Suppression of Communism Act, 1950/1951-07-20

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as amended by

Suppression of Communism Amendment Act, No. 50 of 1951

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. (1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise indicates—

“authorized officer” means a person designated as such under sub-section (1) of section seven, and includes any person acting under his written authority;

“communism” means the doctrine of Marxian socialism as expounded by Lenin or Trotsky, the Third Communist International (the Comintern) or the Communist Information Bureau (the Cominform) or any related form of that doctrine expounded or advocated in the Union for the promotion of the fundamental principles of that doctrine and includes, in particular, any doctrine or scheme—

which aims at the establishment of a despotic system of government based on the dictatorship of the proletariat under which one political organization only is recognized and all other political organizations are suppressed or eliminated; or

which aims at bringing about any political, industrial, social or economic change within the Union by the promotion of disturbance or disorder, by unlawful acts or omissions or by the threat of such acts or omissions or by means which include the promotion of disturbance or disorder, or such acts or omissions or threat; or

which aims at bringing about any political, industrial, social or economic change within the Union in accordance with the directions or under the guidance of or in co-operation with any foreign government or any foreign or international institution whose purpose or one of whose purposes (professed or otherwise) is to promote the establishment within the Union of any political, industrial, social or economic system identical with or similar to any system in operation in any country which has adopted a system of government such as is described in paragraph (a); or

which aims at the encouragement of feelings of hostility between the European and non-European races of the Union the consequences of which are calculated to further the achievement of any object referred to in paragraph (a) or (b);

“communist” means a person who professes or has at any time before or after the commencement of this Act professed to be a communist or who, after having been given a reasonable opportunity of making such representations as he may consider necessary, is deemed by the Governor-General or, in the case of an inhabitant of the territory of South-West Africa, by the Administrator of the said territory, to be a communist on the ground that he is advocating, advising, defending or encouraging or has at any time before or after the commencement of this Act, whether within or outside the Union, advocated, advised, defended or encouraged the achievement of any of the objects of communism or any act or omission which is calculated to further the achievement of any such object, or that he has at any time before or after the commencement of this Act been a member or active supporter of any organization outside the Union which professed, by its name or otherwise, to be an organization for propagating the principles or promoting the spread of communism, or whose purpose or one of whose purposes was to propagate the principles or promote the spread of communism, or which engaged in activities which were calculated to further the achievement of any of the objects of communism;

“document” includes any book, pamphlet, record, list, placard, poster, drawing, photograph or picture;

“gathering” means any gathering, concourse, or procession in, through or along any place, of any number of persons having a common purpose, whether such purpose be lawful or unlawful;

“liquidator” means a person designated as such under paragraph (b) of sub-section (1) of section three, and includes any person acting under his written authority;

“Minister” means the Minister of Justice;

“office-bearer”, in relation to any organization, means a member of the governing or executive body of—

the organization; or

any branch, section or committee of the organization; or

any local, regional or subsidiary body forming part of the organization;

“officer”, in relation to any organization, means any person working for the organization or for any branch, section or committee, or for any local, regional or subsidiary body forming part of the organization;

“organization” means any association of persons, incorporated or unincorporated, and whether or not it has been established or registered in accordancewith any statute;

“periodical publication” means any publication appearing at intervals;

“publication” means any newspaper, magazine, pamphlet, book, hand-bill or poster;

“public body” means any institution or body contemplated in paragraph (vi) of section eighty-five of the South Africa Act, 1909 and includes any institution or body established by law;

“public office” means any office or post in the service of the State (including the Railway Administration, a provincial administration or the administration of the territory of South-West Africa) or a public body, and includes any office or post in the Defence Forces of the Union;

“the Communist Party of South Africa” means the organization known by that name on the fifth day of May, 1950, irrespective of whether or nor it has thereafter been dissolved and notwithstanding any change in the name of that organization after the said date;

“Union” includes the territory of South-West Africa; and

“unlawful organization” means an organization which is an unlawful organization in terms of sub-section (1) of section two or a proclamation under sub-section (2) of the said section, and includes any branch, section or committee of any such organization and any local, regional or subsidiary body forming part of any such organization.

(2) A strike or lock-out (as defined in section one of the Industrial Conciliation Act, 1937 (Act No. 36 of 1937)) which follows upon a labour dispute for the settlement of which the proceedings prescribed by the said Act have been taken, and which is not in contravention of the provisions of the said Act, or the promotion of or participation in such a strike or lock-out, shall not for the purposes of paragraph (b) of the definition of “communism” be regarded as an unlawful act or omission or as the promotion of disturbance or disorder.

(3) For the purposes of the definition of “unlawful organization” a proclamation under sub-section (2) of section two shall not be invalid or ineffective by reason of the fact that the organization concerned had been dissolved before the taking effect of such proclamation.

3. (1) As from the date upon which an organization becomes an unlawful organization in terms of sub-section (1) of section two or a proclamation under sub-section (2) of the said section—

no person shall—

become, continue to be or perform any act as an office-bearer, officer or member of the unlawful organization; or

carry or display anything whatsoever indicating that he is or was at any time before or after the commencement of this Act an office-bearer, officer or member of or in any way associated with the unlawful organization; or

contribute or solicit anything as a subscription or otherwise, to be used directly or indirectly for the benefit of the unlawful organization; or

in any way take part in any activity of the unlawful organization, or carry on in the direct or indirect interest of the unlawful organization, any activity in which it was or could have engaged at the said date;

all property (including all rights and documents) held by the unlawful organization or held by any person for the benefit of the unlawful organization, shall vest in a person to be designated by the Minister as the liquidator of the assets of the unlawful organization; and

the unlawful organization shall, if it is registered in any office, cease to be registered, and the officer in charge of the register shall remove its name therefrom.

(1)bis. The Communist Party of South Africa, including every branch, section or committee thereof and every local, regional or subsidiary body forming part thereof, shall become an unlawful organization in terms of sub-section (1) of section two on the date of commencement of this Act, and the designation of a liquidator in respect thereof under paragraph (b) of sub-section (1), shall be valid and effective, irrespective of whether or not it has before that date been dissolved, and irrespective of whether or not it has any assets.

(1)ter. In the case of any other unlawful organization, the designation of a liquidator under paragraph (b) of sub-section (1) shall not be invalid or ineffective, by reason of the fact that the unlawful organization concerned has been dissolved before the designation or before the date upon which it becomes an unlawful organization in terms of a proclamation under sub-section (2) of section two, or by reason of the fact that it has no assets.

(2) No proceedings shall after the expiration of a period of fourteen days from the date of a proclamation under sub-section (2) of section two be instituted in any court for an order declaring that proclamation invalid, and no court shall after the expiration of a period of twelve months from the date of any such proclamation have jurisdiction to pronounce upon the validity thereof.

(3) The liquidator shall be appointed on such conditions, and may be paid out of the assets of the unlawful organization such remuneration for his services, as the Minister may determine.

(4) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any instrument, rule or agreement governing the relations between the unlawful organization and its office-bearers, officers or members, any such office-bearer, officer or member may by resignation terminate his relationship with the unlawful organization as from the date of the resignation.

4. (1) The liquidator shall forthwith take possession of all the property vested in him under paragraph (b) of sub-section (1) of section three and satisfy himself as to the adequacy of the assets to pay the debts of the unlawful organization.

(2) If the assets are adequate to pay the debts, he shall after the expiration of a period of at least six months from the date upon which the organization became an unlawful organization take all steps (including the institution of legal proceedings) necessary to liquidate them and to pay out of the proceeds, the debts which have been proved to his satisfaction.

(3) Any balance remaining after the debts have been paid shall be distributed to one or more charitable or scientific organizations designated by the Minister.

(4) If the assets are not adequate to pay the debts of the unlawful organization the liquidator shall liquidate and distribute the assets as if he were a trustee or a liquidator, as the case may be, administering and distributing the assets of an insolvent estate or company.

(5) For the purpose of such liquidation and distribution, the date upon which the organization became an unlawful organization in terms of sub-section (1) of section two or a proclamation under sub-section (2) of the said section shall be regarded as the date of sequestration or winding-up as the case may be.

(6) Any matter relating to such liquidation and distribution upon which a creditor would have been entitled to vote, if the estate of the unlawful organization had been sequestrated or wound up, shall be determined by a majority of votes reckoned according to the number and value of claims proved to the satisfaction of the liquidator.

(7) The account of a liquidator liquidating and distributing assets under sub-section (4) shall be advertised by him and confirmed by the Master in like manner and with like effect as an account framed by a trustee or liquidator, as the case may be, in an insolvent estate is advertised and confirmed.

(8) Any property of the unlawful organization which is not liquidated under sub-section (1) or (4), shall be disposed of as the Minister may direct.

(9) The Minister may at any time by notice in the Gazette and subject to such modifications as he may deem fit, apply in relation to the distribution of the assets or the payment of the debts of the unlawful organization under this section, such provisions of the Companies Act, 1926 (Act No. 46 of 1926), or the Insolvency Act, 1936 (Act No. 24 of 1936), as are not inconsistent with this Act, as may be necessary in a particular case for the proper distribution of the assets or the payment of the debts of the unlawful organization, and may in like manner amend or withdraw any such notice.

(10) If directed by the Minister to do so, the liquidator shall compile a list of persons who are or have at any time before or after the commencement of this Act been office-bearers, officers, members or active supporters of the organization which has been declared an unlawful organization: Provided that the name of a person shall not be included in any such list or in any category mentioned in such list, unless he has been afforded a reasonable opportunity of showing that his name should not be included therein.

(11) The liquidator shall have authority to receive and retain any communication addressed to the unlawful organization or to any office-bearer or officer thereof as such, and the Postmaster-General shall, if requested to do so by the liquidator, cause all postal articles so addressed, to be delivered to the liquidator.

(12) The provisions of sub-sections (3) and (4) of section seven shall mutatis mutandis apply in respect of any investigation by the liquidator, which he may consider necessary in connection with the performance of his functions under sub-section (1), (4) or (10): Provided that in its application under this sub-section, paragraph (d) of sub-section (3) of the said section shall be read as referring also to any document which, in the opinion of the liquidator, may afford evidence in regard to any right in or the whereabouts of any property or the existence or amount of any debt.

5. (1) The Minister may by notice in writing require any person whose name appears on any list in the custody of the officer referred to in section eight, or who has been convicted of an offence under section eleven or is a communist—

to comply, while he is an office-bearer, officer or member of any organization specified in the notice, or a member of any public body so specified or while he holds any public office so specified, with such conditions as may be prescribed therein;

to resign as an office-bearer, officer or member of an organization specified in the notice, within a period so specified, not again to become an office-bearer, officer or member of that organization and not to take part in its activities;

not to become an office-bearer, officer or member and not to take any part in the activities of any organization specified in the notice or of any kind of organization so specified;

not to become a member of any public body specified in the notice or to hold any public office so specified or, if he is such a member or holds such an office, to resign, within a period so specified, as such member or from such office and not again to become such a member or hold such office;

not to become a member of either House of Parliament or a provincial council or the Legislative Assembly of the territory of South-West Africa.

(1)bis. (a) If, in the case of a senator, a committee of the Senate or, in the case of a member of the House of Assembly or a provincial council or the Legislative Assembly of the territory of South West Africa, a committee of the House of Assembly reports to the Senate or the House of Assembly, as the case may be—

that the name of a senator or, as the case may be, of such a member appears on a list in the custody of the officer referred to in section eight and that there are no circumstances which would justify the removal of his name from such list; or

that a senator or such a member has been convicted of an offence under section eleven or is a communist; or

that a senator or such a member is or was at any time before or after the commencement of this Act an office-bearer, officer, member or active supporter of the Communist Party of South Africa, whether or not his name appears on any such list as aforesaid, or that he has at any time before or after the commencement of this Act professed to be a communist or advocated, advised, defended or encouraged the achievement of any of the objects of communism or any act or omission which was calculated to further the achievement of any such object,

the Minister may if the said report is approved by the Senate or, as the case may be, the House of Assembly and the Senate or the House of Assembly, as the case may be, does not recommend that no action be taken, notify that senator or that member, as the case may be, and also the President of the Senate or, as the case may be, the Speaker of the House of Assembly or the Chairman of the provincial council concerned or the Legislative Assembly of the said territory, in writing that the said senator or member shall as from a date specified in the notice, cease to be a senator or such a member, and as from that date he shall for all purposes be deemed to be incapable of sitting as a senator or such a member in terms of section fifty-three of the South Africa Act, 1909, or in terms of the said section as applied to members of the provincial councils by section seventy-two of the said Act, or in terms of section seventeen of the South-West Africa Constitution Act, 1925 (Act No. 42 of 1925), and his seat shall become vacant.

(b) No person in respect of whom a notice has been issued in terms of paragraph (a) shall be capable of being chosen as a senator or as a member of the House of Assembly or of a provincial council or the Legislative Assembly of the territory of South-West Africa except with the approval of the Senate or the House of Assembly, as the case may be.

(2) The Minister may at any time in like manner withdraw or vary any notice under sub-section (1).

(3) The Minister shall not exercise the powers conferred upon him by paragraph (a) or (b) of sub-section (1) in relation to a person who is an office-bearer, officer or member of an employers’ organization or trade union registered under the Industrial Conciliation Act, 1937 (Act No. 36 of 1937), nor require any person in terms of paragraph (c) of the said sub-section not to become an office-bearer, officer or member and not to take part in the activities of such an employers’ organization or trade union, except after consultation with the Minister of Labour.

(4) Notwithstanding anything contained in any instrument, rule or agreement governing the relations between any organization and any office-bearer, officer or member thereof who has under sub-section (1) been required to resign, such office-bearer, officer or member may by resignation terminate his relationship with such organization as from the date of the resignation.

(5) Nothing in this section contained shall derogate from the provisions of sub-section (3) of section sixty-eight or section one-hundred-and-one of the South Africa Act, 1909.

6. If the Governor-General is satisfied that any periodical or other publication—

professes, by its name or otherwise, to be a publication for propagating the principles or promoting the spread of communism; or

is published or disseminated by or under the direction or guidance of an organization which has been declared an unlawful organization by or under section two, or was published or disseminated by or under the direction or guidance of any such organization immediately prior to the date upon which it became an unlawful organization; or

serves inter alia as a means for expressing views propagated by any such organization, or did so serve immediately prior to the said date; or

serves inter alia as a means for expressing views or conveying information, the publication of which is calculated to further the achievement of any of the objects of communism,

he may, without notice to any person concerned, by proclamation in the Gazette prohibit the printing, publication or dissemination of such periodical publication or the dissemination of such other publication; and the Governor-General may in like manner withdraw any such proclamation.

7. (1) If the Minister has reason to suspect—

that the purposes, activities or control of any organization are such that it ought to be declared an unlawful organization under sub-section (2) of section two; or

that the circumstances connected with any periodical or other publication are such that the printing, publication or dissemination thereof ought to be prohibited under section six,

he may in writing under his hand designate any person as an authorized officer to investigate the purposes or activities of the organization or the manner in which it is controlled, or the circumstances connected with that periodical or other publication, as the case may be.

(2) If directed by the Minister to do so in any case referred to in paragraph (a) of sub-section (1), an authorized officer shall compile a list of persons who are or have at any time before or after the commencement of this Act been office-bearers, officers, members or active supporters of the organization concerned: Provided that the name of a person shall not be included in any such list or in any category mentioned in such list unless he has been afforded a reasonable opportunity of showing that his name should not be included therein.

(3) An authorized officer may, for the purposes of exercising his functions under sub-section (1) or (2)—

without previous notice at any time enter upon any premises whatsoever and make such investigation and enquiry as he deems necessary;

require from any person the production then and there or at a time and place fixed by the authorized officer, of any document or of any copy of any periodical or other publication which is on the premises;

at any time and at any place require from any person who has the possession or custody or control of any document or any copy of any periodical or other publication, the production thereof then and there or at a time and place fixed by the authorized officer;

seize any document or copy referred to in paragraph (b) or (c), which in his opinion may afford evidence in regard to any matter referred to in sub-section (2) of section two or section six or in regard to the persons who are or have been office-bearers, officers, members or active supporters of the organization concerned;

examine and make extracts from and copies of any such document, and require from any person an explanation of any entries therein, or of any matter published in any such periodical or other publication;

question either alone or in the presence of any other person, as he thinks fit, with respect to any matter referred to in sub-section (2) of section two or section six or in order to ascertain which persons are or have at any time before or after the commencement of this Act been office-bearers, officers, members or active supporters of the organization concerned, any person whom he finds on any premises entered in terms of this section, or whom he has reasonable grounds for believing to be or to have at any time before or after the commencement of this Act been an office-bearer, officer, member or active supporter of the organization concerned or to be in possession of any information required by him;

require any person referred to in paragraph (b), (c), (e) or (f) to appear before him at any time and place fixed by him and then and there question that person.

(4) Every occupier of any premises entered under sub-section (3) shall at all times furnish such facilities as are required by an authorized officer for the purpose of exercising his powers under the said sub-section.

(5) Any person who is questioned under paragraph (f) or (g) of sub-section (3) shall be entitled to all the privileges to which a person giving evidence before a provincial division of the Supreme Court is entitled.

8. (1) Every list compiled under sub-section (10) of section four shall, and every list compiled under sub-section (2) of section seven shall if the organization concerned is under sub-section (2) of section two declared to be an unlawful organization, be kept in the custody of an officer designated from time to time by the Minister, until the relevant proclamation under sub-section (2) of section two has been withdrawn.

(2) If any person whose name appears on any such list proves that his name should not appear on it or is incorrectly included in any category mentioned in the list, or if any office-bearer, officer, member or active supporter of any organization which has under sub-section (2) of section two been declared an unlawful organization proves that he neither knew nor could reasonably have been expected to know that the purpose or any of the purposes of the organization were of such a nature or that it was engaging in such activities as might render it liable to be declared an unlawful organization in terms of sub-section (2) of section two, the said officer shall remove his name or correct the list accordingly.

12. (1) If in any prosecution under this Act, or in any civil proceedings arising from the application of the provisions of this Act, in which it is alleged that any person is or was a member or active supporter of any organization, it is proved that he attended any meeting of that organization, or has advocated, advised, defended or encouraged the promotion of its purposes, or has distributed or assisted in the distribution of or caused to be distributed any periodical or other publication or document issued by, on behalf or at the instance of that organization, he shall be presumed, until the contrary is proved, to be or to have been a member or active supporter, as the case may be, of that organization.

(2) A person shall in any prosecution for an offence under paragraph (g) of section eleven be deemed to have convened a gathering in any place if he—

has himself, or through another person, caused written notice to be published, distributed or despatched, inviting the public, or any members of the public, to assemble at a specified time and place, or has encouraged or assisted in the publication, distribution or despatch of such a notice;

has himself, or through another person, orally invited the public or any members of the public so to assemble; or

has taken any active part in making arrangements for the publication, distribution or despatch of such a notice, or in organizing or making preparations for such an assembly.

(3) No person shall be convicted of an offence under paragraph (g) of section eleven if he satisfies the court that he had no knowledge of the prohibition of the gathering concerned.

17bis. No action for damages shall lie and no criminal action may be instituted against any person who describes as a communist a person—

whose name appears on a list in the custody of the officer referred to in section eight; or

who has at any time after the commencement of this Act professed to be a communist; or

who has in terms of the definition of that expression in section one been deemed by the Governor-General or the Administrator of the territory of South-West Africa to be a communist and for as long as he is so deemed; or

in respect of whom a notice has been issued in terms of paragraph (a) of sub-section (1)bis of section five; or

who has been convicted of any of the offences referred to in paragraphs (a) to (i), both inclusive, of section eleven.