South Africa Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! === Independence === {{See also|Union of South Africa|Military history of South Africa during World War I|Military history of South Africa during World War II}} Anti-British policies among white South Africans focused on independence. During the Dutch and British colonial years, [[racial segregation]] was mostly informal, though some legislation was enacted to control the settlement and movement of indigenous people, including the [[Native Location Act of 1879]] and the system of [[pass laws]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Bond|first=Patrick|title=Cities of gold, townships of coal: essays on South Africa's new urban crisis|publisher=Africa World Press|year=1999|page=140|isbn=978-0-86543-611-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite report|year=1906|title=Report of the Select Committee on Location Act|publisher=Cape Times Limited|url=https://archive.org/details/reportoftheselec00capeiala|access-date=30 July 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite report|last1=Godley |first1=Godfrey |first2=Welsh|last2=Archibald|last3=Thomson |first3=William |last4=Hemsworth |first4=H. D.|year=1920|title=Report of the Inter-departmental committee on the native pass laws|url=https://archive.org/stream/reportofinterdep00sout#page/2/mode/1up|publisher=Cape Times Limited|page=2}}</ref><ref>{{cite report|institution=Great Britain Colonial Office; Transvaal (Colony). Governor (1901–1905: Milner)|date=January 1902|title=Papers relating to legislation affecting natives in the Transvaal|url=https://archive.org/details/transvaalpapersr00grea}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=De Villiers|first=John Abraham Jacob|title=The Transvaal |publisher=Chatto & Windus|location=London|year=1896|pages=[https://archive.org/details/transvaal00devi/page/30 30] (n46)|url=https://archive.org/details/transvaal00devi|access-date=30 July 2009}}</ref> Eight years after the end of the Second Boer War and after four years of negotiation, the [[South Africa Act 1909]] granted nominal independence while creating the [[Union of South Africa]] on 31 May 1910. The union was a [[dominion]] that included the former territories of the Cape, Transvaal and Natal colonies, as well as the Orange Free State republic.<ref>{{Cite EB1911|first=Frank Richardson|last=Cana|wstitle=South Africa|volume=25|page=467}}</ref> The [[Natives Land Act, 1913|Natives' Land Act]] of 1913 severely restricted the ownership of land by blacks; at that stage they controlled only 7% of the country. The amount of land reserved for indigenous peoples was later marginally increased.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/chronology/thisday/1913-06-19.htm|title=Native Land Act|publisher=South African Institute of Race Relations|date=19 June 1913|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101014095049/http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/chronology/thisday/1913-06-19.htm|archive-date=14 October 2010 }}</ref> In 1931, the union became fully sovereign from the United Kingdom with the passage of the [[Statute of Westminster 1931|Statute of Westminster]], which abolished the last powers of the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom]] to legislate in the country. Only three other African countries—Liberia, Ethiopia, and Egypt—had been independent prior to that point. In 1934, the [[South African Party]] and [[National Party (South Africa)|National Party]] merged to form the [[United Party (South Africa)|United Party]], seeking reconciliation between Afrikaners and English-speaking whites. In 1939, the party split over the entry of the union into World War II, as an ally of the United Kingdom, a move which National Party followers opposed.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/national-party-np|title=National Party (NP) | South African History Online|website=www.sahistory.org.za}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page