The Natives Land Act of 1913

The Natives Land Act of 1913 was a law enacted in South Africa that severely restricted Black South Africans from owning land. It designated only a small portion of the country's land—about 7-8%—for Black people to own, primarily in designated reserves, while the majority of land was reserved for white ownership and settlement. This act aimed to segregate land usage along racial lines, limiting economic opportunities for Black people and laying the groundwork for widespread racial inequality and dispossession that persisted throughout apartheid and beyond.