Apartheid Giant Chart
Nature and Characteristics of discrimination
“Petty Apartheid” and “Grand Apartheid” legislation
Grand apartheid laws:
- Determined by people’s races. It relates to land and political rights. The grand apartheid defined where Whites, Africans, Coloureds, and Asians could live by race, which required the uprooting and relocation of millions of South Africans
Petty apartheid:
- refers to the racist laws affecting one’s daily routine, beginning with birth in a racially segregated hospital and ending with burial in a racially segregated cemetery. In between, South Africans lived, worked, and played out their lives at racially segregated offices, businesses, schools, colleges, beaches, restrooms, park benches, restaurants, theaters, and sport fields.
Division and “classification”, Segregation of population and amenities, Creation of townships/ forced removals
Groups Areas Act 1950
- Rural and urban areas in South Africa were divided into zones, one racial group could reside. All others had to be removed. De facto, only Africans, Coloureds, and Indians had to move to the new segregated satellite townships, millions o people removed and relocated; The end of multiracial neighborhoods i.e Sophiatown
District Six in Cape Town, 1968
- Coloured community since early 1800, the time of the proclamation the district’s property was ‘White’-owned, Residents moved to the Cape Flats
Cato Manor In Durban 1960
- Forced removal of Africans, cloureds, and Indians in white occupations, suburb remained vacant afterwards
Bantustan system
Bantu Authorities Act, 1951
- Creation of Bantustan territories = 10 ‘homelands’ based on ethnicity
- Government asserted that these lands corresponded to traditional African kingdoms and landholdings (in reality: most unproductive areas)
- Made every African a citizen of one of the homelands, effectively excluding blacks from South African political life; Hereditary chiefs
- Lack of economic opportunities, rise of crime, overpopulation,
Bantu Homelands Citizens Act, 1970
- ‘granting independence’ but de facto disposing of any political and economic responsibility over large segments of society;
Segregation of education
Separate Universities Act 1959 i.e
- Cornerstone of apartheid policy
- The end of mission schools for non-whites
- Gave central government control over education in Bantustans (Extended Apartheid of schools)
- Instruction in vernacular languages
- Department of Native Affairs rather than Department of Education in charge of Bantu education.
- Vocational training meant to produce Africans labourers, whites go to “white collar jobs”
- Bantu education aimed at sustaining and enforcing hierarchical society
- Under Bantu education, African teachers were representatives of the apartheid system
- Teachers had very little education;
- Overcrowded classrooms
- Limited # of yrs at school
- Poor attendance
Impact of individuals
- Sharpeville massacre: burnt their passes public, stock market went down, large immigration, called the end of Apartheid
- Africans: peaceful protest on the Houses of parliament in Cape town
- Governments: state of emergency, implemented polices, sent army into African townships and remote rural areas, ANC and PAC banned, Mass arrests
- ANC and PAC organized underground structures and adopted an armed struggle, sent representatives
- UMKHONTO WESIZWE: non violent protest, MK targeted strategic places suc as polic stations, government installations,
- Africans engaged in aggression after repeatedly being met with violence and repression
Protest and actions
Non-violent protests: bus boycotts: defiance campaign, freedom charter.
Buss boycott 1943:
- Anti-apartheid leaders protested using public transportation in Alexandra township Johannesburg, 3 months, walked instead, spread to Pretoria
- Police officers arrested and charged them on minor charges such as passes, and violations
- Not organized by ta organization but from the public
Defiance Campaign 1952:
- ANC + SAIC demand repeal of apartheid laws in a non-violent way; Thousands of people refused to go to work in major cities and were arrested; going to areas only for whites, failing to carry passes; breaking the law on purpose (used a thumbs up as unity)
- Effects: put ANC on the map and gained more membership, led the foundation for Congress Alliance, government declared state of emergency, the Criminal law Amendment Act for engagement in the campaign, leaders were banned
Congress Alliance 1955:
- Anti-apartheid forces composed of: ANC, SACP, Cloured, Congress of Democrats, Congress of trade unions.
Freedom Charter 1955:
- Listed the demands and desires of the people of South Africa Statement of core principles of the South African Congress Alliance; Rule of law for all, Equal education, Economic reforms, Freedom to travel, Property & land reforms, Voting rights,
- Government reacted with repressive legislation
Increasing violence: Sharpeville Massacre (1960) and the decision to adopt the armed struggle.
Sharpeville Massacre, 1960
- PAC (Pan-African Congress) led by Robert Sobukwe called for a nationwide campaign against pass laws.
- Strategy was to march to police stations across the country without passes and demand to be arrested in the hope that the state’s penal system would be overwhelmed.
- Opened fire on protestors
Official response: the Rivonia trail (1963-1964) and the imprisonment of the ANC leadership.
Rivonia trail:
- Anti- apartheid activists personnels were arrested in Liliesfarm under Suppression of Communism, Sabotage Act (denied rights), and General Law Amendment (90 days without charge, access to lawyer), life imprisonment.
The role and significance of key actors/ groups
Key individuals: Nelson Mandela, Albert Luthuli
Albert Luthuli:
- main leader of the Defiance campaign, pro non-violent methods, Zulu chief, called for a mass protest against South African government
Nelson Mandela:
- presents ideas of freedom, justice, hope, reconciliation, and resistance and became the 1st President of apartheid free South Africa in 1994, lead African National Congress, starts programme for action
Trevor Huddleston:
- Anglican priest, Anti- apartheid activist, Resided in Sophiatown, Inspired Hugh Masekela
Desmond Tutu
- Anglican bishop and then archbishop, Anti-apartheid activist, Played a major role in reconciliation after the fall of apartheid, Nobel Peace Prize
Helen Joseph
- Anti-apartheid activist, Founding member of COD, Freedom Charter, Treason Trial, House arrest (23)
Key groups: the African National Congress (ANC); the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the MK (Umkhonto we Sizwe- “Spear of the Nation)
African National Congress (1912):
- Established originally to protest racial discrimination and to appeal to equal treatment before the law.
- Secured a majority of the votes in the 1994 national election and formed the government with Nelson Mandela as president.
South African Communist Party 1921 (SACP):
- Mainly radical white workers and socialists from Europe but soon consisted of black membership; 1930s and 1940s – more industrialization,
- Suppression of Communism Act 1950, Treason Trail,
- Liliesleaf farm- Headquarters,
- played a significant role in organizing non-violent and violent protests against Apartheid.
- ANC was allied with the SACP presenting a united opposition to the white minority government after formation of NP
- Historical debate: SACP lead and influences ANC and MK or ANC was the leading anti-apartheid and was not controlled by their alliance.
Anti- apartheid mass organization:
- ANC
- SACP
- South African Congress of Trade Union (SACTU)
- South African Congress of Democrats
- Coloured People of Congress
CODESA : Convention for a Democratic South Africa
- At first ritualistic event
- Laying a foundation for multi-racial discussions
- The declaration of intent
- Universal suffrage
- A Bill of Rights including political and civil rights
- An independent judiciary with a power to declare legislation invalid
- Elimination of homeland governments and the incorporation of their territory into a new set of provinces
- The new constitution
- Homelands
- Interim government and electoral system
- ANC and NP dominated the talks
- an agreement about the two-step drawing up the constitution:
- multi-party conference would draw up an interim constitution
- 1st elected parliament would use this as a basis for drafting the final constitution
- PAC boycotted because negotiations should be carried outside of the country
Interim Constitution 1996
- South Africa divided into 9 provinces
- Set of basic principles and made them binding on a new legislature
- It was a liberal democratic constitution, included western ideas and modified but South African experience.
- Traditional chiefs were allowed to enforce customary African law