The Criminal Law Amendments Act of 1953 was passed as a response to the Defiance Campaign. The Defiance Campaign was one of the first rebellions against the Apartheid. Thousands of volunteers rebelled against these discrimination laws and were imprisoned.
The Criminal Law Amendments Act was enacted to control the citizens. The act gave the government more power to prosecute citizens of the country who disagreed with any law of the country. Not only did this make any person guilty who actively opposed the law, it made passive resistance to the law illegal.
There were severe penalties for any person opposing the law. The most minor was a small fine and the most severe was whipping and prison time.
The effects of this act were that many citizens of South Africa were arrested and beaten. This gave the government(whites) an excessive amount of power and made the provisions of the Apartheid worse. Citizens were discriminated and prosecuted against even more than before this act.
I disagree with this act. It is evident that the Apartheid in South Africa was wrong. Discriminating against someone based on their skin color, race, sexual orientation, or gender is wrong, but it is something that will always be present in the world.
This act is similar to the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, especially the south. African Americans were the only group discriminated against, and when they rebelled they were arrested and beaten.
I have always thought of South Africa and other countries in the east as very different from the United States in terms of human rights. However, during this time period, the United States was similar in threatening certain groups of people.
QU South Africa 