What Happened during Apartheid in South Africa
The English and Dutch colonized South Africa in the seventeenth century. Due to English rule over the Dutch descendants (also known as Boers or Afrikaners), the Dutch founded the new colonies of Orange Free State and Transvaal. An exploration of diamonds within those lands around 1900 resulted in an English invasion which ignited the Boer War. Following independence from England, an uncomfortable power-sharing between the two groups maintained sway until the 1940’s, when the Afrikaner National Party was able to acquire a substantial majority. Apartheid was created by National Party strategists to bolster their hold on the political, societal, and economic spheres. Apartheid’s initial goal was to prolong racial segregation while preserving white dominance. A strategy that began in the 1960s called “Grand Apartheid,” stressing geographic segregation and police brutality.
Apartheid
Racial discrimination became entrenched with the passage of apartheid laws in 1948. Every element of social life was impacted by racial legislation, which forbade interracial unions and supported “whites only” employment. All South Africans were to be racially categorized into one of three groups by the Population Registration Act of 1950: white, black (African), or colored (of mixed decent). There were sizable groupings of Indians and Asians in the colored category. These divisions were divided based on looks, social approval, and ancestry. For instance, “in appearance definitely a white person or widely acknowledged as a white person” was used to define a white person. If a person is not seen as white, if at least one of the parents is not white. If someone was deemed to be “clearly white,” “his habits, education, and speech and deportment and manner” would be taken into consideration. A person who is black or acknowledged as belonging to an African tribe or race is referred to as black, and a person who is not black or white is referred to as colored. A government agency, the Department of Home Affairs, was in charge of classifying the populace. Strict penalties were applied for breaking the racing laws. A “pass book” comprising fingerprints, a picture, and information on entry to non-black areas was a requirement for all black people.
A foundation for ethnic rule in African reserves, also referred to as “homelands,” was formed by the Bantu Authorities Act of 1951. According to the record of origin, the government assigned sovereign states to each African (which was frequently inaccurate). An African’s political rights, including the ability to vote, were only valid in their designated homeland. They would lose their South African citizenship and any rights to participate in the South African Parliament, which had complete dominion over the homelands, in order to become citizens of their respective countries. Nine million South Africans lost their nationality when four of these homelands were established between 1976 and 1981. The homeland administrations rejected the ostensible independence and continued to push for political rights across the board. Aliens in their own country, Africans living in the homelands needed passports to enter South Africa.
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The Public Safety Act of 1953
Public Safety Act, and the Criminal Law Amendment Act were all passed, giving the government the authority to declare strict states of emergency and enforcing harsher punishments for law-breaking. Fines, incarceration, and whippings were among the punishments. When a sizable contingent of black people in Sharpeville objected to carrying their passes in 1960, the government proclaimed a state of emergency. During the 156-day emergency, 69 people died and 187 were injured. The white dictatorship did not intend to change the unjust apartheid laws while using the Public Safety Act and the Criminal Law Amendment Act.
