We explain what apartheid was, its ideology, causes and consequences. In addition, we tell you about the resistance that opposed and managed to defeat it.
What was apartheid?
Apartheid was a system of racial segregation that was established in South Africa during the 20th century. Through this system, the white minority population maintained political, economic and social privileges, and the rights of the rest of the population were denied and the freedoms were limited.
Since 1948, the Afrikaner National Party took over the South African government and established different laws that widened the gap between whites, blacks and other races that inhabited the country. This party prohibited marital and sexual relations between people of different races, established their geographical separation in housing and work, and divided the use of public services, such as transportation or access to hospitals. You must read about Medusa once.
After long decades of resistance and in the context of a political-economic crisis, in 1990 discriminatory laws began to be abolished. Nelson Mandela and other opposition leaders were released from prison and the political transition to a multiracial democracy began.
Historical context of apartheid
Towards the end of the 19th century, there were different British and Dutch colonial states in the South African region. During the Anglo-Boer Wars (1880-1881 and 1899-1901), the British Empire and settlers from the Netherlands, also known as Afrikaners, fought for political and economic control of the area.
In 1886, gold mines were discovered in the Witwatersrand mountain ranges. This led to Randlords, who were involved in the diamond industry, investing in the development of a mining industry in the region. Immigrants from all over Africa and Asia began to arrive to work as gold prospectors, miners, fortune hunters or shopkeepers.
Immigrant labour made it possible to lower the production costs of the mining industry, which encouraged settlement in gold-producing areas. On the other hand, until then, the majority of the local black population was engaged in small-scale agriculture.
Apartheid as an ideology
Apartheid began as a South African racist ideology, common among white Afrikaner settlers of Dutch origin, according to which the white race should lead the other racial groups in order to live in a peaceful and civilized way. They believed that the evolution and development of the country depended on the races remaining separate, fulfilling different functions and organized with differential access to resources, goods and rights.
This South African ideology does not have its own body of texts, but we can locate its origin in the racist theories of the mid-nineteenth century, according to which the black and yellow races (in reference to people of oriental origin) are inferior varieties of the white race, within the human species. Maybe you should definitely read about Fear once.
Some exponents of racism of the time were:
- Joseph Gobineau: With his Essay on the Inequality of Human Races (1855) he classified races. Karl Vogt: Through his Readings of Man (1864), he linked the black race with the apes.
- Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919): He argued in different works that primitive races (non-white races) were in an infant stage of evolution and should be supervised by superior races (the white race).
First segregation or “mini-apartheid”
Towards the end of the 19th century, the first policies to segregate the population appeared. In Johannesburg, for example, residential areas were built for wealthier white people, such as the Randlords and other investors in the mining industry, and “slums” where the rest of the population lived.
Segregation policies were an attempt to stop miscegenation, which was a characteristic of the popular neighborhoods. Later, these policies were institutionalized in apartheid.
In 1910, the different states of the region (Cape Colony, Natal, Transvaal and the Orange Free State) signed the Act of Union and associated themselves under the “Union of South Africa”. Although it was administered by the British Empire, in the new country the Dutch Afrikaners had great influence and political power. They prevented blacks from obtaining the right to vote, access to public administration and seats in Parliament.
At that time, the country’s population was made up of 67.7% blacks, 21% whites, 8.8% coloureds and 2.5% Asians.
During the first half of the 20th century, the South African government, influenced by Afrikaans ideology, imposed legal norms that, as a whole, are known today as “mini-apartheid”:
Land Act (1913)
This law forced black inhabitants (who represented 67.7% of the population) to live in “reserves”, which constituted 8.7% of the country’s land. In addition, the law prohibited them from renting agricultural land, which prevented them from working as sharecroppers, farmers or cultivators. Thus, whites legally obtained all the fertile land and, in turn, generated a large amount of unemployed labour.
Natives/Urban Areas Act (1923)
This legislation laid the groundwork for residential and geographic segregation. The city of Johannesburg was reorganized through the forced displacement of entire neighborhoods and municipal authorities throughout the country were given the power to establish separate localities for whites, blacks and coloureds.
With these laws, the Afrikaner party sought to control the movements of the non-white population and their access to resources they considered essential.
Institutionalization of apartheid
In 1948, the National Party led by Daniel F. Malan, of the Afrikaner core, assumed power. During his campaign, he expressed the need to deepen racial segregation in order to boost the country’s economic development. Since then, different laws have been passed that have increasingly limited the freedoms and rights of the entire non-white population. We can group these laws into the following groups:
Civil segregation laws:
Mixed Marriage Prohibition Act (1949), Immorality Act (1950), Population Registration Act (1950).
These laws prohibited sexual and marital relations between people of different races. Legal classification of people was carried out according to skin colour and blood ancestry.
Spatial segregation laws:
Area Grouping Act (1950), Natives Act [additions and amendments] (1952, 1956), Separate Public Services Act (1953), Natives Relocation Act (1954).
Living spaces, transit zones and access to public services were delimited for each ethnic group. In addition, discrimination established privilege for the white population, by specifying that it was not necessary to equalize the quality of the facilities or spaces reserved for each group.
Urban areas were reserved for the white population. All non-white people had to carry a “pass” that specified the authorized transit zones and which included temporary authorization to enter white areas.
Labor segregation laws:
Native Labor Act (1953), Black Labor Amendment Act (1954).
Participation of black people in labor strikes was prohibited and regulatory guidelines for labor conflicts with the black population were established.
Political segregation laws:
Suppression of Communism Act (1951), Bantu Self-Government Promotion Act (1959), Bantu Urban Mayorships Act (1960), Anti-Terrorist Act (1967).
Communist parties and expressions were prohibited. In addition, with this law, any action of protest and opposition to the regime was defined as a communist expression and, therefore, repressed. The South African government was also able to arrest anyone it considered politically dangerous, and the participation of black representatives in Parliament was also eliminated.
The Self-Government Act established the creation of ten “bantustans” as new nations within the country, where each assigned person had to settle. This subdivision legitimized the idea that the black population had no citizenship rights for the South African government.
Educational and social segregation laws:
Bantu Education Act (1953), University Education Extension Act (1959).
Special educational institutions and programs were created “for the nature and needs of the black people,” with the aim of preparing black people to accept subordination to the segregation system and to work in the fields of work intended for the black population. Entry of blacks into universities reserved for whites was prohibited.
Resistance to apartheid
Resistance to apartheid was continuous and took different forms, until it managed, at the end of the 20th century, to delegitimize and overthrow the ideology and the bases of power that maintained it as a government.
From the first racist political and normative expressions, resistance and protests arose among the black population. In 1912, the South African Native National Congress was founded, which later became the African National Congress (ANC) and led the fight against segregationist laws. During the first decades, the resistance was peaceful and focused on protest actions and public defiance of racist measures.
With the rise of the Afrikaner National Party to power and the worsening of the living conditions of the non-white population, anti-racist movements became widespread.
In 1955, different political parties and civil groups signed the Freedom Charter, a declaration of the basic principles and demands of the population: a non-racist, unified and democratic South Africa. The government accused the signatories of being communists and arrested black political leaders.
In 1960, a peaceful demonstration in Sharpeville was suppressed and 69 black people were killed by the police. The government banned the ANC and other political organizations.
From then on, resistance movements were organized clandestinely and began to use violence as a method of protest. By 1963, the conflict continued to escalate and the government declared a “state of emergency,” which enabled the arrest of people without a court order: 18,000 black leaders and protesters were arrested, including Nelson Mandela, leader of the ANC.
The international arena began to criticize and sanction South Africa’s racist policies. The United Nations General Assembly approved the Declaration against the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination in 1963. However, in the context of the Cold War, international actions against apartheid were limited. The presence of communist groups in the south of the continent, backed by the USSR and Cuba, led the United States to support the Afrikaner National Party government for decades.
During the 1970s, armed conflicts intensified in the country; Protests multiplied and the government’s repressive response increased. In 1976, the Soweto massacre claimed the lives of 566 black people, including children, at the hands of the police.
Defeat of Apartheid
The disintegration of the communist bloc in the late 1980s changed the international landscape. Western powers, such as the United States, stopped supporting the apartheid government and began implementing measures to isolate South Africa politically and economically. Some Western states banned their companies from doing business in the country and economic sanctions were imposed by the UN.
The various international sports committees banned South African participation until racist policies were lifted; the Olympic Games, the FIA, FIFA, the Davis Cup and Rugby World Cup excluded the country from their competitions.
The South African economy entered a crisis that was aggravated by the fall in the international price of gold. In 1985, the country declared a state of emergency and the white Afrikaner politicians of the National Party understood that apartheid was becoming an unsustainable system.
President Pieter W. Botha initiated some measures to curb the discontent of the black population. But it was not until 1989, under President Frederik Le Klerk, that the National Party began the transition to a South Africa without racial segregation.
In 1990, the process of eliminating discriminatory laws began. The activity of the African National Congress was legalized and various political prisoners were released, including Nelson Mandela. Negotiations then began with representatives of the different political groups. The following year, all discriminatory laws were repealed and a new national constitution was agreed upon.
In 1993, the new constitution established the fundamental rights of all South Africans without distinction of race and free participation for all adults in the next presidential elections. The following year, Nelson Mandela was elected president.
Causes of apartheid
The system of racial segregation was officially established in South Africa in the mid-twentieth century and the Afrikaners managed to maintain it for four decades. The main causes of the institutionalization of apartheid were:
- The spread of racist ideas among the Afrikaners, who owned the main means of production in the country.
- The weakening of British control after the formation of South Africa as a unified country.
- The denial of political and electoral rights to the black population when the South African parliament was formed in 1910.
- The increasing immigration of workers from other African and Asian countries.
- The rise to power of the National Party in 1948 and its preservation through the repression of resistance groups.
Consequences of apartheid
The four decades of racial segregation generated inequality and poverty in South Africa. The main consequences of apartheid were:
- South Africans became a structurally unequal society; with differential access to rights, resources and basic services.
- Poverty and unemployment, even today, are higher among the black population.
- As a consequence of unequal access to education, only a small proportion of professional workers are black.
- The forced displacement of people broke family and social ties, and impoverished the quality of life of millions of people.
- Segregation led to repression, persecution, imprisonment, torture and exile of people from resistance movements.
- The general impoverishment of the population and the impossibility of economic and social mobility among the black population led to a national economic crisis.
- The international isolation in rejection of apartheid in recent decades worsened the South African economic crisis.
Major figures of apartheid
- Daniel F. Malan (1874-1959): He served as minister from 1948 to 1954 for the National Party and implemented the policies that laid the foundations for apartheid.
- Johannes G. Strijdom (1893-1958): He was D. Malan’s successor as prime minister from 1958 to 1958 and continued the institutional development of apartheid.
- Hendrik Verwoerd (1901-1966): Prime minister from 1958 to 1966, he designed several racist policies under previous governments, including the segregated education system.
- Pieter W. Botha (1916-2006): He led the National Party and was president from 1984 to 1989. Under his presidency, negotiations began to abandon the racist system.
- Frederik Le Klerk (1936-2021): Under his presidency, between 1989 and 1994, negotiations began for the transition to a multiracial and united South African democracy.
Important figures of the resistance
Nelson Mandela (1918-2013)
He was an activist of the resistance against apartheid, leader of the African National Congress, political prisoner between 1962 and 1990 and president of the Republic of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was recognized, among other things, for betting on a peaceful transition between the apartheid system and multiracial democracy. Among other recognitions for his fight for human rights, he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.
Steve Biko (1946-1977)
He was an activist of the Black Consciousness Movement during the sixties and seventies; and an important figure in the fight against apartheid when the ANC went underground and its political leaders were arrested or exiled.
Joe Slovo (1926-1995)
A member of the Communist Party linked to the ANC, he created Umkhonto we Sizwe (the “spear of the nation” in English) together with Mandela as the armed wing of the ANC after the Sharpeville massacre.
Desmond Tutu (1931-2021)
He was a priest and pacifist who advocated the anti-racist cause throughout his life; and he constantly organized protests and strikes. He was recognized for his struggle internationally and in 1994 he received the Nobel Peace Prize.
References
All the information we offer is supported by authoritative and updated bibliographic sources, which ensure reliable content in line with our editorial principles.
- Lefort, R. (1986). South Africa: history of a crisis (Vol. 73). Siglo XXI.
- Denegri, G. A. (2015). South Africa: its difficult path to freedom. International Relations.
- Réserve, R. (2004). South Africa: ten years after Apartheid. Realidad: Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, (98), 243-252.
- Barraza, H. V. (2014). THE CULTURE OF VIOLENCE IN THE LAST PHASE OF “APARTHEID”: SOUTH AFRICA, C. 1984-1994. studies of asia and africa, 255-300.
