South African Apartheid

People

Mahatma Gandhi

  • Indian Lawyer who led non-violence campaigns within India to free it from British Rule

  • Moved to South Africa in 1893 to represent an Indian merchant in a lawsuit. 

    • He went on to live in South Africa for 21 years to fight for civil rights with non-violent methods

Chief Albert Luthuli

  • Raised a Christian, had a non-violent philosophy, believed in the unity of ALL South Africans.

  • Was the president of the African National Congress (ANC) (1952-1967)

    • As soon he became president he was given a banning order

      • Could not go into cities or large gatherings

      • Could not hold large meetings or public speeches.

  • Lead a series of nonviolent protests against the apartheid

  • Received a Nobel Peace Prize (1960) - was allowed to leave Africa to receive it.

  • Helped organize demonstrations after the Sophiatown removals (1955)

  • Published a book: The Road to Freedom

    • Discussed why nonviolence was the best way to fight for change

  • Was killed by a freight train in 1967.


Nelson Mandela

  • Nonviolent philosophy, but believed force should be met with force.

  • Son of a Chief

  • Helped enlist many volunteers to defy apartheid laws

  • Was the main spokesperson of the ANC

  • Went to university of Fort Hare, but was expelled for partaking in student protests

  • Joined ANC in 1944

    • Formed Youth League 

  • Played a role in the Defiance Campaign

    • Got arrested and took attorney exams

  • Opened the first black law firm in South Africa

  • Helped write the Freedom Charter

    • Arrested in Treason Trials

  • Founded the Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) after Sharpeville Massacre

    • Was a part of the Rivonia Trials

DF Malan

  • Leader of the National Party (NP)

  • Laid the foundations of apartheid during time as prime minister (1948-1954)

    • Ruled during what is known as the period of “petty apartheid”

  • Was a minister in the Dutch Reformed Church

  • Was aligned with Afrikaner views

HF Verwoerd

  • Another leader of the National Party (NP)

  • Expanded on the previous idea of apartheid in the late 1950s

    • Desired to completely separate South Africa, leading to the independence of each of its racial groups

    • This period of time is known as “grand apartheid”

  • Was PM of South Africa from 1958-1966

Afrikaners

  • Also known as the Boers

  • Main religion is Christianity

    • Many were members of the protestant Dutch Reformed Church (DRC)

  • Made up 60% of the white population

  • Descendants of the Dutch East Indies Company employees.

    • These are the people who first settled at the Cape of Good Hope in the 17th century

  • Language is very similar to Dutch

  • Live in more rural areas.

  • Supported the NP

Groups


Communist Party of South Africa (SACP)

  • Initially known as the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), the party changed its name to the South African Communist Party (SACP) in 1953, after it had been forced underground

    • Was forced underground due to the Suppression of Communism Act.

  • Goal was to “carry the banner of communism” despite it being outlawed by communism

  • Formed many alliances with other organizations such as the ANC

  • Engaged in grassroots, encouraging the community to get involved in politics.

  • Invested in education programs to inform the public on what their principles and goals were.

  • Played a significant role in ending apartheid through negotiations and and the establishment of a democratic South Africa in the 1990s

African National Congress

  • Goal was to Liberate South Africa from apartheid and establish a non-racial and democratic government

  • Used peaceful protests and negotiations at first

    • Used more radical methods when apartheid got worse (Sharpeville Massacre) such as sabotaging government facilities and vying for support on the global stage.

  • The Defiance Campaign was one of the first organized efforts by the ANC against apartheid.

ANC Youth League

  • Younger generation of the ANC volunteers that were much more radical than the current leaders

  • Advocated for mass based activism

Pan African Congress

  • Faction within the ANC that eventually branched off due to differing ideologies on how to control the anger-driven protests

  • They hijacked ANC campaigns to launch their own campaigns

    • This resulted in the PAC announcing a pass act protest on March 21, 1960, which eventually came to be known as the Sharpeville Massacre

  • Emphasized the use of non-violent tactics

Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK)

  • Armed resistance group founded by Nelson Mandela

  • Wanted a democratic society where all citizens had equal rights, regardless of race.

  • Focused on sabotaging government buildings such as infrastructure and symbols of apartheid power.

  • Used guerilla warfare tactics

  • Tried to get global support in the fight against apartheid

  • First campaign was on December 16, 1961.

    • Sabotage campaigns were carried out for 2 years on government buildings and power stations.

    • Always avoided death or injury of innocent people

    • Completed over 190 acts of sabotage from 1961 to 1963

  • Government responded with violence and oppression

    • Executed various MK leaders and gave long prison sentences

    • When MK headquarters were found by the government, it led to the Rivonia Trials

Black Sash

  • Was a white protest group that was radicalized by the women’s protest against passes.

    • Members of the Black Sash were white and sympathized with South African women.

  • They opened advice centers for black women, arranged bail for women who would not be able to return to their children, and built up a group of lawyers that would represent African women for low costs

  • Built up trust among Africans who had previously been wary of white people offering to help them

Congress of People (COP)

  • The result of various organizations coming together, the largest of which was the ANC

  • Goals included:

    • Drafting a freedom charter

    • Working together with even more parties to oppose apartheid (especially with groups such as the colored who had been largely excluded from the Defiance Campaign)

  • In 1954, these groups came together to formally establish the Congress Alliance

    • Resulted in the creation of a NAC (National Action Council) to organize the COP and recruit “freedom volunteers”

Broderbund christian la goat

  • Afrikaner Group founded in 1918 after the the British won the South African War (1899-1902)

  • Composed of Afrikaans-speaking Protestant, white men over the age of 25.

    • Was invite only.

  • Extensive political power

  • Through the Broederbond, Afrikaner men hoped to foster Afrikaner culture and traditions in the face of ill treatment by British South Africans and second-class citizenship.

    • Essentially a support group

  • Associated with the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) and the NP for the majority of its lifespan

    • Considered to be a large factor in the NP’s rise to national power


Terms

Apartheid (grand & petty) 

  • “Petty Apartheid” was referred to laws that impacted South African’s day to day life, and existed to ensure domination of the whites over blacks

    • Laws that are petty apartheid include:

      • Prohibition of Mixed Marriages (1949) & Immorality Act (1950)

      • Reservation of Separate Amenities Act (1953)

      • Bantu Education Act (1953)

  • “Grand Apartheid” refers to laws that had greater consequences, and either forced Africans to live in certain locations or classified them into a category. The purpose of grand apartheid was to completely segregate the territories within South Africia, leading to the independence of each of its different racial groups.

    • Laws that are grand apartheid include: 

      • Population Registration Act (1950)

      • Group Areas Act (1950)

      • Promotion of Bantu Self-Government Act (1959)

  • The difference between petty and grand can be summed up as petty laws affected how people lived, and grand laws affected where people could live and who they classified as.

Indigenous

  • Term used to describe something (usually people?) that are native to a land or place

Townships

  • Townships were the underdeveloped  areas surrounding white-only cities that housed various races. Townships were created and expanded by the Group Areas Act (1950) and the Colored, Indian, and Black population were forced to live in them,

Stayaway

  • Term used to refer to a general strike

    • Example: The May Stayaway in 1950 involved African Worker staying home on the 1st of May to go on strike against their employers

Miscegenation

  • Term used to refer to relationships or reproduction between two different racial groups, especially when one of them is white.

    • To the apartheid mindset, miscegenation was almost the same thing as racial degeneration, and therefore it had to be abolished.

Freedom Charter

  •  Name of the pseudo-constitution that listed all the goals of the COP

    • Resulted in the Treason Trials

Bantustans/Homelands

  • Bantustans, also known as homelands, were known as “Self Governing Homelands”

    • This was achieved by transforming native reserves into their own independent states

  • Over time all Black South Africans would be required to reside in these homelands.

  • Caused by The Bantu Authorities Act and the Promotion of Bantu Self Government Act

 

Shanty town

  • Also known as slums or squatter settlements, these are areas where impoverished people live in temporary dwellings made from scrap materials. 

    • These differ from townships, but only slightly. Townships can contain slums, but are mostly composed of formal housing created to segregate non-whites from white areas.

    • Just remember that shanty towns were meant to be temporary dwellings. There was no law creating shanty towns the same way townships were created, it was just a consequence of the economic situation many people were in.