In the build up to the launch of the #SABCNews Democracy 30 project on 26 April 2024, #UpdateAtNoon zooms in on the Reservation of Separate Amenities Act and how late Labour Party Leader, Allan Hendrickse challenged it

As South Africa marks 30 years of Democracy, SABC News is gearing up to launch a programme dedicated to marking this important milestone. In the build-up to the launch of SABC News' Democracy 30 project on 26 April 2024, Update@Noon zooms in on the Reservation of Separate Amenities Act, which came into effect in 1953. The act was one of the pieces of segregationist legislation enacted by the Apartheid regime to divide South Africans, while also reserving the greatest share of public services for white South Africans. The statute was in effect until 1990, when it was eventually repealed. Opposition to this act was widespread and ongoing, but none was more prominent than Allan Hendrickse, the Labour Party leader, swimming on a whites only the beach in 1987. He disobeyed the law by taking to the water on Kings Beach in Port Elizabeth while serving in PW Botha's cabinet. Botha made him apologize for the stunt, but the message was conveyed, and the world watched. SABC News reporter, Ntombozukho Balintulo filed this report.