In 1951, all inter-racial property exchanges were prohibited in East London. In 1955, the Amalinda area was zoned as a White Group Area by Government Gazette Proclamation number 21. This meant that the municipality's plans to extend the area in order to accommodate the Black African population were abandoned. In 1953, residents in the East Bank were forcibly moved to the new township of Mdantsane. In February 1966, the South African government defined Mdantsane as a separate homeland township. In 1956, President Henrik Verwoerd, who was the architect of apartheid, forbade the East London municipality from extending the existing Duncan Village township and sanctioned the building of Mdantsane.