List of people subject to banning orders under apartheid explained

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 This was superseded by the Internal Security Act, 1982.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.^[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.

Some people subject to banning orders

Over 1600 people have been subjected to banning orders.^[5] Prominent among these are:

• Eric Abraham

Banned for intended 5 years in 1976, fled to Botswana in 1977, granted political asylum in UK.

• John Aitchison: banned 1965–1970, 1971–1976.
• Phyllis Altman: Banned in 1964.^[6]
• Jacqueline Arenstein: Banned in 1963, 1973 and 1978.^[7]
• Farouk Asvat: banned 1973 to 1978
• Mabel Balfour: Banned in 1963.^[8]
• Saul Bastomsky: Banned in 1965, emigrated to UK, 1966 to Australia^[9]
• Mary Benson: Banned in 1966.^[10]
• Jean Bernadt: Banned 1959 to 1964.
• Hilda Bernstein: Banned 1953 and 1958.^{[11] [12]}
• Lionel Bernstein: Banned 1950 and 1953.^[13]
• Steve Biko: Banned February 1973 to 1977 (killed in police custody).^{[14] [15] [16] [17] [18]}
• Brian Brown: Banned 17 October 1977 for five years.^[19]
• Peter Brown at South African History Online^[20]
• Dennis Brutus: Banned for 5 years, October 1960.
• Neville Curtis (ex-president of NUSAS): Banned 27 February 1973; restrictions lifted 1976.
• Yusuf Dadoo

Banned 1953 until exile and death in 1983.^[21]

• Lionel Davis: Banned 1971 to 1976.
• Cosmas Desmond: Author of “The Discarded People” which exposed the sufferings of people who were forcibly moved from their homes.
• Patrick Duncan: Banned 1961, 1962; went into exile 1962
• Bettie du Toit: Banned in 1952.^[22]
• Paula Ensor (member of NUSAS): Banned 27 February 1973 to 31 March 1978. Left for Botswana clandestinely in 1976.^{[23] [24]}
• Vic Finkelstein: Banned for five years in 1967 and emigrated to the UK in 1968.^[25]
• Ruth First: Banned 1960 to 1982 (killed in exile by police letter bomb).
• Ela Gandhi: Banned in 1975.
• Alcott 'Skei' Gwentshe: Banned November 1952; sentenced to 9 years in prison for violating the banning order, 26 March 1953.
• Bertha Gxowa: Banned in 1960.^[26]
• Adelaine Hain

Banned in 1963.^[27]

• Viola Hashe: Banned in 1963 until her death in 1977.^[28]
• Ruth Hayman: Banned from 1966 to 1981 (died in exile).
• Sedick Isaacs: Banned from 1977 to 1984.^{[29] [30]}
• Helen Joseph: Banned four times, starting in 1957.
• Ronnie Kasrils: Banned 1962 to 1990.
• Clive Keegan (ex-vice-president of NUSAS): Banned 27 February 1973 for five years; left for Botswana clandestinely in 1976.^{[31] [32]}
• Bennie Khoapa: Banned 1973 to 1978; went into exile 1978.^[33]
• Theo Kotze: Banned 17 October 1977 for five years.
• Sheila Barsel Lapinsky (general secretary of NUSAS): Banned 27 February 1973 to 31 March 1978. The only one of the group of NUSAS members banned on that date to serve her time in the country.^[34]
• Philippe Le Roux (NUSAS member): Banned 27 February 1973 for five years. Left the country on an exit permit.
• Norman Levy: Banned in 1964, left for UK in 1968.^[35]
• Petrus Willem Letlalo (founding member of the ANC): Banned 1960 to 1980, including under banning order number 1527.^[36] Died at the age of 99, after a debilitating stroke in 1981.^[37]
• Albert Lutuli: Banned 1952 to 1967.
• Winnie Madikizela-Mandela
• Elizabeth Mafekeng: Banned in 1959.^[38]
• Mac Maharaj: Banned on release from prison in 1976; went into exile in 1977.^[39]
• Trevor Manuel: Banned 1985 to 1986, banned again 1988.
• Todd Matshikiza^[40]
• Joe Matthews: Banned in 1953 (went into exile in 1960).^[41]
• Cedric Mayson: Banned 17 October 1977 for five years.
• Fatima Meer: Banned in 1952.
• Florence Mkhize: Banned in 1952.
• Mary Moodley: Banned in 1963.^[42]
• Kay Moonsamy: Banned in 1963.
• Josie Mpama: Banned in 1955.^[43]
• H. Selby Msimang: Banned in 1967.^[44]
• Shulamith Muller: Banned in 1962; went into exile in 1962 (died in exile in 1978).^[45]
• Beyers Naudé: Banned 1977 to 1984.
• Rita Ndzanga: Banned in 1964.^[46]
• J. B. Marks: Banned 1950 to 1972 (died in exile).
• Barney Pityana
• Paul Pretorius (NUSAS president): Banned from 27 February 1973 for five years, but his restrictions were lifted in 1976.
• Mamphela Ramphele

Banned 1977 to 1984.

• Peter Ralph Randall: Banned 17 October 1977 for five years.
• Robert Resha:^[47] Banned 1961 (died in exile in 1973).^[48]
• Ian Robertson (NUSAS president): Banned 1966 to 1971.^{[49] [50]}
• Marius Schoon: Banned 1976 to 1990.
• Jeanette 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]
• Dulcie September: Banned 1969 to 1973 (assassinated outside the ANC's Paris office in 1988).
• Annie Silinga
• Walter Sisulu: Banned 1955 to 1990.
• Robert Sobukwe: Banned 1969 to 1978.
• Barry Streek, withdrawn shortly after banning.^[53]
• Oliver Tambo: Banned 1959 to 1990.
• Rick Turner: Banned 27 February 1973, murdered 1978.
• Chris Wood: Banned 27 February 1973 (left for Botswana clandestinely in 1976).
• Dorothy Williams

Banned 1964 to 1969.^[54]

• Donald Woods: Banned 1977 to 1990 (fled South Africa on New Year's Eve 1977).

See also

• Banned persons law
• House arrest

Further reading

• People banned under apartheid (at South African History Online)

Notes and References

1. https://www.sahistory.org.za/archive/suppression-of-communism-act%2C-act-no-44-of-1950 Suppression of Communism Act, 1950
2. https://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/number-banned-persons-south-africa-totals-936 Number of banned persons in South Africa totals 936
3. Web site: Suppression of Communism, Act no. 44 of 1950, full text PDF . 30 October 2018 . 30 October 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181030171957/https://www.sahistory.org.za/sites/default/files/DC/leg19500717.028.020.044/leg19500717.028.020.044.pdf . live .
4. Web site: South Africa profile – Timeline – BBC News . 21 July 2018 . 5 May 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180505184857/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14094918 . live .
5. Web site: Banned People in Apartheid-era South Africa . Overcoming Apartheid . . 18 June 2022 . 22 May 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220522192625/https://overcomingapartheid.msu.edu/sidebar.php?kid=163-581-1 . live .
6. News: Phyllis Altman. Herbstein. Denis. 24 September 1999. The Guardian. 10 September 2016. 1 November 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231101104929/https://www.theguardian.com/news/1999/sep/25/guardianobituaries1. live.
7. Web site: Jacqueline (Jackie) Arenstein . South African History Online . 30 April 2019 . 30 April 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190430161544/https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/jacqueline-jackie-arenstein . live .
8. Book: Berger, Iris. Threads of Solidarity: Women in South African Industry, 1900–1980. Indiana University Press. 1992. 978-0-85255-077-9. 267. 2 December 2021. 18 October 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231018180236/https://books.google.com/books?id=eXl9aGN5WGAC&dq=%22mabel+balfour%22+sactu&pg=PA168. live.
9. Web site: Hooper-Box . Caroline . 2003-12-07 . Who was on the apartheid police spy list? . IOL . 6 August 2017 . 7 August 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170807021251/http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/who-was-on-the-apartheid-police-spy-list-118479 . live .
10. Web site: David Clover . No Easy Walk to Freedom: Nelson Mandela in the Archives . Senate House Library . 16 December 2013 . 22 October 2016 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20161022093521/http://www.senatehouselibrary.ac.uk/blog/no-easy-walk-freedom-nelson-mandela-archives . 22 October 2016., p. 49
11. Web site: Hilda Bernstein, author, fighter for womens rights, Luthuli award winner - Profile . 2024-05-09 . www.rusty-bernstein.com . 22 October 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181022173546/http://www.rusty-bernstein.com/profile_hilda_bernstein.htm . live .
12. Web site: 2006-09-19 . Hilda Bernstein . 2024-05-09 . The Independent . en . 31 October 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181031005204/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/hilda-bernstein-416691.html . live .
13. Web site: Treason trial to Rivonia - Rusty (Lionel) Bernstein . 2024-05-09 . www.rusty-bernstein.com . 22 October 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181022012559/http://www.rusty-bernstein.com/profile_rusty_bernstein.htm . live .
14. Web site: Forster . Katie . 2016-12-18 . Five things you didn’t know about anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko . 2024-05-09 . The Independent . en . 1 November 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231101015300/https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/steve-biko-google-doodle-who-five-things-anti-apartheid-south-africa-activist-birthday-a7482486.html . live .
15. Book: Woods, Donald . Biko . New York and London . Paddington Press . 1978 . 0-8050-1899-9 . 49 .
16. Book: Mangcu, Xolela . Biko: A Life . 2014 . London and New York . I. B. Tauris . 190 . 978-1-78076-785-7.
17. Hadfield . Leslie . 2010 . Biko, Black Consciousness, and 'the System' eZinyoka: Oral History and Black Consciousness in Practice in a Rural Ciskei Village . South African Historical Journal . 62 . 1 . 10.1080/02582471003778342 . 84 . 143822840.
18. Book: Hill, Shannen L. . Biko's Ghost: The Iconography of Black Consciousness . Minneapolis . University of Minnesota Press . 2015 . 978-0-8166-7636-1 . 151.
19. Cited in article on Peter Ralph Randall
20. Web site: 2004-07-06 . Peter Brown Obituary . The Independent . 30 October 2018 . 31 October 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181031012240/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/peter-brown-550049.html . live .
21. Web site: South African History Online. The Freedom Charter is adopted in Kliptown: Sunday, 26 June 1955. 22 June 2018. 17 March 2019. 14 August 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200814085959/https://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/freedom-charter-adopted-kliptown. live.
22. Web site: Bettie du Toit. 29 June 2012. South African History Online. 3 September 2016. 16 September 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160916154726/http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/bettie-du-toit. live.
23. https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/paula-margaret-ensor Paula Ensor
24. http://tshisimani.org.za/staff/paula-ensor/ Paul Ensor
25. Web site: Vic Finkelstein: Academic anddisability activist. The Independent. 16 December 2011. Sutherland. Allan. 30 September 2020. 22 July 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190722013515/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/vic-finkelstein-academic-anddisability-activist-6277679.html. live.
26. News: ANC Veteran, Bertha Gxowa, Dies. 19 November 2010. SA News. 4 September 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160923114710/http://www.sanews.gov.za/features/anc-veteran-bertha-gxowa-dies. 2016-09-23. dead.
27. Web site: Anti-apartheid activist Adelaine Hain dies aged 92. IOL News. en. 2020-01-04. 4 January 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200104043255/https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/anti-apartheid-activist-adelaine-hain-dies-aged-92-32656827. live.
28. Web site: Viola Hashe. 23 January 2013. South African History Online. 3 September 2016. 23 September 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160923123113/http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/viola-hashe. live.
29. Web site: My heart goes through leaps and bounds. 19 October 2012. www.ihrc.org.uk. 3 June 2020. 3 June 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200603193535/https://www.ihrc.org.uk/news/comment/10308-my-heart-goes-through-leaps-and-bounds/. live.
30. Web site: Sedick Isaacs. 20 March 2012. www.sahistory.org.za. 3 June 2020. 3 June 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200603111622/https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/sedick-isaacs. live.
31. Web site: Banning orders served on NUSAS leaders. 16 March 2011. www.sahistory.org.za. 30 September 2020. 9 August 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190809200622/https://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/banning-orders-served-nusas-leaders. live.
32. Book: The Road to Democracy in South Africa: 1970–1980. 864. Volume 2 of Road to Democracy. Unisa. South African Democracy Education Trust. 2004. 978-1-86888-406-3. 18 July 2019. 18 October 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231018180358/https://books.google.com/books?id=JGE-XB5QlD8C&dq=clive+keegan+tasmania&pg=PA864. live.
33. Web site: Bennie Khoapa Khoapa. 23 March 2012. www.sahistory.org.za. 16 June 2016. 27 May 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160527125105/http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/bennie-khoapa-khoapa. live.
34. https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/sheila-lapinsky-nee-barsel Sheila Lapinsky nee Barsel
35. Interview with Deborah Levy. The White Review. Jacques. Testard. August 2013. 1 February 2022. 2 February 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220202024915/https://www.thewhitereview.org/feature/interview-deborah-levy/. live.
36. Web site: South African Dept. of Justice list of banned persons. 23 September 2020. 10 May 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240510192952/http://www.historicalpapers.wits.ac.za/inventories/inv_pdfo/A3302/A3302-1-01-jpeg.pdf. live.
37. Web site: 1969 UN List of Opponents to Apartheid Subjected to Banning Orders in South Africa. 23 September 2020. 19 June 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220619072224/http://psimg.jstor.org/fsi/img/pdf/t0/10.5555/al.sff.document.nuun1969_13_final.pdf. dead.
38. Web site: Food and Allied Workers Union. www.fawu.org.za. 22 September 2016. 11 December 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161211102805/http://www.fawu.org.za/index.php?include=veterans/mafikeng.html. live.
39. Web site: TRC testimony of Mac Maharaj. www.justice.gov.za. 2 November 1998. 30 September 2020. 28 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171228091959/http://www.justice.gov.za/trc/amntrans/1998/98110206_pre_98112pta.htm. live.
40. Book: Matshikiza, John . John Matshikiza . Sonderling . Nelly E. . 1999 . Matshika, Todd Tazoma . https://archive.org/details/newdictionaryofs0002unse_n5k9/page/102/mode/1up . registration . New Dictionary of South African Biography . 2 . Pretoria . Vista University . 102–104 . 1-86828-133-7 . Internet Archive.
41. Web site: Vincent Joseph Gaobakwe Matthews South African History Online . 29 October 2017 . 30 October 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171030040838/http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/vincent-joseph-gaobakwe-matthews . live .
42. Book: Human Sciences Research Council. Women Marching Into the 21st Century: Wathint' abafazi, wathint' imbokodo. HSRC Press. 2000. 978-0-7969-1966-3. 33–34. 2 December 2021. 18 October 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231018180030/https://books.google.com/books?id=YgzGqNhLY1UC&dq=%22south%20african%20coloured%20people%27s%20congress%22%20moodley&pg=PA35. live.
43. Book: Edgar, Robert R.. Josie Mpama/Palmer: Get Up and Get Moving. 22 April 2020. 978-0-8214-4094-0. Athens, Ohio. 1155989728. 7 January 2021. 10 May 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240510193314/https://search.worldcat.org/title/1155989728. live.
44. Web site: March 1997 . Alan Stewart Paton (1903-1988) . Concord . 14 April 2024 . 26 November 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221126182121/https://paton.ukzn.ac.za/?mdocs-file=1659 . live .
45. Web site: Shulamith Muller. 12 September 2011. South African History Online. 12 September 2016. 23 September 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160923121546/http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/shulamith-muller. live.
46. Web site: Organize... or Starve! - The History of the SACTU. Luckhardt. Wall. South African Congress of Trade Unions. South African History Online. 7 September 2016. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160822091136/http://v1.sahistory.org.za/pages/governence-projects/organisations/SACTU/09_women-play-role.htm. 22 August 2016.
47. Book: Martin Meredith

    . Nelson Mandela: A Biography . Public Affairs Books . Meredith, Martin . Martin Meredith . 1999 . United States.

48. Web site: Robert M. Resha South African History Online . 29 October 2017 . 29 October 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171029173411/http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/robert-m-resha . live .
49. Web site: NUSAS President Ian Robertson is banned . South African History Online . 8 March 2019 . 27 March 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190327085725/https://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/nusas-president-ian-robertson-banned . live .
50. Web site: Kennedy and South Africa . The Harvard Crimson . 8 March 2019 . 1 December 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201201003318/https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1966/5/18/kennedy-and-south-africa-pthe-last/ . live .
51. Web site: Jeanette Eva Schoon (née Curtis). South African History Online. 15 August 2012. 18 July 2019. 10 May 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240510193350/https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/jeanette-eva-schoon-nee-curtis. live.
52. Web site: Jeannette Schoon and her daughter are killed by a letter bomb. 16 March 2011. www.sahistory.org.za. 17 December 2014. 5 March 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150305042909/http://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/jeannette-schoon-and-her-daughter-are-killed-letter-bomb. live.
53. Web site: Skeletons in the Rhodes Cupboard: What Should Be Done about Them? . https://web.archive.org/web/20110927144243/https://codesria.org/IMG/pdf/Barry_Streek.pdf . 27 September 2011 . 2005-01-09 . African Sociological Review (CODESRIA).
54. News: Dorothy Williams obituary. Williams. Clifford. 2011-05-05. The Guardian. 2020-01-03. en-GB. 0261-3077. 10 May 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240510193318/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/may/05/dorothy-williams-obituary. live.