A five-day conference of the South African Indian Congress (SAIC) held in Cape Town, unanimously resolved to oppose the proposed Asiatic Land Tenure and Indian Representation Act (No. 28 of 1946) or "Ghetto Act". The Act deprived the Asian South Africans of communal representation and took away their fundamental and elementary right of land ownership and occupation. It was known as the "Ghetto Act" because it was thought to have reduced the opportunities of the masses of the Indian people to earn a decent living and ultimately condemn them to exist in increasingly over-crowded slums.
During the conference, a large deputation of sixty Indians called on the prime minister, General J.C. Smuts, on 11 February and urged him to postpone the legislation, pending a proposed round table conference with India. The SAIC proceeded immediately to prepare the Indian people of South Africa for concerted and prolonged resistance, which started in June and continued for several months. Delegations were also sent to India, Britain and the United States.
The Indian government protested against the Act by breaking off trade relations with South Africa and recalling its representative. In June 1946, India requested the secretary-general of the United Nations to put South Africa's treatment of the Indian population on the agenda of the General Assembly.
This Day in History: 12 February 1946
