Native governance in Natal was the essence of colonial absolutism: rule by decree, without judicial or parliamentary restraint. That approach continued after South Africa became independent. The South Africa Act of 1909, the law that was the basis of union, vested control over native affairs in the governor-general, not in Parliament, ensuring that natives would continue to live under a distinct legal system that amounted to a dictatorship in which all power flowed from a single official.
