Extension of University Education Act, 1959
The Extension of University Education Act, Act 45 of 1959, formed part of the apartheid system of racial segregation in South Africa. This act made it a criminal offense for a non-white student to register at a formerly open university without the written permission of the Minister of Internal Affairs. New universities were then established for various non-white groups. Background Prior to the passing of the University Education Act, in 1958, students classified as Black, Asian, or Coloured accounted for only 17% of the students in white universities. From 1959 there were few options for non-whites. The University of Fort Hare was open to Xhosa speakers, the University of Natal's medical school was given an exemption to admit only non-whites and University of South Africa (UNISA), a correspondence university, was open to all races. The emphasis now was also to separate the non-whites, classifying them to universities based on certain ethnic groups. New universities were opened. The University of the Western Cape (1959) was established in Bellville for coloureds, the University of Zululand (1960) at Ngoye was created in Zululand for Zulus. The University College for Indians (1972) was established at Durban in Natal Province after the establishment of University