History of South Africa and the Origins of Apartheid

Original Inhabitants: Evidence of Australopithecus africanus dates back $3.5 \times 10^6$ years; modern Homo sapiens remains date back over $100,000$ years.
Khoisan: Composed of the Khoikhoi (pastoralists) and the San (hunter-gatherers).
Bantu-speaking Peoples: Cultivators who spread across south-eastern South Africa over the last two millennia. By $1600$ , they occupied regions with at least $20$ inches of annual rain.

Dutch East India Company: Established a fort at the Cape of Good Hope in $1652$ to resupply ships.
Slavery: Unlike much of Africa, slaves were primarily imported into South Africa from Mozambique, Madagascar, India, and the Malay archipelago.
Racial Groups: Continuous intermingling led to the Coloured population and the Griqua (escaped slaves and Africans).
Robben Island: Used as early as the seventeenth century to imprison political exiles, specifically followers of Islam from present-day Indonesia.
British Occupation: The British took control of the Cape in $1795$ to secure sea routes to Asia.

The Great Trek: During the $1830s$ , approximately $20\%$ of the Boer (Dutch farmer) population left British territory to escape anti-slavery laws and seek new land.
Republics: They established Transorangia, Transvaal, and the Natalia Republic (later annexed by the British as Natal).
White Supremacy: These republics were based on republican ideals but restricted voting rights strictly to white males.

Discoveries: Diamonds were found in the late $1860s$ and gold in $1886$ (the Witwatersrand).
Economic Impact: These discoveries made South Africa the wealthiest region in Africa, attracting massive foreign capital and immigration.
Labor Control: To ensure profitability, the British conquered independent African states and implemented the pass laws and migrant labor systems to secure cheap labor.

Conflict: Fought between the British and Boers for control of gold resources.
Costs: The British mobilized over $448,000$ troops. Lord Kitchener employed a "scorched earth" policy, burning $30,000$ Boer farms.
Concentration Camps: $28,000$ Boers and over $11,500$ Africans died in British-run camps.
Treaty of Vereeniging ( $1902$ ): Ended the war, incorporating Boer republics as British colonies but deferring the question of the black franchise until after white self-government was established.

Formation ( $1910$ ): A unitary state formed from four colonies. The South Africa Act 1909 stipulated that all representatives must be of "European descent."
Natives' Land Act ( $1913$ ): Initially restricted African land ownership to $7\%$ of the country (later increased to $13\%$ in $1936$ ).
Mines and Works Act ( $1911$ ): Reserved skilled jobs for white workers.
Natives (Urban Areas) Act ( $1923$ ): Mandated that Africans stay in cities only to "minister to the needs of the white population."

African National Congress (ANC): Founded as the South African Native National Congress (SANNC) in $1912$ to protest discrimination. Key founders included John L. Dube, Pixley Ka Isaka Seme, and Solomon T. Plaatje.
Trade Unions: The Industrial and Commercial Workers' Union (ICU) under Clements Kadalie and the African Mineworkers' Union (AMWU) led major strikes.
Passive Resistance: Mohandas Gandhi led campaigns against pass laws for Indians beginning in $1906$ .
ANC Youth League: Formed in $1944$ by Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu to advocate for more forceful popular protests.

National Party (NP): Formed in $1914$ by J.B.M. Hertzog to represent Afrikaner interests.
Broederbond: A secret society formed in $1918$ to protect and promote Afrikaner culture and the Afrikaans language.
Ossewabrandwag (OB): A paramilitary organization formed in $1938$ that admired German National Socialism.
Election of 1948: The NP, led by D.F. Malan, defeated the United Party (UP). Despite losing the popular vote ( $443,719$ to $624,500$ ), the NP won the most seats due to rural weighting.
Apartheid: Defined as "apartness," the policy established a physical racial hierarchy with whites at the top and Africans at the bottom.