June 17: On This Day in 1991 - South Africa Repeal of Apartheid Law

June 17, 1991: On this day, the Parliament of South Africa repealed the Population Registration Act, removing the law that was the foundation of apartheid. The law, first enacted in 1950, required the classification by race of all South Africans at birth. It established four compulsory racial categories: black, white, mixed race and Asian. Although this marked the removal of the last of the apartheid laws, blacks in South Africa still could not vote.