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eventREF E-0095244Revised

12 March 1980

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

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

Updated
30 Sep 2019
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.

How we know this

  1. 01O’Malley, P. ‘1980’, From Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory, [online], available, at: www.nelsonmandela.org.za(Accessed: 08 February 2013)
  2. 02South African History Online ‘Commencement of the Immorality Act’,From:South African History Online [online], available at: www.sahistory.org.za(Accessed: 07 February 2013)
  3. 03Fact index ‘Immorality Act’,From:Fact Index,[online], available at: www.fact-index.com(Accessed: 08 February 2013)

Last updated · 30 Sep 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2013, March 7). Black, Coloured and Indian churches issues a statement on Immorality Act and the Mixed Marriages Act. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0095244

South African History Online (2013) 'Black, Coloured and Indian churches issues a statement on Immorality Act and the Mixed Marriages Act', South African History Online, 7 March. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0095244 (Accessed: 22 October 2026).

South African History Online, Black, Coloured and Indian churches issues a statement on Immorality Act and the Mixed Marriages Act [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0095244, (accessed 22 October 2026).

"Black, Coloured and Indian churches issues a statement on Immorality Act and the Mixed Marriages Act." South African History Online, 7 Mar. 2013, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0095244. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

South African History Online. "Black, Coloured and Indian churches issues a statement on Immorality Act and the Mixed Marriages Act." South African History Online. March 7, 2013. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0095244.

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