The Natives Resettlement Act, Act No 19 of 1954 is passed

Updated: 1 Aug 2022

The Natives Resettlement Act, Act No 19 of 1954 empowered the Government to remove Africans from any area within and next to the magisterial district of Johannesburg. Subsequently, less than a year after the Act was passed Sophiatown residents were forcefully removed to Meadowlands in Soweto. In January 1955 the government deployed security police in Sophiatown in anticipation of a major resistance effort against forced removals. A month later residents were loaded on to trucks with their goods and forced to relocate to Soweto. One of the townships that managed to survive forced removals was the Alexander Township, which turned 100 years in 2012.

How we know this

01South African History Online, ‘Sophiatown’, [online], available at www.sahistory.org.za (Accessed: 25 June 2012)
02Joburg, ‘It’s Sophiatown again after 50 years’, [online], available at www.joburgnews.co.za (Accessed: 25 June 2012)

Last updated · 1 Aug 2022

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2012, July 27). The Natives Resettlement Act, Act No 19 of 1954 is passed. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0089125

South African History Online (2012) 'The Natives Resettlement Act, Act No 19 of 1954 is passed', South African History Online, 27 July. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0089125 (Accessed: 17 October 2026).

South African History Online, The Natives Resettlement Act, Act No 19 of 1954 is passed [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0089125, (accessed 17 October 2026).

"The Natives Resettlement Act, Act No 19 of 1954 is passed." South African History Online, 27 July 2012, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0089125. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

South African History Online. "The Natives Resettlement Act, Act No 19 of 1954 is passed." South African History Online. July 27, 2012. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0089125.