Apartheid 

Page by Ellie Veryard. 

Apartheid is the name given to the segregation of people from white European descent from those of black or mixed race non European descent in South Africa. 

After gaining independence from British colonisation power was shared between Afrikaner National Party and the South African Parting, merging to form the United Party, then splitting over disagreements on entry into World War II. In 1948 Afrikaner National Party was elected into power and developed apartheid as a way to reinforce their control over the social and economic system. It aimed to maintain white domination through racial separation. Werner Eiselen, who led the design of Apartheid believed that segregation could not maintain white supremacy and called for political partition rather than segregation of public spaces. This political separation was known as Grand Apartheid, with later physical segregation coming under the term Petty Apartheid. 

The Population Regulation Act of 1950 categorised South Africans into three groups; white, black or coloured. Over the period 1976-1981 nine million South Africans were denationalised under the Bantu Authorities Act (1951), removing their right to vote and assigning them to one of four areas designated as ‘homelands’. Population registry, which held increasing amounts of personal information on individuals was used to used place black people into areas of labour demand where they were exploited, whilst others were restricted to the homelands. Bantu boards, local government, controlled the movement of black persons, stopping workers from living with their families. Apartheid laws forbade mixed race marriages, created ‘white-only’ jobs and a separate education system for black and coloured students. 

In 1953 the Public Safety Act and the Criminal Law Amendment Act were passed, allowing the government extra powers upon declaring a state of emergency. This allowed the government to detain protestors without a hearing, and thousands of people died in prison after torture. Others were banished, executed or, like Nelson Mandela, given life imprisonment. 

In the 1970s and 80s pressure began to build in the international community, with nations taking action to coerce the South African government into ending Apartheid. Trade embargos on weapons, and later computers, which were vital to maintaining apartheid, were sanctioned by the UN and Security Council. The embargo was generally unsuccessful, with civilian items being imported and then requisitioned by the police. Non UN member states also continued to supply equipment to the South African authorities. However widespread protests begin to single out companies exporting goods to South Africa, and many began to withdraw their services as exposure caused profits to fall. It began to become apparent that without foreign support Apartheid could not continue. 

In South Africa any younger politicians began to campaign for change; race restrictions were relaxed and black political parties allowed. In 1990 President Frederick Willem de Klerk began negotiations for power sharing began with an all race election in 1994, won by the African National Congress under Nelson Mandela.

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