Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 2, 1990 TAG: 9006020074
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA LENGTH: Medium
The Separate Amenities Act, passed in 1953, has granted provincial governments, municipalities and privately owned entertainment establishments the right to reserve facilities for whites.
A bill that would repeal the act was published Friday and is expected to be passed in mid-June, the South African Press Association reported. It was the latest move by the government of President F.W. de Klerk to dismantle apartheid.
The Conservative Party, the largest white opposition party, is the only parliamentary group expected to oppose the bill, but the party does not have enough votes to block it.
The bill would remove local governments' authority to racially segregate public facilities such as libraries, toilets, parks and buses. It also would remove the legal protection of individuals who want to reserve restaurants, hotels, resorts and other public facilities for whites.
In most major cities, such as Johannesburg and Cape Town, public amenities have been desegregated in recent months. But in hundreds of smaller cities, towns and villages, there are either no public facilities for blacks in the city centers, or there are inferior, separate amenities.
The Separate Amenities Act is considered one of the pillars of apartheid, the system of racial separation and white domination encoded in law by the National Party when it came to power in 1948.
Others are the Population Registration Act, which classifies every South African by race; the Group Areas Act, which establishes racially segregated neighborhoods; the Land Act, which reserves most of the country for white ownership; and the voting laws, which place political power in the hands of the white minority by denying a national vote to the black majority.
De Klerk has said he intends to end apartheid and give blacks an equal vote with whites by 1994 under a system he hopes to negotiate with black leaders.
However, de Klerk opposes one-person, one-vote majority rule, and instead suggests a system where cultural, social and ethnic groups would be assured representation in the government.
Since taking office last year, de Klerk has legalized dozens of outlawed black political organizations, freed scores of political prisoners, and ordered hospitals integrated.
The Conservative Party and white extremist organizations have denounced de Klerk's actions as treason to the white Afrikaners who control the government. Some have said they will protect apartheid by force, if necessary.
The complications of changing 42 years of practice are reflected in the amount of time it would take to repeal the Separate Amenities Act. Hundreds of local ordinances may have to be repealed to comply with the act, and Conservative Party-controlled municipalities can be expected to resist any changes.
by CNB