1.2 The nature and characteristics of discrimination

DF Malan

leader of National Party, issues laws 1948-1964 that become basis of apartheid

apartheid vs previous segregationist systems

• common goal promoting White interests

• apartheid more ideological, laws implemented with more rigor, aimed to create all-encompassing institutionalized racism

petty apartheid/baasskap/boss rule apartheid

compete domination of White over Black (economic and political), brutal subjugation of Blacks and opposition to apartheid

• first few years under NP with prime ministers D.F. Malan and J.G. Strijdom

grand apartheid

more ideologically sophisticated, straightforward racial discrimination

• moral legitimacy, “separate development” and independence

  • initiated by H.F. Verwoerd in the late 1950s

Population Registration Act (1950)

creation of national population register, classification determined by biological factors

• declared South Africa’s 3 basic racial groups: White, Coloureds, Bantu (Black African)

• attempted to define racial groups, extremely imprecise and circular

• vigorously enforced, Race Classification Board created to apply legislation (drawing subcategories and adjudicating)

Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act (1949)

illegalized marriage between White South Africans and other races, first major law passed by National Party, supplemented by Immorality Act of 1950

Immorality Act of 1950

banned extramarital affairs between White and non-White

Bantu Amenities Act/Reservation of Separate Amenities Act (1953)

public services, recreational facilities, businesses, and amenities all segregated

• petty apartheid

• separate and unequal, dramatic decline in status and opportunities of Black South Africans

Pass Laws Act (1952)/The Natives (Abolition of Passes and Co-ordination of Documents) Act of 1952

replaced existing pass books with more reference books that enforced segregation against Black South Africans

• criminal offense to not present pass book, permits required for all Blacks in city areas

• government extended powers of surveillance over Black population

• channeled anger against government, protest

Bantu Building Workers Act (1951)

clarified separation of races in employment, Black South Africans banned from skilled work in building in general, except residential areas where Whites were excluded

Prevention of Illegal Squatting Act of 1951

permitted forceful removal of Black South Africans from urban areas (White-designated under Group Areas Act), ended sharecropping indefinitely

Group Areas Act (1950)

total residential segregation, inner city areas designated as Whites-only areas

• essence of apartheid

• assumption that Africans were rural people, urbanization would lead to breakdown of social order

• before 1955, targeted Indian/Coloured populations, removal and closure of businesses, welcomed by White competitors

• Natives Resettlement Act (1954) and Group Areas Development Act (1955)

• Western Areas Removal Scheme (1955)

• forced resettlement under Native Resettlement Board led to overcrowding

• impact on lives of Black South Africans: long commute to work, lack of amenities and livable conditions, poor education system, criminal activity, loss of identity

• Native Laws Amendment Act (1952)

Natives Resettlement Act (1954) and Group Areas Development Act (1955)

forced urban resettlement of Black South Africans, creation of Natives Resettlement Board

Western Areas Removal Scheme (1955)

destruction of Sophiatown, one of few remaining parts where Black South Africans legally owned property, center of rich cultural, intellectual, and political activity

Native Laws Amendment Act (1952)

severe restrictions on rights of permanent residents in cities

Bantu Education Act (1953)

• mandatory for schools to admit children from one racial group

• education of Africans controlled by Native Affairs Department

• separate school boards for races, different districts and curriculums, outlandishly inferior education

• grand apartheid promoted institutional framework of White domination, based on essentialist principles that Black children were slower, “importance of tribal identity”

• quality mission schools forcefully closed under Verwoerd

• Christian nationalism patronizing and demeaning to African culture

• African nationalist boycott → syllabus redrafted

• Steve Biko and Black Consciousness Movement combatted psychological self-hatred

• lost generation, communities condemned to permanent impoverishment, inhibited growth of African nationalism and facilitated violence and absenteeism in youth

Extension of University Education Act (1959)

expanded apartheid to tertiary education, universities required to admit students from single racial group or tribe, self-contained political and economic units for each racial group

Bantustan system

plan to give Black Peoples of South African their own self-governing homeland, native reserves to become independent states in order for South Africa to become an exclusively White country

• Bantu Authorities Act (1951)

• Promotion of Bantu Self-Government Act (1959)

• Transkei Constitution Act (1963)

• homelands “independent” in 1970s

• Bantustans politically powerless, given agriculturally unproductive land, no Black South African political allegiance, not recognized by international community, used for cheap labor, poor living conditions, economically unproductive

• incapable of self-supporting economy, few work opportunities aside from entertainment industry

Bantu Authorities Act (1951)

passed by Malan’s government, created regional authorities for Africans, dispensed with old Native Representatives Council

Promotion of Bantu Self-Government Act (1959)

Verwoerd’s government, divided African population into groups, each assigned White commisioner-general to transition to self-government

• claimed that Black South Africans were no longer the political responsibility of Verwoerd’s government, abolished Black South African representation in South African government

• all Black South Africans declared citizens of homelands, threat of deportation if outside homelands

Transkei Constitution Act (1963)

Transkei native reserve converted into Bantustan, homeland of Xhosa

• creation of Transkei Legislative Assembly, belief that democracy was unsuited to childlike African Society

• Transkei and other Bantustans led by corrupt and brutal oligarchies backed by the South African government

Separate Representatives of Votes Act (1951)

introduced to deal with number of Coloureds still able to vote in Cape Province, removed all Coloureds from electorate

• overruled by South African Supreme Court of Appeal for violating 1910 constitution

• National Party unconstitutionally meddled in affairs of judiciary in order to implement apartheid

Suppression of Communism Act (1950)

made Communist Party of South Africa illegal

• defined communism as opposition to apartheid system, targeted anti-government activists, subjected to banning orders