Apartheid: Isolation of Race

Philippa Blossom (IH L6)

In the language of Afrikaans, the word ‘apartheid’ literally translates to ‘apartness’. This was a period of South African history in the twentieth century that isolated half a nation based on the colour of their skin. A system was created to uphold segregationist policies against all non-white citizens in South Africa. White people were a racial minority in the country since the Dutch East India Company colonised the Cape of Good Hope in 1652 – yet by the mid-1900s, the racial minority were running the country. Though there had been tensions between the white and black communities in the past, and the second half of the twentieth century saw the segregation between the races legalised in all aspects of society.

White supremacy and racial segregation were the two main driving forces in the lead-up to apartheid. After British parliament had passed the Act of Union in 1910, the four British colonies (Cape, Natal, Orange Free State, and Transvaal) became the Union of South Africa, and three years later, when the 1913 Land Act was approved (forcing black Africans to live in reserves and legislating against them working as sharecroppers), the territorial exclusion had already begun. This caused much controversy within the country and challengers of the Land Act would collaborate to form the South African Native Congress, which later progressed to become the African National Congress (ANC). World crises such as the Great Depression and Second World War also had a significant impact on the economic troubles of the country which reinforced racial segregation policies. In the aftermath of the Second World War, the all-white Afrikaner National Party won the general election in South Africa in 1948. Its slogan advertised ‘apartheid’, showing that a majority of the country’s population had indirectly voted for racial separation in their country. Not only was the aim of the new government to disconnect the nonwhite majority from the white minority, but also to divide the non-white communities further to reduce their political authority. These events marked the initiation of the South African apartheid.

The next stage of apartheid was to legalise the isolation of non-white races. The prohibition of marriage between a white person to a person of another race, and the illegalising of sexual relations between two different races in South Africa became the reality by 1950, under the Afrikaner National Party. The Population Registration Act of 1950 classified people by their race. There were three categories a person could fall under: Bantu (black Africans), Coloured (mixed race) or White. An Asian category was later enrolled too. As a result of this act, families were split up and, in some cases, children would effectively be left orphaned if they fell into the ‘Coloured’ category as their parents were black and white (so they too would be separated). White supremacy was also prominent via a succession of Land Acts, which allowed for more than 80% of the land for the white minority. Also, non-white people were obliged to carry documents to authorise themselves in restricted zones, overtly demonstrating discrimination against the majority, as white people were not forced to do the same. The government ensured the difficulty of contact between races and this was consolidated through the establishment of separate public facilities to accommodate the different communities. The disadvantages and inequality which non-white people faced was exacerbated by the limitations of placed on their labour unions and the rejection of non-white representation in national government. Therefore, via the law, it was becoming clear that the white population of South Africa was in a much more advantageous position than the rest of the population owing to the all-white government and strong objectives of white supremacy.

In 1958, Hendrik Verwoerd became Prime Minister of South Africa, with his main focus being to further improve apartheid policy and make it become more systematic: this was known as the ‘separate development’. He created the Promotion of Bantu Self-Government Act in 1959, which created 10 Bantu homelands (known as Bantustans) to additionally divide the black majority and weaken the probability of black unification against the government. In order to retain the black people’s political rights, they were split up and designated a Bantustan to remove them from the main political structure. This system forced black South Africans to leave their homes in the newly established ‘white’ zones. and their farmland in rural parts was sold on cheaply to white farmers. This showed the authority that the government had to effectively reorder and redistribute the population of the country. Between 1961 and 1994, over 3.5 million people emigrated without choice to Bantustans in the areas less desirable to the white minority. Poverty and lack of proper formation of the black ‘homelands’ made it difficult for the inhabitants to prosper. On top of this, the government’s foreseeing of opposition against their

zoning of the country made their force weak and unimportant. Furthermore, this facilitated the white minority to become even more powerful and wealthy without interference from outside parties.

Unsurprisingly, there was much opposition to apartheid, and over the period, there was a variety of different forms of opposition. Though there were non-violent demonstrations, protests and strikes, these were not as effectual as armed resistance – although this clearly led to suffering and ended in punishment. In 1952, a meeting between the South African Indian National Congress and the ANC met and the attendees burnt their identity passes as a commitment to their determination to eradicate racial discrimination. They adopted a Freedom Charter in 1955 declaring that:

South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black or white.

As a result, 150 people were arrested and charged with high treason. One of the first and most infamous demonstrations against apartheid happened in Sharpeville on the 21st March 1960. In response to the unarmed protests on this day by Pan-African Congress (PAC), the police opened fire on the demonstrators. This resulted in the killing of approximately 69 Africans and the wounding of more than 180 – despite the aims of the protest being peaceful. The Sharpeville massacre confirmed for anti-apartheid groups that more serious measures would have to be taken. Both the PAC and ANC built up military divisions, not to pose a serious military threat, but to symbolise the seriousness and passion that the anti-apartheid people felt about their cause. By 1961, the majority of the anti-apartheid group’s leaders had been imprisoned for life or executed after South Africa became a republic and left the Commonwealth. Most famously, Nelson Mandela, founder of the ‘Spear of the Nation’ (Umkhonto we Sizwe in Xhosa), the military wing of the ANC, was captured and sent to Robben Island in 1962 to serve his life sentence in prison. His imprisonment became well known across the anti-apartheid groups and people were becoming more inclined to support the movement. Even while Mandela was imprisoned, he was still determined to continue his fight and a letter from 10th June 1980 was smuggled by his followers from Robben Island and encouraged them to:

UNITE! MOBILISE! FIGHT ON! BETWEEN THE ANVIL OF UNITED MASS ACTION AND THE HAMMER OF THE ARMED STRUGGLE WE SHALL CRUSH APARTHEID!

Therefore, with the help from groups and individuals supporting the anti-apartheid movement, more support was raised for the cause, as they avidly spread awareness about the atrocities of apartheid.

The Soweto uprising of 1976 saw thousands of black children protesting against the introduction of the Bantu Education Act of 1953. The police once again opened fire with tear gas and bullets, leading to the death of over 176 innocent children and thousands more wounded. These protests and the consequent response from the government attracted international attention to the South African apartheid and it became clearer to the world that apartheid had not brought the peace and success that the government had preached. Subsequently, at the United Nations General Assembly in 1973 they criticised apartheid, and in 1976 the sale of weapons to South Africa was banned by the UN Security Council. Economic sanctions were further imposed on the country by the UK and the USA. To appease the international interest in the South African government (led by Pieter Botha), the pass laws (internal passport system) were abolished, and the ban of interracial marriage and sexual relations was lifted. However, due to the lack of radical change by Botha, in 1989, F.W. de Klerk became the new President of South Africa. Under his leadership, the Population Registration Act was ended as well as many other apartheid laws. De Klerk is also notable for his decision to free Nelson Mandela on 11th February 1990. Jointly, de Klerk and Mandela created a constitution to eliminate racial inequality, and it took effect in 1994. Elections in 1994 resulted in a coalition government (with a non-white majority) officially marking the end of apartheid system in South Africa. The result of these elections also revolutionised the role of black people in the government because Nelson Mandela became the first black president of South Africa.

Though apartheid came to an end, racial discrimination and white supremacy was still an issue and still is today. Not only South Africa struggled with racial inequality: it is also a global issue. America had a similar response to non-white isolation, and the Civil Rights Movement (1954–1968) was a response to it, just as the anti-apartheid movement was in South Africa. Isolation of race has been a struggle throughout the whole of

history and there has never been a permanent solution to it – even in modern society (although it has evidently vastly improved in many places). The Black Lives Matter movement of today highlights that the non-white population still receives prejudice and discrimination, demonstrating that it is still a prominent issue today. The unanswered question is:

Will racial inequality and discrimination ever be solved permanently?

August 2020 by Mr E.F.J. Twohig