As most of the laws aimed at Asiatic settlers in South Africa were an attempt by Europeans to exhibit their power and control over the Indians; the Black Act was no exception. At the time " The Transvaal government considered that the existing laws did not provide adequately for preventing the surreptitious infiltration of Indians into the Transvaal and for deporting unauthorized residents," (Chada, 1998). Therefore on August twenty-second, nineteen-o-six, a draft entitled Asiatic Law Amendment Ordinance was composed and published in the Government Gazette. It specifically expressed that " All Indian men, women, and children over eight years of age must submit to being fingerprinted, and should also receive a certificate of registration which they must carry with them at all times and produce on demand. Every Indian who failed to register would forfeit his right of residence in the Transvaal and render himself to fine, imprisonment, or deportation and failure or refusal to produce a certificate on demand by a police officer was also made a punishable offense," (Chada, 1998). Defiance of this law would test each Indians commitment to Satyagraha and in the process the Satyagrahi could lose his job, his land, and his right to live in South Africa. Gandhi addressed the bill and felt that it was "Designed to strike at the very root of our existence in South Africa...It is not the last step but the first step with a view to hounding us out of the country ," (Gandhi, 1927). Under Gandhi's strict leadership followers vowed " They would rather suffer the penalties than submit to the Black Ordinance," (Chada, 1998). Gandhi's first step, as it was in every situation, was to exhaust all legal and constitutional methods imaginable to prevent the Act from becoming law. Clearly, the Black Act was discriminatory and an attempt by the British people to suppress the Indians. Unfortunately, Gandhi's legal attempts were unsuccessful and the law was passed on March twenty-second, nineteen-o-seven, and all Indians were required to register under it by July thirty-first. The second step of Gandhi's strategy was to hence initiate the Passive Resistance Association, which latter was renamed the Satyagraha Association. A member of the Satyagraha association vowed never to use any form of violent force, and excepted all suffering as a means to end discrimination, exploitation, and oppression. Volunteers picketed the permit offices and were " To obey the police and if arrested, go to the police station quietly and peacefully," (Chada, 1998). If an occasion arose where they were subjected to police brutality, they would "Suffer in silence," (Merton, 1964). As the struggle advanced Gandhi found the name Passive Resistance inadequate to express its real meaning. Moreover, he wanted an Indian name for this basically Indian movement. Hence Gandhi adopted the word Satyagraha. When it came time to register under the act, only five percent of the Indian community took out "The bond of slavery," (Gandhi, 1927) though the limit for registration was extended again and again. Consequently, many Indians were imprisoned for their disobedience of the law, and Gandhi in the spirit of Satyagraha, asked for the heaviest penalty provided by the law, which was six months hard labor and a fine of five hundred rupees. The magistrate, however, decided that an appropriate punishment would be two months imprisonment without hard labor. All the suffering and struggles endured by the Indians nonetheless proved enough to administer a compromise, or so it seemed. A draft presented to Gandhi proposed that " The Indians should register voluntarily, and not under any law, and that the details to be entered in the certificates should be settled by the government with the Indian community," (Chada, 1998). It was also proposed that if the majority of Indians underwent voluntary registration, the government would repel the Black Act and take steps to legalize

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