Race and Colour

A person who is "obviously in appearance white" and is 'generally accepted as a white person" may not be classified as a white person if one of his natural parents has been classified as a coloured person.

An African is "a person who in fact is or is generally accepted as a member of any aboriginal race or tribe of Africa".

A coloured person is "a person who is not a white person or an African'.

A person who is not in fact an African, but "in appearance obviously is an African" will be classified as such in the population register, unless he discharges the onus of proving that he is not in fact and is not generally accepted as African.

A man who "in appearance obviously is a white person" must be classified as a coloured person, if one of his natural parents has been classified as a white person and the other as a coloured person.

In deciding whether or not a person is "in appearance obviously a white person' the official concerned must take into account such person s "habits, education, speech, deportment and demeanour in general".

If a person "in appearance obviously not a white person" is "generally accepted as a white person" in the area where he is employed, but is not so accepted in the area where he lives, he may not be classified as a white person.

Even twenty-five years after a person has been classified in the population register as a white person and issued with the corresponding identity card, the Secretary of the Interior has the right to seek such person's reclassification.