4 July 1973
The South African government introduced this the Bantu Labour Relations Regulation Act in the wake of wide-spread labour unrest to set up a limited system of collective bargaining rights for Blacks. The conditions under which Africans - for the first time - had the legal right to strike, the procedures to be followed, and the exclusion from certain essential services categories of workers were laid down. Due to various restrictions and apartheid still being imposed on labour unions, many Black trade unions were not interested in registration.
Source:
Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood.
Liebenberg, B.J. & Spies, S.B. (eds)(1993). South Africa in the 20th Century, Pretoria: Van Schaik Academic.