apartheid key vocab

Apartheid

Legalised system of racial segregation in South Africa

National Party

Afrikaner political party that introduced apartheid in 1948

Afrikaner

White South Africans of mainly Dutch descent

Union of South Africa

Political union formed in 1910 under British rule

Homelands

Areas designated for black South Africans under apartheid

Segregation

Separation of people based on race in all aspects of life

Decolonisation

Process of African nations gaining independence from European powers

Afrikaans

Language derived from Dutch, spoken by Afrikaners

Broederbond

Secret Afrikaner nationalist society that supported apartheid

Bantustans

“Homelands” for black South Africans, stripped of citizenship

Passes

Identification documents black South Africans were forced to carry

Dompas

Nickname for the passbook restricting African movement

Dispossession

Forcible removal of Africans from their land

Sharecropping

Farming system where tenants shared crops with landowners

Grand Apartheid

Large-scale apartheid policy relocating Africans to homelands

Township

Segregated residential area for black South Africans near cities

Rickert Commission

1979 report highlighting poor African education and literacy

Tsotsis

Township gangsters who exploited residents

Great Trek

Migration of Afrikaners inland during the 1830s to escape British rule

Boers

Dutch-descended farmers in South Africa, later called Afrikaners

Tomlinson Report

1954 report recommending development of homelands

Programme of Action

1949 ANC plan for mass resistance

Defiance Campaign

1952 civil disobedience against apartheid laws

Freedom Charter

1955 statement of democratic principles by the Congress Alliance

Congress Alliance

Coalition of anti-apartheid groups including ANC, Indian Congress, trade unions

Sobukwe Clause

Law that allowed indefinite detention of Robert Sobukwe

Wessels Commission

Inquiry into the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre that cleared police

Mayibuye

“Let us return” slogan used in ANC protests

Civic Resistance

Mass protests, strikes, and boycotts in the 1980s

Sanctions

International trade restrictions imposed to pressure South Africa

Disinvestment

Withdrawal of foreign companies from South Africa to protest apartheid

ANC (African National Congress)

Main anti-apartheid political movement

ANC Youth League

Radical youth wing of the ANC formed in 1944

PAC (Pan-Africanist Congress)

Breakaway Africanist movement founded in 1959

Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK)

ANC’s armed wing founded in 1961

SASO (South African Students’ Organisation)

Student group founded by Steve Biko in 1969

Black Consciousness Movement (BCM)

Movement led by Steve Biko promoting black pride

UDF (United Democratic Front)

1980s coalition of anti-apartheid groups

Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP)

Zulu nationalist party led by Mangosuthu Buthelezi

Poqo/APLA

PAC’s military wing, later Azanian People’s Liberation Army

BOSS (Bureau for State Security)

South Africa’s main security agency from 1969

Sharpeville Massacre

1960 police shooting of anti-pass protesters

Soweto Uprising

1976 student protest against Afrikaans education, violently suppressed

Rivonia Trial

1963–64 trial sentencing Mandela and others to life imprisonment

Robben Island

Prison where Mandela and ANC leaders were held

“Free Mandela” Campaign

Global movement for Mandela’s release

CODESA

1992–93 negotiations for South Africa’s democratic transition

1994 Election

First democratic election in South Africa, won by the ANC

State of Emergency

Government suspension of rights and mass detentions during unrest

D.F. Malan

Prime Minister who introduced apartheid in 1948

Hendrik Verwoerd

Prime Minister known as the “architect of apartheid”

Albert Luthuli

ANC president and Nobel Peace Prize winner

Nelson Mandela

ANC leader, head of Umkhonto we Sizwe, later President

Oliver Tambo

ANC leader in exile during apartheid

Walter Sisulu

ANC activist and mentor to Mandela

Stephen Biko

Founder of the Black Consciousness Movement

Robert Sobukwe

Leader of the Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC)

John Vorster

Justice Minister and later Prime Minister who expanded repression

F.W. de Klerk

Last apartheid-era president who initiated reforms

Population Registration Act 1950

Law that classified South Africans into racial groups

Promotion of Bantu Self-Government Act 1959

Law that created self-governing “homelands” for Africans

Industrial Conciliation Act 1956

Law that reserved certain jobs for whites

Native Labour Act 1953

Law that banned African trade unions and strikes

Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act 1949

Law that outlawed marriage between whites and non-whites

Immorality Act 1957

Law that banned interracial sexual relations

Group Areas Act 1950

Law that forced people into racially segregated residential zones

Bantu Resettlement Act 1954

Law that authorised forced removals of Africans from white areas

Reservation of Separate Amenities Act 1953

Law that legalised inferior facilities for non-whites

Bantu Education Act 1953

Law that segregated African education under government control

Bantu Authorities Act 1951

Law that set up tribal authorities in reserves

Bantu Homelands Citizenship Act 1970

Law that stripped Africans of South African citizenship

Natives (Abolition of Passes and Co-ordination of Documents) Act 1952

Law that required Africans to carry passbooks

Unlawful Organisations Act 1960

Law that banned the ANC and PAC

Sabotage Act 1962

Law that made sabotage punishable by death and reversed burden of proof

General Laws Amendment Act 1963

Law that allowed 90-day detention without trial

Bantu Laws Amendment Act 1964

Law that empowered forced deportations of Africans

Prevention of Illegal Squatting Act 1951

Law that allowed eviction of Africans from unauthorised urban land

Native Urban Areas Act 1954

Law that restricted African residence in towns unless employed

Criminal Law Amendment Act 1953

Law that punished defiance campaigns with whipping and fines