Divison and Classification

South Africa

What was one of the first laws passed by the NP Gov, and why?

Population Registration Act of 1950, aim to restrict all voting rights to the minority white population.

What is miscegenation?

Sexual relationships or reproduction between people of different ethnic groups, especially when one of them is white.

What were racial classification tests?

• Pencil test: Sticking a pencil into person’s hair, if it dropped, the hair was straight enough to be classified as white.

• Ex: Vic Wilkinson, classified twice, from C to W back to C.

Consequences of Population Registration Act (1950) and Racial Classification?

• Almost impossible for people of diff races to live together

• Extreme social stigma:

  • Afrikaaner families abandon babies with frizzy hair/dark complexions

What was the Apartheid mindset on miscegenation?

That it was closely associated to racial degeneration

What was the argument for the Reservation of Sep Amenities Act (1953)?

There was no need for Coloured amenities in areas they worked (cities) because they had no right to reside there permanently, and could use their amenities at home.

What did the separation of amenities symbolize?

The Act symbolized the dramatic decline in coloured peoples status under apartheid.

The Pass Laws Act made it difficult to find employment — how?

The huge complicated system of special permits meant if unable to find employment in their allowed time in the city, they would either have to remain and break the law, which was the case due to economic necessity.

The Pass Laws Act resulted in:

Significant numbers of the black population being criminalized.

What is the SA term for mixed-population areas?

Onderdorpe

Major cities contained “Black Spots” in the midst of White suburbs, what acts were made to deal with this problem?

Natives Resettlement Act 1954
Group Areas Development Act 1955

These laws complemented the Group Areas Act and armed the gov with the bureaucratic machinery to force the urban resettlement of Africans

What caused the decline of living conditions?

The speed in which the relocations were executed and the sheer numbers involved = overcrowding

What term describes the homes in the resettlement areas?

“Matchboxes” → Basic design, monotonous rows, no inside toilets/running water

7-14 people per house

Compounding a lack of basic amenities and long expensive commutes, added what new problem/phenomenon?

The presence of tens of thousands of squatters, denied formal resettlement = camps in townships, stretching scarce resources further.

How many people were uprooted into townships?

3.5 million

What was the ‘rule’ for black people living in a city?

Black people could continue to live in a city only if they had been born there and employed there for more than 15 years.

Compare the education of a black child to a white child

Black children would attend school in daily 3hr shifts
Teachers and students would write on the ground using sticks
Ratio of gov spending on a White child vs Black child was 7:1
Nearly 85% of all Black teachers had no professional qualification

Black children were taught in mother tongue, how come this upset black parents

They believed the hallmark of a decent education was in English
They are ‘giving the people what they want’: teaching kids to be black
but this is PARADOXICAL because south africa shows being black is bad