South African Apartheid (1.1 & 1.2)

Coloreds

Coloreds

These were a diverse group of people who descended from interracial offspring between Dutch Farmers and slaves (often San, Khoikhoi, or Malay). Seen as below Whites but above Blacks.

Afrikaner

Term for the descendents of the employees of the Dutch East Indies and French Huguenots. Also known as Boers (historical term only), these were one of the groups of Whites.

Battle of Blood River

This was a battle between the Dutch and Dingaan’s Zulu army. The victory went to the Dutch for their superior weaponry, leading to their belief in their superiority over Blacks

Xhosa

This was an indigenous tribe that often ran into conflict with the Boers, sparking animosity between Boers and Africans.

Transvaal

This was one of the Boer Republics that the Boers flooded into during the Great Trek.

Orange Free State

Another one of the Boer Republics that the Boers flooded into during the Great Trek.

Bloemfontein / Sand River Conventions

These were the conventions where the British recognized Afrikaner sovereignty in the Transvaal and the Orange Free State

Gold / Witwatersrand (1886)

The area near Johannesburg in Transvaal where ____ was originally discovered, leading to a flood of Africans into cities.

South African War (1899-1902)

This was the war between the British and Boers regarding independence. It was eventually won by the British after their “scorched Earth” policies and internment of Boer women and men.

South African Party (SAP)

This political party won the first general election and bolstered existing segregation laws.

Act of Union / South Africa Act

Created a political union that combined the Boer republics with the British empire, unifying the four parts of South Africa. 

Natives Land Act of 1913

Prevented Africans from owning or renting land except in certain parts of the territory (this part made up 7.5% of the entire country). Ended sharecropping.

Native (Urban Areas) Act of 1923

Black South Africans in cities had to carry passes or be arrested and expelled to reserves.

Industrial Conciliation Act of 1924

Black people were no longer allowed to legally register in trade unions, thus preventing them from striking or collectively negotiating for better wages or work conditions.

Original National Party

The radical political party created by JBM Hertzog in 1914 that swept the South African Party. It extended systematic discrimination further and eventually created the system of apartheid.

JMB Hertzog

Became prime minister in 1924, and enacted various pieces of discriminatory legislation. Creator of National Party, before he resigned in WWII and reconciled with Malan.

Wage Acts of 1925

Permitted private firms to give preference to hiring white workers.

Mine and Works Amendment Act of 1926

Furthered the existing color bar in the mining industry that was created with the Mines and Works Act of 1911, which left semi-skilled mining jobs to White people only.

United Party

The collective party combining Smuts’ South African Party and Hertzog’s National Party after the Great Depression.

Purified National Party

Malan’s political party (also known as GNP) that wanted more radical racialism. Incentivized more discrimination in laws by the UP.

Representation of Native Acts of 1936

Removed Black South Africans (not Colored peoples) from the Cape electoral roll, removing any sort of political influence they had.

National Representative Council

This was the council established by the Representation of Natives Act of various traditional African leaders that lacked any substantial power.

Native Trust and Land Act of 1936

This extended reserves from 7.5% of the country’s area to 13%. However, this was never achieved in practice and instead, increased the power to evict Africans who were living illegally in White areas.

Native Laws Amendment Act of 1937

Increased enforcement and regulation of the existing pass laws.

Broederbond

Semi-secret Afrikaner populist nationalist group that worked with the GNP to organized celebrations of events like the Great Trek and Battle of Blood river every century

Reunited National Party

After conflicts between Hertzog and Smuts regarding neutrality in WWII, Hertzog resigned and joined with Malan, reuniting the National Party. Voters felt affinity with Nazi Germany, leading to more support for the NP.

African Mine Workers’ Union (AMWU)

This was a union of African mine workers that formed in defiance to the Industrial Coalition Act. It struck, with 100 thousand people involved. This strike ended with 9 protestors dead and alerted the government to the urgency of the situation.

Fagan Commission

Smuts appointed the _____ that said African urbanization was inevitable and recommended partial normalization through relaxation of pass laws, etc.

Sauer Commission

The National Party’s appointment that concluded the survival of the White raced depended on preservation of White identity through apartheid.

Black Peril / Red Peril

The fear mongering used by the NP, referring to white cities being overwhelmed by Black migrants and communism taking over (hence the black and red respectively.)

DF Malan

Prime Minister, member of the National Party, issued the laws that became the basis for apartheid

Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act of 1949

Prohibited marriages between White and Black South Africans – one of the first pieces of apartheid legislation. Passed despite how few mixed marriages had been recorded.

Immorality Act of 1950

Outlawed sex and procreation between different populations as miscegenation would lead to racial degeneration. Enforced by staking out homes and then trying to catch the couple in the act.

Population Registration Act of 1950

Created national population registry that classified based on biological, rather than cultural factors. The corresponding Race Classification Board had immense power.

Group Areas Act of 1950

Allowed for forced removal of non-Whites and the creation + expansion of townships. Designed to bring about total residential segregation.

Suppression of Communism Act of 1950

Made the Communist Party of South African illegal but defined communism so broadly it could apply to any anti apartheid actions. Gave government a way to prosecute any opposition.

Separate Representation of Voters Act of 1951

Removed any remaining Colored people from the electorates. While it ran into opposition from the judiciary because it was a constitutional amendment, the government just packed the Senate with allied members and passed it anyways.

Bantu Amenities Act / Separate Amenities Act of 1953

Limited group areas (ex: city centers) Whites, even as Blacks still worked there. This meant government didn’t need to accommodate Blacks as it argued, they’d just return home and use their own amenities.

SG Strijdom

One of the apartheid prime ministers, who was leader after Malan. Seen as radical and uncompromising by even National Party standards and deepened policies of apartheid.

Policies of Forced Removals

From the Group Areas Act – resettlers were dumped in new homes at frightening speed, leading to overcrowding in small cramped “matchboxes”. While a small number of Blacks remained in municipal areas, most were in this urban landscape.

HF Verwoerd

Prime minister and known as the architect of apartheid who engineered the institutionalization of the segregation.

Extension of University Education Act of 1954

An extension of the Bantu Education Act of 1953 which made it illegal for universities to admit more than one racial/tribal group.

Promotion of Bantu Self-Government Act of 1954

Divided population into multiple ethnic groups and assigned a White commissioner general to assist in full self government. Essentially meant to complete separate Black homelands from the rest of South Africa.

Transkei Act

Set up the first independent legislative assembly in Transkei and appointed Chief Matanzima, even though no one approved of him and Transkei really was still controlled by the South African government.