‘A sin against our civilisation’: South Africa’s 1927 Immorality Act and the Criminalisation of Interracial Love, 1920–1948

Abstract

ABSTRACT In 1927 South Africa passed the Immorality Act prohibiting miscegenation. The act was distinctly gendered in its composition and implementation, codifying a double standard against women. The Immorality Act not only policed miscegenation but consensual interracial sex and sex work, tacitly acknowledging that love could exist across racial lines. Almost immediately a pattern emerged where different convictions occurred for the same crime. Men and women were charged separately, resulting in disproportionate prosecution of black women. Courts were hesitant to accept black women’s evidence in white men’s trials, leading to biased outcomes. This article explores the gendered implementation of the act from 1920 to 1948 using archival documents and newspaper articles. The voices of women are not accurately represented in the colonial archive, and instances of love and intimacy even less so. The article assesses the impact of the act on the creation of South African legal culture.