List of people subject to banning orders under apartheid
This is a selection of people subject to a "banning order" by the apartheid-era South African government. Banning was a repressive and extrajudicial measure[1] used by the South African apartheid regime (1948–1994) against its political opponents.[2] The legislative authority for banning orders was firstly the Suppression of Communism Act, 1950,[3] which defined virtually all opposition to the ruling National Party as communism. This was superseded by the Internal Security Act, 1982. The regime ceased to deploy bannings and lifted all remaining banning orders in 1990, in the run-up to the advent of democracy in South Africa in 1994.[2][4]
A banning order entailed restrictions on where the banned person could live and who they could have contact with, required that they report weekly to a police station, and proscribed them from travelling outside a specific magisterial district. The banned person was prohibited from attending meetings of any kind, speaking in public, or publishing or distributing any written material. It proscribed broadcasters and the press from broadcasting, publishing or reporting the banned person's words. It thus mixed elements of exile, suppression orders and censorship. The prohibition on attending meetings meant that the banned person could not be with more than one other person at a time. The banned person was forbidden all contact with other banned persons and was forbidden to engage in any political activity. The penalty for violating a banning order was up to five years in prison.
: Banned for intended 5 years in 1976, fled to Botswana in 1977, granted political asylum in UK.
Eric Abraham
John Aitchison: banned 1965–1970, 1971–1976.
Farouk Asvat: banned 1973 to 1978
: Banned 1959 to 1964.
Jean Bernadt
Brian Brown: Banned 17 October 1977 for five years.
[19]
: Banned for 5 years, October 1960.
Dennis Brutus
: Banned 1971 to 1976.
Lionel Davis
: Author of “The Discarded People” which exposed the sufferings of people who were forcibly moved from their homes.
Cosmas Desmond
: Banned 1961, 1962; went into exile 1962
Patrick Duncan
: Banned 1960 to 1982 (killed in exile by police letter bomb).
Ruth First
: Banned in 1975.
Ela Gandhi
: Banned November 1952; sentenced to 9 years in prison for violating the banning order, 26 March 1953.
Alcott 'Skei' Gwentshe
: Banned from 1966 to 1981 (died in exile).
Ruth Hayman
: Banned four times, starting in 1957.
Helen Joseph
: Banned 1962 to 1990.
Ronnie Kasrils
Clive Keegan (ex-vice-president of NUSAS): Banned 27 February 1973 for five years; left for Botswana clandestinely in 1976.[22]
[21]
Theo Kotze: Banned 17 October 1977 for five years.
[19]
Philippe Le Roux (NUSAS member): Banned 27 February 1973 for five years. Left the country on an exit permit.[22]
[21]
: Banned 1952 to 1967.
Albert Lutuli
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela
: Banned 1985 to 1986, banned again 1988.
Trevor Manuel
Cedric Mayson: Banned 17 October 1977 for five years.
[19]
: Banned in 1952.
Fatima Meer
: Banned in 1952.
Florence Mkhize
: Banned in 1963.
Kay Moonsamy
: Banned 1977 to 1984.
Beyers Naudé
: Banned 1950 to 1972 (died in exile).
J. B. Marks
Barney Pityana
: Banned 17 October 1977 for five years.
Peter Ralph Randall
: Banned 1976 to 1990.
Marius Schoon
(née Curtis), former member of the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU), wife of Marius Schoon and sister of Neville Curtis: Banned 1976 for five years.[51] Murdered in exile in Angola by a letter bomb delivered by Craig Williamson, a spy for the security police, along with her six-year-old daughter.[52]
Jeanette Schoon
: Banned 1969 to 1973 (assassinated outside the ANC's Paris office in 1988).
Dulcie September
Annie Silinga
: Banned 1955 to 1990.
Walter Sisulu
: Banned 1969 to 1978.
Robert Sobukwe
: Banned 1959 to 1990.
Oliver Tambo
: Banned 1977 to 1990 (fled South Africa on New Year's Eve 1977).
Donald Woods
Over 1600 people have been subjected to banning orders.[5] Prominent among these are:
Banned persons law
House arrest
(at South African History Online)