Black, Coloured and Indian churches issues a statement on Immorality Act and the Mixed Marriages Act

Black, Coloured and Indian churches issued statement stating that the Churches had no objection in principle if the authorities thought that circumstances justify reconsideration of the Immorality Act and the Mixed Marriages Act. The Immorality Act was one of the most controversial legislative enactments that South African government had ever passed. Immorality Act criminalised intermixing of couples of different races both in the area of marriage as well as casual sex. The Mixed Marriages Act and the Immorality Act were among the first major laws of the apartheid government. In 1949 mixed marriages were banned in South Africa. In 1950 the act was followed up with a ban on sexual relations between blacks and whites. Penalties for violating these Acts included 7 years in prison for the offender, 10 lashes when the male was under 50.