Apartheid

33.4.3: Apartheid

The National Party in South Africa imposed apartheid in 1948, which institutionalized racial segregation through a series of legislation that established strict racial classification, forced relocation of nonwhites to “tribal homelands,” and segregated public facilities and institutions.

Learning Objective

Explain what aspects of South African policy comprise the movement referred to as “apartheid”

Key Points

  • Racist legislation during the apartheid era was a continuation and extension of discriminatory and segregationist laws that began in 1856 under Dutch rule in the Cape and continued throughout the country under British colonialism.
  • Beginning in 1948, successive National Party administrations formalized and extended the existing system of racial discrimination and denial of human rights into the legal system of apartheid, which lasted until 1991.
  • While whites enjoyed the highest standard of living in Africa, comparable to that of Western nations, the black majority remained disadvantaged by almost every standard, including income, education, housing, and life expectancy.
  • The first grand apartheid law was the Population Registration Act of 1950, which formalized racial classification and introduced an identity card specifying racial group for everyone older than age 18.
  • The second pillar of grand apartheid was the Group Areas Act of 1950, which put an end to diverse areas and determined where one lived according to race; each race was allotted its own area, which was used in later years as a basis of forced removal to “tribal homelands” known as bantustans.
  • The National Part passed a string of legislation that became known as petty apartheid aimed as segregating South Africa’s social institutions, the first of which was the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act 55 of 1949, prohibiting marriage between whites and people of other races.
  • After a long and sometimes violent struggle by the African National Congress and other anti-apartheid activists both inside and outside the country, discriminatory laws began to be repealed or abolished in 1990.

Key Terms

bantustans
Also known as “homeland,” a territory set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) as part of the policy of apartheid.
National Party
A political party in South Africa founded in 1915 that first became the governing party of the country in 1924. The policies of the party included apartheid, the establishment of a republic, and the promotion of Afrikaner culture.
Nelson Mandela
A South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, politician, and philanthropist who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country’s first black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election. His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid by tackling institutionalized racism and fostering racial reconciliation.
grand apartheid
Apartheid laws that dictated housing and employment opportunities by race.
petty apartheid
Apartheid laws that segregated public facilities and social events.

Overview

Apartheid was a system of institutionalized racial segregation and discrimination in South Africa between 1948 and 1991. Broadly speaking, apartheid was delineated into petty apartheid, which entailed the segregation of public facilities and social events, and grand apartheid, which dictated housing and employment opportunities by race. Prior to the 1940s, some vestiges of apartheid had already emerged in the form of minority rule by white South Africans and the socially enforced separation of black South Africans from other races, which later extended to pass laws and land apportionment. Racist legislation during the apartheid era was a continuation and extension of discriminatory and segregationist laws forming a continuum that commenced in 1856 under Dutch rule in the Cape and continued throughout the country under British colonialism. Apartheid as a policy was embraced by the South African government shortly after the ascension of the National Party (NP) during the country’s 1948 general elections.

Apartheid Legislation

The first piece of apartheid legislation was the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act in 1949, which was followed closely by the Immorality Act of 1950, making it illegal for South African citizens to marry or pursue sexual relationships across racial lines. The Population Registration Act, 1950, classified all South Africans into one of four racial groups based on appearance, known ancestry, socioeconomic status, and cultural lifestyle. NP leaders argued that South Africa did not comprise a single nation, but was made up of four distinct racial groups: White, Black, Coloured and Indian. The Coloured group included people regarded as of mixed descent, including of Bantu, Khoisan, European, and Malay ancestry. Such groups were split into 13 nations or racial federations. White people encompassed the English and Afrikaans language groups; the black populace was divided into ten such groups.

Places of residence were determined by racial classification under the Group Areas Act of 1950. From 1960 to 1983, 3.5 million nonwhite South Africans were removed from their homes and forced into segregated neighborhoods in one of the largest mass removals in modern history. Most of these targeted removals were intended to restrict the black population to ten designated “tribal homelands,” also known as bantustans, four of which become nominally independent states. These removals included people relocated due to slum clearance programs, labor tenants on white-owned farms, the inhabitants of the so-called “black spots” (black-owned land surrounded by white farms), the families of workers living in townships close to the homelands, and “surplus people” from urban areas, including thousands of people from the Western Cape. The government announced that relocated persons would lose their South African citizenship as they were absorbed into the bantustans.

Map of South Africa showing the locations of bantustans.

Bantustans in South Africa: A key act of legislation during Apartheid was the Homeland Citizens Act of 1970. It authorized the forced removals of thousands of African people from urban centers in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) to what became described colloquially as “Bantustans” or the “original homes.”

The NP also passed a string of legislation that became known as petty apartheid. Acts passed under petty apartheid were meant to separate nonwhites from daily life. Blacks were not allowed to run businesses or professional practices in areas designated as “white South Africa” unless they had a permit. Transport and civil facilities were segregated. Black buses stopped at black bus stops and white buses at white ones. Trains, hospitals, and ambulances were segregated. Because there were fewer white patients and white doctors preferred to work in white hospitals, conditions in white hospitals were much better than those in often overcrowded and understaffed black hospitals.

Photo of a sign on a Durban beach that reserves it "for the sole use of members of the white race group", in English, Afrikaans, and Zulu.

Petty Apartheid: Sign reserving a Natal beach “for the sole use of members of the white race group,” in English, Afrikaans, and Zulu. Acts passed under petty apartheid were meant to separate nonwhites from daily life.

Precursors

A codified system of racial stratification began to take form in South Africa under the Dutch Empire in the late 18th century, although informal segregation was present much earlier due to social cleavages between Dutch colonists and a creolized, ethnically diverse slave population. With the rapid growth and industrialization of the British Cape Colony in the 19th century, racial policies and laws became increasingly rigid. Cape legislation that discriminated specifically against black Africans began appearing shortly before 1900. The policies of the Boer republics were also racially exclusive; for instance, the constitution of the Transvaal barred nonwhite participation in church and state.

The Franchise and Ballot Act of 1892 instituted limits based on financial means and education to the black franchise, and the Natal Legislative Assembly Bill of 1894 deprived Indians of the right to vote. The Glen Grey Act of 1894, instigated by the government of Prime Minister Cecil John Rhodes, limited the amount of land Africans could hold. In 1905, the General Pass Regulations Act denied blacks the vote, limited them to fixed areas, and inaugurated the infamous Pass System. The Asiatic Registration Act (1906) required all Indians to register and carry passes. In 1910 the Union of South Africa was created as a self-governing dominion, which continued the legislative program. The South Africa Act (1910) enfranchised whites, giving them complete political control over all other racial groups while removing the right of blacks to sit in parliament. The Native Land Act (1913) prevented blacks, except those in the Cape, from buying land outside “reserves.” The Natives in Urban Areas Bill (1918) was designed to force blacks into “locations.” The Urban Areas Act (1923) introduced residential segregation and provided cheap labor for industry led by white people. The Colour Bar Act (1926) prevented black mine workers from practicing skilled trades. The Native Administration Act (1927) made the British Crown the supreme head over all African affairs.

Opposition and Abolishment

Apartheid sparked significant international and domestic opposition, resulting in some of the most influential global social movements of the twentieth century. It was the target of frequent condemnation in the United Nations and brought about an extensive arms and trade embargo on South Africa. During the 1970s and 1980s, internal resistance to apartheid became increasingly militant, prompting brutal crackdowns by the National Party administration and protracted sectarian violence that left thousands dead or in detention. Some reforms of the apartheid system were undertaken, including allowing for Indian and Coloured political representation in parliament, but these measures failed to appease most activist groups.

Organized resistance to Afrikaner nationalism was not confined exclusively to activists of the oppressed, dark-skinned population. A movement known as the Torch Commando was formed in the 1950s, led by white war veterans who had fought fascism in Europe and North Africa during World War II only to find fascism on the rise in South Africa when they returned home. With 250,000 paid-up members at the height of its existence, it was the largest white protest movement in the country’s history. By 1952, the brief flame of mass-based white radicalism was extinguished when the Torch Commando disbanded due to government legislation under the Suppression of Communism Act, 1950. Some members of the Torch Commando subsequently became leading figures in the armed wing of the banned African National Congress.

Between 1987 and 1993, the National Party entered into bilateral negotiations with the African National Congress, the leading anti-apartheid political movement, to end segregation and introduce majority rule. In 1990, prominent ANC leaders such as Nelson Mandela were released from detention. Apartheid legislation was abolished in mid-1991, pending multiracial elections set for April 1994.

Attributions