South Africa's Suppression of Communism Act lets the government ban publications and restrict individuals
Under Prime Minister Daniel François Malan, South Africa's parliament approved the Suppression of Communism Act in 1950, defining communism broadly enough to cover most opposition to apartheid. It let the government ban organizations and publications and forbid banned individuals from being quoted at all.123
- Country
- South Africa (RSF 2026 rank: 21st of 180)
- Where
- ZA
- Level of government
- National
- Tactics
- Prior restraint, Detention and violence, Licensing and closure of outlets
- Stage
- Silence (see the ladder)
- Head of government at the time
- Daniel François Malan
- Issue of the day
- South Africa's National Party government, elected in 1948 on a platform of apartheid racial segregation, used the act to suppress the Communist Party of South Africa and, more broadly, organized political opposition to its policies.
- Outcome
- Reversed, February 2, 1990. The government lifted bans on individuals and organizations under the act and its successors on February 2, 1990, as State President F. W. de Klerk began dismantling apartheid.
- Era
- The 1950s
What happened
South Africa's parliament, under the National Party government of Prime Minister Daniel François Malan, approved the Suppression of Communism Act on March 17, 1950, two years after the party came to power on its apartheid platform. The law defined communism so broadly that it covered almost any opposition to the government's racial policies, not only formal Communist Party activity. It empowered the government to detain and to ban individuals and organizations it judged likely to further communism as the act defined it, and made it a criminal offense to publish, print or in any way distribute anything said or written by a banned person, effectively erasing them from public print entirely. The Communist Party of South Africa itself dissolved days after the law's approval rather than operate under it. Over the following four decades, more than 2,000 people were subjected to banning orders under the act and its successors before the last such bans were lifted in February 1990.123
What reason was given
The government said the act was needed to suppress communism, which the law itself defined broadly enough to include any activity aimed at bringing about political, industrial, social or economic change through means the Act deemed banned, or disorder, covering most organized opposition to apartheid.2
What changed for reporting
Newspapers and other publications could not legally publish anything said or written by a person the government had banned, suppressing banned anti-apartheid activists and writers in the South African press entirely for as long as their bans lasted.3
Timeline
1950
Who acted
| Name | Role in this incident | Office at the time |
|---|---|---|
| Daniel François Malan | announced | Prime Minister of South Africa |
Sources
- Suppression of Communism Act 44 of 1950 severely limits what the media could report
- Suppression of Communism Act
Claims cited
- The Suppression of Communism Act was one of the most infamous of all security laws during the apartheid era, and it severely limited what the media could report.
One of the most infamous of all security laws during the apartheid era, it severely limited what the media could report
Suppression of Communism Act 44 of 1950 severely limits what the media could report, South African History Online. Claim 174, checked 2026-09-22. - The act defined communism and its aims broadly enough to include any opposition to the government.
defined communism and its aims broadly to include any opposition to the government
Suppression of Communism Act, Encyclopaedia Britannica. Claim 175, checked 2026-09-22. - People the government banned under the act could not be quoted in publications at all.
could not be quoted in publications
Suppression of Communism Act, Encyclopaedia Britannica. Claim 176, checked 2026-09-22.