Stay in your lane: experiences in colour-blind love in colour-conscious South Africa: 1949 to 1994
Date
2020
Authors
Thomas, Maria Magdalena
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
The Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act was one of the first pieces of apartheid legislation to be passed in 1949. In 1957, the amended Immorality Act included section 16, which worked in conjunction with the Mixed Marriages Act and together were known as the “sex laws”. The two acts served to maintain racial purity in South Africa during apartheid. By 1985, these laws were also some of the first pieces of apartheid legislation to be repealed. This paper looks at the experiences and stories of interracial heterosexual couples during the period of 1949 to 1994, under these laws.
The stories and experiences revealed that most, if not all, interracial relationships and families were affected in apartheid South Africa, even when partners could legally get married, due to, for example, the Group Areas legislation. The apartheid government were committed to the sex laws, making sure to close up loopholes in legislation. In fact, South Africa’s sex laws serve as suggestive bookends to the commencement and demise of apartheid. As far as the effectiveness of the sex laws, it did not end interracial relationships in South Africa, either casual, short-term or long-term. Furthermore, every article written about the challenges of interracial couples, both locally and internationally, kept apartheid policies firmly in the spotlight and appealed to people’s shared humanity and romantic sentiments, thus, further uniting them against the apartheid government.
In order to tell the stories and experiences of interracial couples, and how the laws and social regulation in South Africa impacted on their lives, I conducted several interviews. I also drew on other primary sources including the National Archives of South Africa, the Wits Historical Papers, as well as consulting various newspaper archives.
Description
A dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the rewuirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History by Course Work to the Faculty of Humanities, Wits School of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2020.