The Nature and Characteristics of Discrimination under Apartheid, 1948–64

Vocabulary flashcards defining key legislative acts, terminology, concepts, and key figures from Chapter 1.2 on the nature and characteristics of discrimination under apartheid (1948–64).

Petty Apartheid

The early period of National Party rule under DF Malan and JG Strijdom focused on complete economic and political White domination (baasskap) through strict, detailed racial regulations.

Grand Apartheid

The second phase of apartheid initiated by HF Verwoerd in the late 1950s, aiming for complete territorial segregation and the ultimate independence of separate ethnic homelands.

Daniel Francois Malan

Prime minister of South Africa from 1948 to 1954; leader of the National Party who introduced foundational apartheid legislation.

Johanned Gerhardus Strijdom

Prime minister of South Africa from 1954 until his death in 1958; known as the 'Lion of the North' for his domination of the National Party in Transvaal.

Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd

Native Affairs Minister under Malan and Strijdom, and prime minister from 1958 until his assassination in 1966; known as the 'architect of apartheid'.

Miscegenation

Sexual relationships or marriage between persons from different racial groups.

Population Registration Act of 1950

An apartheid law that classified all South Africans into basic racial groups based on biological criteria and created a national population register.

Race Classification Board

An official body established to adjudicate disputed racial classifications and administer tests, such as linguistic exams and the 'pencil test'.

Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act of 1949

The first major piece of apartheid legislation passed by the National Party, making marriage between White South Africans and people of other races illegal.

Immorality Act of 1950

An apartheid law that banned all extra-marital sexual relations between White people and non-White people.

Reservation of Separate Amenities Act of 1953

A landmark petty apartheid law mandating strict racial segregation of all public facilities, services, transport, and recreational areas.

Pass Laws Act of 1952

Officially named the Natives (Abolition of Passes and Co-ordination of Documents) Act, it required all Black Africans to carry detailed 96-page reference books at all times.

Reference Book

A detailed 96-page identity booklet carried by Black Africans containing employment records, tax receipts, residential permits, and police encounter logs.

Group Areas Act of 1950

A key law designed to achieve total residential segregation in urban areas by declaring city centres Whites-only and relocating non-Whites to outer suburbs or townships.

Bantu Building Workers Act of 1951

Legislation barring Black workers from skilled building work in White areas while permitting them to do skilled construction work in Black-designated townships.

Prevention of Illegal Squatting Act of 1951

A law permitting the government to forcibly remove Black urban residents from Whites-only areas and ending the rural practice of sharecropping.

Mining Compounds

Enormous barracks-like fenced compounds where Black migrant mining workers were housed in isolated, male-only concrete dormitories.

Sophiatown

A vibrant, predominantly Black suburb of Johannesburg where Africans legally held freeholds until its residents were forcibly removed and the area was razed.

Triomf

The Afrikaans word for 'triumph', and the name given to the White Afrikaner suburb constructed on the destroyed site of Sophiatown.

Matchbox Houses

Small, standardized, rectangular brick dwellings built in cramped rows in Black townships without internal toilets or running water.

Native Laws Amendment Act of 1952

An act strictly limiting permanent Black urban residency rights to individuals born in the city or continuously employed there for at least 10–15 years.

Bantu Education Act of 1953

Legislation transferring Black education to the Native Affairs Department and instituting a separate, inferior curriculum designed to train Black youth for manual labour.

Steve Biko

Anti-apartheid activist who founded the South African Students Association (SASO) and led the Black Consciousness Movement until his murder in police custody in 1977.

Black Consciousness Movement

An anti-apartheid ideology founded by Steve Biko in the late 1960s advocating for Black self-reliance, psychological liberation, and pride ('Black is beautiful').

Extension of University Education Act of 1959

A law prohibiting non-White students from attending established White universities and creating racially and ethnically segregated tertiary institutions.

Bantu Authorities Act of 1951

An act creating regional tribal authorities in native reserves led by hand-picked chiefs and abolishing the elected Natives Representative Council.

Promotion of Bantu Self-Government Act of 1959

A cornerstone grand apartheid law dividing the African population into eight (later ten) distinct ethnic units to prepare them for nominal homeland independence.

Bantustans

Designated rural ethnic homelands where Black South Africans were assigned citizenship to justify stripping them of political rights in White South Africa.

Transkei

The first native reserve converted into a self-governing Bantustan (1963) and granted nominal independence in 1976 under Chief Kaiser Matanzima.

Chief Kaiser Matanzima

A junior Xhosa chief appointed by Pretoria as paramount chief and chief minister of the Transkei Bantustan.

Separate Representation of Voters Act of 1951

A controversial piece of legislation introduced to remove Coloured voters in Cape Province from the common voters' roll, re-passed in 1956 after packing the Senate.

Suppression of Communism Act of 1950

A repressive law banning the CPSA and broadly defining 'communism' to include any anti-apartheid opposition or promotion of civil disorder.

Banning Order

A state security measure under the Suppression of Communism Act restricting anti-apartheid activists from attending public gatherings, travelling, or speaking publicly.

Public Safety Act of 1953

An act granting the government the authority to suspend the constitution and declare a state of emergency.

Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1953

Legislation authorizing courts to impose harsh penalties on individuals committing civil disobedience against apartheid laws.

Native Administration Act of 1956

A law permitting the state to banish Africans found guilty of persistent political offences to isolated rural locations.

Unlawful Organisations Act of 1960

An act allowing the apartheid government to officially ban anti-apartheid political groups such as the ANC and PAC following the Sharpeville massacre.

General Laws Amendment Act of 1962

Also known as the Sabotage Act, this law made any act of political sabotage a capital offence punishable by death.