Before Apartheid
• The 1806 Cape Articles of Capitulation, the British colonial rule was required to respect previous
legislation under Roman Dutch law which led to a high degree of legislative autonomy separate
from the British Empire.
• Even after the United Kingdom passed the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833, South Africa was able
to enact an Ordinance which e ectively changed the status of slavery to indentured laborer's
without changing much
• Black Africans were required to carry a pass with them in order to travel to a labor district
• 1905-1906 another several acts were passed limiting Blacks as well as Asians ability to vote
• In 1910 the Union of South Africa created a self-governing which enfranchised white people and
removed the rights of black people to sit in parliament
• In 1913 the Native Land Act was passed preventing blacks from buying land outside of areas
deemed‘reserves.
• From 1910-1946 legislature was enacted to prevent blacks from voting, buying land, practicing
high skill trades
• Additionally, several land acts restricting the movement and voting rights of blacks
Apartheid
• During the late 1940s Nationalistic white rhetoric sprung up due to the discontent with many
Afrikaners (white South Africans of manly Dutch descent) who felt disempowered by a growing
black workforce (coming into the country as a result of rapid economic development due to WWII)
• A National Party emerged o ering to systematically organize the relations, rights, and privileges
of the races through law
• Apartheid would become the ideological and practical foundation of Afrikaner politics for the
next quarter of a century
• The National Party came to power in 1948 and immediately began to implement systemic racial
segregation
• Blacks and other colored groups were required to use separate beaches, buses, hospitals,
schools, universities, swimming pools, drive-in cinemas, graveyards, parks, and public toilets.
• Black were not allowed to buy hard liquor either.
• Churches were also required to be segregated; however, these were some of the few places
where apartheid was not really enforced and where races could mix
Apartheid
• Homelands were created. These were areas of land designated for blacks only
• Only 13% of land was designated for these black homelands, a much smaller amount
relative to population size
• During the 1960s, 70s, and early 80s millions of people were forced to relocate to
homelands. They left their homes and were forced into areas far too small for the
population, creating slums and horrible living conditions
• Blacks could not work in white areas without a travel pass and even then, there were not
many jobs or passes given out. This pass was nicknamed a dom pass (coming from
Afrikaans for ‘verdome pas’ meaning accursed pass or more literally dumb pass)
• Blacks were also not allowed to run business or professional practices in areas designated
‘White South Africa’ without a permit which was almost never given out
Apartheid
• The population was classi ed into four groups: African, White, Indian and Colored
• A white person was described as possessing the ’habits, speech, education, deportment, and
demeanor’ of a white person
• Blacks were de ned as belonging to an African race or tribe
• Coloreds were anyone who could not t into either of these classi cations
• An o cial test was administered to determine where someone belonged
• Such tests included the pencil test and the pinching test
• Along with tests, physical examinations were conducted examine such elements as the shape of
someone's jaw line and the size of their buttocks
• Censorship was also a major aspect in South African Apartheid, tv was not introduced until the
1970s and even then, speci c channels were only allowed to be watched by speci c races
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