Apartheid

The Group Areas act of 1950 controlled where people could live. The black people where driven into small towns quite far away from city centres, however their jobs were still in these cities and white suburbs. Bus fares were expensive and catching public transport everyday was expensive and caused hardship and depression for the black people.

The Bantu education Act meant that the black students were disadvantaged with their education.

According to many the education system in South Africa is now far worse than under apartheid. - http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Education-worse-than-under-apartheid-20120323

Famous Archbishop Desmond Tutu also said the ANC is not worse than apartheid - http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/2011/10/04/anc-worse-than-apartheid-govt-tutu

It is important to show facts in a balanced way as change is constant, and so is history.

There were many white pro apartheid people because of the much larger population of black South Africans, causing the white people to believe that if the black people were given rights and freedoms, they would no longer have political power. The white people were worried that their race would be taken over and they would lose the control they'd always had.

To step back in time as to why apartheid came into power. During 1899 - 1902 the imperialist British empire went to war against two Boer (old name for Afrikaners) when gold and diamonds were discovered. During this time nearly 1/3 of Afrikaner women and children died in British concentration camps. A little known fact is, mass rapes occurred on farms where women and children were looking after the household when men were out on commando. These rapes occurred by mainly Africans, (but also soldiers) taking advantage of the soft targets on the farms. The rapes were also a common occurrence in the concentration camps by Imperial soldiers. (Australians, New Zealanders, British, Canadians)

After this dark time in Afrikaner history, the Afrikaners felt they needed to protect themselves against any majority, in order for something like this not to happen again. This was the birth of Afrikaner nationalism, and they perfected a system started by the British.

Like above people are made to believe "facts are racist" when they do not like what they hear. The truth will set you free. Nobody said you will not feel uncomfortable, or even shame.

The pro apartheid white people were happy with their life which was made comfortable by the new apartheid laws. It meant they had guaranteed jobs due to the policy of job reservations for white people and farmers could use black people to work as cheap labour

Well, the conventional answer would be Nelson R. Mandelaand Frederick W. de Klerk, as they shared a Nobel Prize for bringing an end to Apartheid.

Actually it was a lot more complicated than that, and hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions, of people were involved.

Apartheid was brought to its end by mass resistance to its cruelty, by internal campaigns of disobedience, of peaceful resistance and sabotage of state installations and armed resistance, and by the actions of countless caring and brave people outside South Africa who marched, donated, boycotted and spoke up about Apartheid for decades.

If you were one of those, thank you very much!

Our users have differing opinions:

• Depends what you define as succeed. If by "succeeding" you mean permanently establishing new territory, then no, it did not succeed at all. However, it was effective at first in virtually wiping out tribal control in Africa - so the act of Apartheid itself could be considered a success.
• It failed miserably.
• I agree with the previous user: the ravages of the cruel Apartheid system are still apparent many years after Apartheid is supposedly officially over.

They had "homelands" that they were forced to live at. They were forced to carry around passports. See Pass Laws for more information. They didn't have a choice, they had to live in the "homelands". They were considered aliens in their own country. It was really messed up. It was so messed up that, through my research, I have come across many pictures and information stating that "black Africans living in the apartheid were beaten, whipped and had extremely bad living conditions. Many of them had to work as slaves and many also died due to this horrible way of living.

Information below: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pass_laws
Pass laws

Precursors
Hut tax
Treaty of Vereeniging (1902)
Natives' Land (1913)
Urban Areas (1923)

Prohibition of Mixed Marriages (1949)
Immorality Act† (1950)

Group Areas Act (1950)
Suppression of Communism (1950)
Bantu Building Workers (1951)
Separate Representation of Voters (1951)
Prevention of Illegal Squatting (1951)
Bantu Authorities (1951)
Natives Laws† (1952)
Pass Laws (1952)
Native Labour (Settlement of Disputes) (1953)
Bantu Education (1953)
Reservation of Separate Amenities (1953)
Natives Resettlement (1954)
Group Areas Development (1955)
Natives (Prohibition of Interdicts) (1956)
Bantu Investment Corporation (1959)
Extension of University Education (1959)
Promotion of Bantu Self-Government (1959)
Coloured Persons Communal Reserves (1961)
Preservation of Coloured Areas (1961)
Urban Bantu Councils (1961)
Terrorism Act (1967)
Bantu Homelands Citizens (1970)

† No new legislation introduced, rather
the existing legislation named was amended.

Pass laws in South Africa were designed to segregate the population and limit severely the movements of the non-white populace. This legislation was one of the dominant features of the country's apartheid system. Introduced in South Africa in 1923, they were designed to regulate movement of black Africans in urban areas. Outside designated "homelands", black South Africans had to carry passbooks ("dom pas", meaning dumb pass) at all times, documentation proving they were authorised to live or move in "White" South Africa.[1]

The laws also affected other non-white races. Indian people, for example, were barred from the Orange Free State.

These discriminatory regulations sparked outrage from the black population and the ANC began the Defiance Campaign to oppose the pass laws.

This conflict climaxed at the Sharpeville Massacre where the black opposition was violently put down, with 69 people killed and over 180 injured.

The system of pass laws was repealed in South Africa in 1986.

Pass laws also stated that black Africans could not hold a higher business position within a company than the lowest white employee.

The first pass laws were introduced in 1760 to regulate the movement of slaves in the Cape. The Urban Areas Consolidation Act of 1945, together with the Natives (Abolition of Passes and Coordination of Documents) Act of 1952, were key laws. The Urban Areas Act outlined requirements for African peoples' "qualification" to reside legally in white metropolitan areas. To do so, they had to have Section 10 rights, based on whether

• the person had been born there and resided there always since birth;
• the person had laboured continuously for ten years in any agreed area for any employer, or lived continuously in any such area for less than ten years;
• the person was the spouse, spinster or son under eighteen years of age of an African person, falling into the above two categories, usually lived with him and had originally entered the area legitimately; or
• the person had been granted a permit to remain by a labour bureau.

• 1 Native Urban Areas Act
• 2 Pass Laws Act
• 3 See also
• 4 References
• 5 External links

The Native Urban Areas Act 1923 deemed urban areas in South Africa as "white" and forced all black African men in cities and towns to carry permits called "passes" at all times. Anyone found without a pass would be arrested immediately and sent to a rural area.

The Pass Laws Act 1952 made it compulsory for all black South Africans over the age of 16 to carry a "pass book" at all times. The law stipulated where, when, and for how long a person could remain. This pass was also known as a dompas.

The document was similar to an internal passport, containing details on the bearer such as their fingerprints, photograph, the name of his/her employer, his/her address, how long the bearer had been employed, as well as other identification information. Employers often entered a behavioural evaluation, on the conduct of the pass holder.

An employer was defined under the law and could be only a white person. The pass also documented permission requested and denied or granted to be in a certain region and the reason for seeking such permission. Under the terms of the law, any governmental employee could strike out such entries, basically canceling the permission to remain in the area.

A pass book without a valid entry then allowed officials to arrest and imprison the bearer of the pass. These passes often became the most despised symbols of apartheid. The resistance to the Pass Law led to many thousands of arrests and was the spark that ignited the Sharpeville Massacre on 21 March 1960, and led to the arrest of Robert Sobukwe on that same date.

• Bantustan
• Racial segregation
• Ghetto
• Hukou
• Identity document
• Jim Crow laws
• Judenhut
• Second-class citizen
• Yellow badge
• Passing (racial identity)

1. ^ Johnstone, Frederick A. (1976). Class, Race, and Gold: A Study of Class Relations and Racial Discrimination in South Africa. Routledge. pp. 35. ISBN 0710082762.

• Apartheid Pass Laws and the Anti-pass campaigns

By Alistair Boddy-Evans, About.com

Pass Laws resulted from legislation (specifically Abolition of Passes and Co-ordination of Documents Act No. 67 of 1952) introduced in South Africa which required black Africans to carry identity documents in the form of a 'reference book' when outside of set of reserves (later known as homelands or bantustans). The Pass books contained details of their employment history and rights of residence.

The Pass Laws are considered one of the most grievous methods that the South African government used to support Apartheid.

"Apartheid" is Afrikaans for the state of being seperated. This system was formulated by the National Party which ruled South Africa at the time. The first policies of this system stripped black people of their South African citizenship. The Apartheid regime had chosen four economically ruined areas of the country and had given those to the black people to rule as they feel. The white government had noticed that since those four states were unproductive, many blacks did not want to move there. As a result, the Apartheid regime had begun implemeting policies into the legal system of South Africa that allowed for better services to be provided for white people and much lower services for the black and other non-white race groups. The white government thought that these policies would drive the black people to move into those four states and leave South Africa. The opposite was true. The black people felt that the Apartheid policies had violated their human rights. In order to be totally neutral on the issue, the main Apartheid policies have been placed below for the reader to take his/her on view on the issue. This has been taken from Wikipedia encyclopedia. For more detailed information please visit the related links. Remember, Apartheid was and is a very controverisial issue. Please educate yourself well on the topic by reading informative media, peoples' experiences etc.

• An amendment to the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act of 1949 prohibited marriage between persons of different races.
• An amendment to the Immorality Act of 1950 made sexual relations with a person of a different race a criminal offence.
• The Population Registration Act of 1950 formalised racial classification and introduced an identity card for all persons over the age of eighteen, specifying their racial group.
• The Suppression of Communism Act of 1950 banned the South African Communist Party and any other political party that the government chose to label as 'communist'. It made membership in the SACP punishable by up to ten years imprisonment.
• The Riotous Assemblies Act of 1956 prohibited disorderly gatherings.
• The Unlawful Organisations Act of 1960 outlawed certain organisation that were deemed threatening to the government.
• The Sabotage Act was passed 1962, the General Law Amendment Act in 1966, the Terrorism Act in 1967 and the Internal Security Act in 1976.
• The Group Areas Act, passed on 27 April 1950, partitioned the country into different areas, with different areas allocated to different racial groups. This law was the basis upon which political and social separation was constructed.
• The Bantu Authorities Act of 1951 created separate government structures for blacks. It was the first piece of legislation established to support the government's plan of separate development in the Bantustans.
• The Prevention of Illegal Squatting Act of 1951 allowed the government to demolish black shackland slums.
• The Native Building Workers Act and Native Services Levy of 1951 forced white employers to pay for the construction of housing for black workers recognized as legal residents in 'white' cities.
• The Reservation of Separate Amenities Act of 1953 prohibited people of different races from using the same public amenities, such as restaurants, public swimming pools, and restrooms.
• The Bantu Education Act of 1953 crafted a separate system of education for African students under the Department of "Bantu" Education.
• The Bantu Urban Areas Act of 1954 curtailed black migration to cities.
• The Mines and Work Act of 1956 formalised racial discrimination in employment.
• The Promotion of Black Self-Government Act of 1958 entrenched the NP's policy of separate development and created a system of nominally independent "homelands" for black people.
• Instead of all Native delegate systems founded under the Natives Representative Act of 1936, schemes for "self-governing Bantu units" were proposed. These national units were to have substantial administrative powers which would be decentralised to each "Bantu" unit and which would ultimately have autonomy and the hope of self-government. These national units were identified as North-Sotho, South-Sotho, Tswana, Zulu, Swazi, Xhosa, Tsonga and Venda. In later years, the Xhosa national unit was broken further down into the Transkei and Ciskei. The Ndebele national unit was also added later after its "discovery" by the apartheid government. The government justified its plans on the basis that South Africa was made up of different "nations", asserting that "(the) government's policy is, therefore, not a policy of discrimination on the grounds of race or colour, but a policy of differentiation on the ground of nationhood, of different nations, granting to each self-determination within the borders of their homelands - hence this policy of separate development".
• The Bantu Investment Corporation Act of 1959 set up a mechanism to transfer capital to the homelands in order to create employment there.
• The Extension of University Education Act of 1959 created separate universities for blacks, coloureds and Indians. Under this act, existing universities were not permitted to enroll new black students. Fort Hare University in the Ciskei (now Eastern Cape) was to register only Xhosa-speaking students. Sotho, Tswana, Pedi and Venda speakers were placed at the newly-founded University College of the North at Turfloop, while the University College of Zululand was launched to serve Zulu scholars. Coloureds and Indians were to have their own establishments in the Cape and Natal respectively.
• The Physical Planning and Utilisation of Resources Act of 1967 allowed the government to stop industrial development in 'white' cites and redirect such development to homeland border areas.
• The Black Homeland Citizenship Act of 1970 marked a new phase in the Bantustan strategy. It changed the status of the black so that they were no longer citizens of South Africa, but became citizens of one of the ten autonomous territories. The aim was to ensure whites became the demographic majority within South Africa by having all ten Bantustans choose "independence". Not all the homelands chose to become self-governing. Those who did choose autonomy were the Transkei (1976), Bophuthatswana (1977), Venda (1979) and the Ciskei (1981).
• The Afrikaans Medium Decree of 1974 required the use of Afrikaans and English on an equal basis in high schools outside the homelands.

To oversee the apartheid legislation, the bureaucracy expanded, and, by 1977, there were more than half a million white state employees.