in appearance obviously is a white person and who is not generally accepted as a coloured person; or

is generally accepted as a white person and is not in appearance obviously not a white person,

but does not include any person who for the purposes of his classification under this Act, freely and voluntarily admits that he is by descent a Bantu or a coloured person unless it is proved that the admission is not based on fact.

5. (1) Every person whose name is included in the register shall be classified by the Secretary as a white person, a coloured person or a Bantu, as the case may be, and every coloured person and every Bantu whose name is so included shall be classified by the Secretary according to the ethnic or other group to which he belongs.

(2) The Governor-General may by proclamation in the Gazette prescribe and define the ethnic or other groups into which coloured persons and Bantu shall be classified in terms of sub-section (1), and may in like manner amend or withdraw any such proclamation.

(3) If at any time it appears to the Secretary that the classification of a person in terms of sub-section (1) is incorrect, he may, subject to the provisions of sub-section (7) of section eleven and after giving notice to that person and, if he is a minor, also to his guardian, specifying in which respect the classification is incorrect, and affording such person and such guardian (if any) an opportunity of being heard, alter the classification of that person in the register.

7. (1) There shall, in respect of every person whose name is included in the register, other than a Bantu, be included in the register the following particulars and no other particulars whatsoever namely—

his full name, sex and ordinary place of residence;

his classification in terms of section five;

the date and place of his birth;

his citizenship or nationality, and in the case of an alien, an indication of the fact that he is an alien;

his marital status;

in the case of a registered voter, the electoral division and polling district in which he is registered as a voter under the Electoral Consolidation Act, 1946 (Act No. 46 of 1946);

the date of his arrival in the Union, if not born in a part of South Africa included in the Union;

a recent photograph of himself, except in the case of a person who has not yet attained the age of sixteen years, or who has been admitted to the Union for a temporary purpose; and

his identity number.

(2) There shall in respect of every Bantu whose name is included in the register, be included in the register the following particulars and no other particulars whatsoever, namely—

his full name, sex and the district in which he is ordinarily resident;

his citizenship or nationality, the ethnic or other group and the tribe to which he belongs;

the date, or if the date is not known, the year or reputed year, and the place, or if the place is not known, the district of his birth;

his marital status;

the year of his arrival in the Union, if not born in a part of South Africa included in the Union;

a recent photograph of himself except in the case of a Bantu who has not yet attained the age of sixteen years, and, in the case of a Bantu who is not a South African citizen, his fingerprints; and

his identity number.

(3) Upon the death or permanent departure from the Union of a person whose name is included in the register, the date of his death or departure from the Union, as the case may be, shall be recorded in the register.

8. (1) There shall be maintained at the office of the magistrate of every district or at such other office within a district as the Minister may approve, a copy of the register containing the names and other particulars recorded in the register in respect of all persons registered as residing within that district.

(2) A list made from the copy of the register maintained in terms of sub-section (1) and containing in respect of every person whose name is included therein the undermentioned particulars and no other particulars whatsoever, shall be open for inspection by the public at the office of the magistrate of the district to which the list relates and at such other places within the district as the Secretary may determine at all reasonable times during office hours—

his name, sex and ordinary place of residence or, in the case of a Bantu, the district in which he is ordinarily resident;

his classification in terms of section five;

his citizenship or nationality;

in the case of a registered voter, the electoral division and polling district in which he is registered as a voter under the Electoral Consolidation Act, 1946 (Act No. 46 of 1946); and

his identity number.

(3) As soon as a list made from the copy of the register referred to in sub-section (1) becomes available for inspection by the public in terms of sub-section (2) at the office of the magistrate of any district, the Secretary shall cause to be published in the Gazette and in at least one Afrikaans and one English newspaper circulating in that district, a notice to the effect that such list shall, with effect from a date specified in the notice, be so available for inspection by the public at the office of the magistrate of that district and at such other places within that district as the Secretary may specify.

10. (1) Every person (other than a Bantu) whose name is included in the register and the guardian of any such person who has not attained the age of sixteen years, shall within fourteen days or, in a particular case, such longer period as the Secretary may allow, after any permanent change in the ordinary place of residence of that person or of his ward under the age of sixteen years, as the case may be, notify the Secretary in the prescribed manner of that change of residence.

(2) Any permanent change in the ordinary place of residence of a Bantu from one district to another shall be notified to the Secretary by such person and in such manner as may be prescribed.

13. (1) The Secretary shall, as soon as practicable after the inclusion in the register of the name of any person who has attained the age of sixteen years or after any person whose name has been so included, attains the age of sixteen years, and subject to the succeeding provisions of this section, issue an identity card to that person.

(2) If the person referred to in sub-section (1) is a white person or a coloured person and is not an alien or a person referred to in sub-section (4), the identity card issued to that person shall contain the following particulars and no other particulars in relation to that person whatsoever, namely—

his name and sex;

his classification in terms of section five;

his citizenship or nationality;

his identity number;

a recent photograph of himself; and

the date of issue of the identity card.

(3) If the person is an alien and was born in any part of South Africa included in the Union or admitted to the Union for permanent residence therein, the identity card issued to that person shall contain, in addition to the particulars mentioned in sub-section (2), the following particulars and no other particulars in relation to that person whatsoever, namely—

the date of his arrival in the Union (if not born in a part of South Africa included in the Union);

an indication of the fact that he is an alien; and

if the Secretary deems it expedient, the signature of that person or, if he is unable to sign his name, his fingerprints.

(4) If the person is not a South African citizen and has been admitted to the Union for a temporary purpose the identity card issued to that person shall contain all the particulars prescribed in respect of an alien by sub-section (3) except a photograph of that person.

(5) If the person is a Bantu, the identity card issued to him shall contain the following particulars and no other particulars in relation to him whatsoever, namely—

his name and sex;

the ethnic or other group and the tribe to which he belongs and, in the case of a Bantu who is not a South African citizen, his citizenship or nationality;

his identity number;

a recent photograph of himself and in the case of a Bantu who is not a South African citizen, his fingerprints; and

the date of issue of the identity card.

19. (1) A person who in appearance obviously is a white person shall for the purposes of this Act be presumed to be a white person until the contrary is proved.

(1)bis. A person who in appearance obviously is a member of an aboriginal race or tribe of Africa shall for the purposes of this Act be presumed to be a Bantu unless it is proved that he is not in fact and is not generally accepted as such a member.

(2) It shall be no defence to a charge under paragraph (f) of section eighteen for failing to comply with the provisions of sub-section (2) of section fourteen that the name of the accused, has not been included in the register or that an identity card has not been issued to him, unless he proves that it was not due to any failure or neglect on his part.

(3) If in any prosecution under paragraph (c) of section eighteen it is proved that any identity card was imitated, altered, defaced, destroyed or mutilated, it shall be presumed, until the contrary is proved, that such identity card was imitated. altered, defaced, destroyed or mutilated with intent to deceive.