Apartheid: What is it? Apartheid INTRODUCTION: Apartheid means racial separation and inequality. Apartheid comes from an Afrikaans word which means "separateness". It is a system that enables a small white minority to maintain political, social. and economic control of the majority and, at the same time, maintain its own wealth. power, and privilege. The government enforces racial segregation by law. Every child born must be regis­ tered and classified into one of the four main groups: African, mixed-race or "coloured", Asian or White. Africans are divided into tribal groups by the white government which has assigned them to reserves (bantustans) which constitute less than 13% of the least productive land in South Africa. Eighty seven percent (87%) of the land is set aside for the white minority. Apartheid laws attempt to control the lives of Black people. They determine where people can live, work and travel, and what kind of education, justice, health care and social services they will receive, South Africa has a tricameral form of government. Only white, coloured and Asian people are represented in the three houses of the legislature. African people cannot vote or run for office in national elections. Africans can only vote in some municipal elections which are generally not considered legitimate elections. Billions of rands (equivalent to about $.50 in U.S. currency) are spent to enforce the apartheid laws. Enforcement is carried out by the huge government bureaucracy as well as by the armed forces, the police, and the intelligence network. Petty apartheid is the system of South African laws which are designed to keep certain public facilities segregated, Grand apartheid is the policy of stripping Black people of their human and civil rights. Apartheid is a system some people refer to as a form of genocide. The United Nations calls apartheid a "crime against humanity, a crime against the conscience and dignity of mankind", There is a long history of struggle against colonial rule and apartheid in South Africa by both Black and white South Africans. Apartheid: What is it? FACTS: ABRIEF HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA 1487 The Portuguese attempted to land in South Africa. then inhabited only by Black people. The Portuguese were driven away. 1652 The Dutch arrived at the Cape of Good Hope. The Khoikhoi (commonly referred to as Hottentots) and the San (often called Bushmen) were soon dispossed of land and live­ stock by the settlers, who used superior anned force to crush the resistance. Settlers also brought enslaved people from West Africa and the East Indies. As the settlers expanded. there were successive wars of resistance. 1795 The British, using their anned forces, occupied Cape Colony. They became penna· nent residents in 1806. Most of the land was taken over by whites. Those who had fonnerly occupied the land were reduced to the status of tenants or wage labourers, or were driven off the land and forced into 'reserves". There was continued opposition to these policies. Agriculture was the most important fonn of economic activity. although there was some mining. 1814 The South African territory was ceded to the British by Holland. 1820 The British sent colonists, many were ex-soldiers. who established settlements. 1828 English was imposed as the official language. 1834 The British abolished slavery in South Africa. The Dutch (Afrikaners or Boers). de­ pendent on slavery, were angered. 1836·38 The Great Trek. 10,000 Afrikaners set off a great migration northward to escape. British rule. They established the Boer states ofTransvaal and Orange Free State. 1838 The Battle of Blood River. 500 Afrikaners defeated 10,000 Zulus and took their land. The Boer republic of Natal was founded. This battle was one of many struggles by Africans against colonial rulers. 1852 The British recognized the independence of Transvaal. 1854 The British granted independence to Orange Free State. 1860's, 70's, 80's. There were major discoveries of mineral deposits such as ore, diamonds, and gold leading to growing numbers of miners and the creation of a system of migratory labor. An influx of foreign capital led to a rapid industrialization of the South African economy. The whites owned most of the land and mineral wealth and controlled most of the African labor force. 1882 Imbumba Yama Afrika (sometimes called the seed of the African National Congress) was fonned in the Eastern Cape area. 1884 The first African political newspaper was published. Imvo Zabantsundu printed a petition protesting anti-African legislation imposed by Britain in the early 1900s. Apartheid: What is it? 1893-1914 Mahattna Gandhi helped organize protest against an anti-Indian immigration law and laws requiring Indians in South Africa to register. There were massive non-violent non-registration actions. There were massive arrests and deportations. The Natal Indian Congress was organized. 1899·1902 In the Anglo-Boer War between the British and Afrikaners, British troops defeated the Boers. Thousands of Boers died in battle or were put in British concentration camps. In the Second Great Trek, Afrikaners migrated to the cities. British rule was estab­ lished in all four territories. 1906 In Natal, the Zulus rebelled against the British. Thousands of Africans were killed. 191~ The Union of South Africa was established. Britain handed administration of the country to the local white population. The constitution of the Union continued the restrictions on the rights of Black people. It paved the way for total removal of all parliamentary rights from Black people. 1911 The Mine and Works Act was passed, imposing a 'color bar' in the mines. Skilled jobs were reserved for whites. Strikes by Black workers were made illegal. 1912 The African National Congress was fonned to end tribal divisions and create one nation, to fight for rights and to give a voice to Black South Africans. 1913 The Native Land Act prohibited Africans from owning land anywhere except in areas called 'native reserves', only 7% of South Africa. The ANC attempted, unsuccessfully, to fight the Land Act. 1918 The African National Congress Women's League was fonned. 1919 The ANC initiated the first of many nonviolent mass movements against racially dis­ criminatory laws The Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (lCU) was formed and became a mass movement. 1920's Many Blacks migrated to cities. 1921 The Communist Party of South Africa was founded, with racial equality a major goal. 1922 There was a miners strike. A fonnal color bar in employment was established. 1936 The Native Trust and Land Act was passed, and 87% of the land was set aside for whites only. The United Party government removed African voters from the rolls in the Cape area. 1939 By a narrow margin, the South African government voted to join the War against Germany. An estimated 250,000 Afrikaners joined the pro-Nazi Ossewabrandwag movement to sabotage the war effon. 1940's ANC campaigned for full citizenship and equality, one-person-one-vote, abolition of the pass laws and colour bar. Bus boycotts were held in Alexandra to protest a rise in bus fairs they were too poor to pay. Such boycotts were illegal. 1940 Food Committees organized around a food crisis. Apartheid; What is it? 1944" 47 Johannesburg squatters' movement led to the building of Soweto. 1944 The ANC Youth League was formed. 1946 There was an unsuccessful African minewoticers strike. Over 60,000 African miners went on strike for wage increases. 12 woticers were killed, 1,200 were injured. 194648 An Indian passive resistance movement protested the Smut's 'Ghetto' Bill designed to restrict Indians permanently to certain areas. 1948 The National Party won the national elections and announced an offical policy of apartheid. 1949 The Prohibition of Mixed-Marriage Act was passed, barring marriage across racial lines. The ANC Youth League organized a 'Programme of Action' including civil disobedi­ ence and noncooperation against the pass system and other laws of apartheid. 1950 The Population Registration Act was passed. Every child required to be registered and classified into one of the four main groups: African, Coloured, Asian or white. Suppression of Communism Act, outlawed the Communist Party of South Africa. Group Areas Act was passed, imposing further restrictions on occupation of land by Black people. Only Black people with permits could enter white areas or facilities. 1952 The ANC and South African Indian Congress launched a Defiance campaign to protest unjust laws. There were over 8000 arrests during the campaign. 1953 The Defiance Campaign was ended by government legislation which made it a serious offense to break a law to protest that law or any other law. Bantu Education Act was passed, imposing inferior curriculum on Black students. There were many protests. The ANC and South African Congress of Trade Unions organized a campaign for a minimum wage. There was also a potato boycott against the brutal treatment of farm laborers. The "in" slogan was "If you eat potatoes, you are eating the blood of a fellow woticer." 1954·58 The Federation of South African Women and the Women's League of the ANC or­ ganized a defiance campaign agaimt pass laws for African women. In 1956,30,000 women delivered anti-pass petitions to the Prime Minister. 1955 The Freedom Charter was adopted by 3,000 delegates in Kliptown at the Congress of the People, initiated by the African National Congress. There were bus boycotts against fare increases in Evaton and Alexandra. 1956-61 156 prominent anti-apartheid activists (including Nelson Mandela) were arrested and charged with treason. They were found not guilty. 1959 The Pan Africanist Congress was formed. 1960 At Sharpeville, over 10,000 people protested the pass laws; 69 were killed and 186 were injured.