History of Apartheid in South Africa

Dutch Colonists arrive (1652)

master/servant relationship, made native Africans become slaves, imported slaves from other countries

Britain seized control (1795)

displaced native Africans from their homelands, especially since gold was found, encouraged mass migration of European whites

Boer War (1899-1902)

British verse Dutch settlers, Britan won

Britain abolished savery (1830)

but government made sure white minority would stay superior economically

Union of South Africa (1910)

Native Land Act (1913)

white-controlled country although white minority removed hundreds of thousands of Africans from homes

native Urban Area Act (1923)

segregated urban areas

African National Congress (ANC)

party organized to fight for African majority’s rights and freedom

African Nationalist Alliance

Descendants of Dutch settler, these whites were second to english-speaking whites and they wanted more control politically

“Apartheid” coined (African for “apartness”)

term referring to four racial groups making up South Africa: white (English speaking and Afrikaners), native Africans, Coloreds (mixed race), and Indians (from Asia and India); this philosophy said white race was only civilized race and therefire should control the governement.

population Restriction Act (1950)

each person had to declare ethnicity

Group Areas Act (1950)

designated specific segregated zones in urban areas for living and working; nonwhite urban residents moved to shantytowns where basic needs and services not rendered

Pass laws

required African blacks to show a pass traveling from homeland to city (for jobs); any blacks caught in white area without a pass could be arrested or expelled

Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act (1949)

intermarriage and sexual contact between races illegal; devastated black communities and tore families apart

Reservation of Separate Amenities Act (1953)

segregation of all public facilities; transportation, parks, elevators, restaurants, cafes, hotels, cinemas, theaters, schools, universities, government offices

Suppression of Communism Act (1950)

government could censor films and public entertainment (esp. intermingling of races); authors who showed negative effects of South American racist tactics faced banings, imprisonment or revocation of passports

Public Safety Act (1953)

authorized government’s use of brute force to carry out laws

Bantu Education Act (1953)

established separate school system for races, rewrote textbooks and curriculum to reflect white dominance

Extension of University Education (1959)

government closed well-established universities; founded separate colleges for races

Propaganda Campaign

anti-apartheid newspapers banned, foreign radio banned, foreign publication banned, foreign films banned, only whites controlled newspapers and white controlled radio and television allowed

Sharpeville Massacres (1960)

67 Africans killed and 200 wounded in demonstration against pass laws

Nelson Mandella (1964)

sentenced to life in prison

Steven Biko and “Black Consciousness” (1970)

defined as blacks unifying as a group to rid themselves of oppression

Soweto (1976)

sight of demonstration by public school students, death of a 13 year old by govt. officials, followed by over 500 deaths (134 under the age of 18) by hands of govt.

Steven Biko dies (1977)

arrested, beaten and murdered by hands of govt.

Pieter Willem Botha (1986)

violence got so bad in streets he deployed more than 5000 soldiers to aid police in keeping people in check (bannings, arrests, tortures, assassinations ensued)

Desmond Tutu

won Noble Prize in 1984 for leadership in anti-apartheid movement

Frederik Willem de Klerk (1989)

replaced Botha as prime minister and began to repeal apartheid legislation (whites called him a traitor); Nelson Mandella and 3000 political prisoners released from prison

Events Between 1991-1993

10,000 South Africans killed during violent political struggles; fires, rapes, beatings, stonings, explosions

National Peace Accord (1991)

signed, allowed room for negotiations

April 26 and 28 1994

nation’s first multiethnic election; more than 70,000 million citizens voted, new constitution, new flag

President Nelson Mandella (1994)

elected and organized cabinet members

Development Plan (1994)

unified all South African provinces; imposed higher property taxed and utility costs of South African whites (funds used to provide shantytowns with basic utilities and services, medical clinics, fire dept.); led to millions of South African blacks displaced from homelands to reclaim ownership

Constitution (1999)

drafted by Mandella’s government to end racial discrimination and guarantees freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and personal freedoms to all South Africans