Apartheid

Apartheid was a racist political and social system in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) during the era of white minority rule. It enforced racial segregation and discrimination against non-whites. This system existed in the 20th century, from 1948 to the early 1990s. The word apartheid means "apartness" in the Afrikaans language.^[1][2]

A sign in a beach in Durban in 1989 that says only white people could use the beach in English, Afrikaans and Zulu.

Racial segregation had existed in Southern Africa for centuries. In the elections of 1948, the National Party under Daniel Francois Malan took power, unified the existing disconnected segregationist laws under their new apartheid system, and in the next few years, made new apartheid laws that enforced segregation more strictly than the previous apartheid laws. In theory, the goal was to bring independence to the Black majority in their own little countries to be created from South African territory.^[2]

Under this system, the people of South Africa were divided into four races, and the different races were forced to live separately from each other. There were laws to keep them segregated. The apartheid system in South Africa was abolished in 1994, when a new constitution was ratified which abolished the previous system of segregation.^[2][3]

The last head of state who held office during the apartheid era was Frederik Willem de Klerk; who was responsible for holding negotiations with political prisoner Nelson Mandela to bring an end to apartheid.^[4][2] Following these successful negotiations, Nelson Mandela was elected to the Presidency of South Africa after the first non-racial elections were held in April 1994, and became the first black person to hold the position. He was 75 years old. ^[5][6] The pair were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts. Today, the term apartheid is sometimes used for similar segregation systems in other countries.

How apartheid worked in South Africa

During apartheid, people were divided into four racial groups and segregated by law.^[7] The system was used to deny many basic rights to non-White people, mainly Black people, Coloured people and Indians who lived in South Africa. The law allowed White people to be in certain areas. Only Black people had to carry special passes, have permission to travel outside their designated area or work in particular areas reserved for Whites. The government segregated diverse communities and forcibly moved many black people off their land (From 1960 to 1983, the Bantustan policy was enforced to forcibly move South African blacks out of the areas designated for 'whites'). Many other laws were made, for example: interracial marriage was outlawed; Black people, Coloured people or Indians could not own land in White areas or vote.

The United Nations did not agree with the South African government's apartheid policies.^[8] Some anti-apartheid protests in South Africa were turned into massacres, such as in Sharpeville in 1960^[9] and in Soweto in 1976.^[10] After the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960, the UN tried to remove South Africa 14 years later in 1974. France, the United States, and the United Kingdom^[11] prevented that from happening. The Soweto Uprising in 1976 happened because Black South Africans were forced to study some subjects at school and college in Afrikaans and English, instead of Bantu languages. Many Black people did not like Afrikaans because it was the language of the apartheid government and the language of their Afrikaner oppressors.^[12]

Ending apartheid

In 1989, F. W. de Klerk became State President of South Africa. He wanted to genuinely and irreversibly reform the system in order to dismantle it, instead of superficially and insincerely "reforming" it in order to preserve it, unlike the previous head of state, P. W. Botha. In a speech in 1990, de Klerk said the ban on the African National Congress, the Pan-Africanist Congress and the South African Communist Party was lifted. He also ruled that Nelson Mandela would be released from prison and South West Africa (today Namibia) would be granted independence.

In 1991, the UN created the National Peace Accord. The purpose of the Peace Accord was "to bring an end to political violence" in South Africa.^[13] It was agreed on by 27 organisations and governments. After this the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA) was formed. CODESA worked to find a solution to the violence.

The first non-racial election in which all races could vote, was held on 27 April 1994. Nelson Mandela was elected president, with de Klerk and Thabo Mbeki as deputies. This date is considered the complete end of apartheid. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was created to help victims speak out and seek justice. It was chaired by Desmond Tutu from 1995 to 1998.

Although Black South Africans, Coloured South Africans and Indian South Africans were granted equal rights by law after a long fought campaign, there is still huge economic inequality between Whites and non-Whites. In 2012, South Africa held its first census in over ten years. It found that the average Black family earned one-sixth (about 17%) of what the average White family earned.^[14] "These figures tell us that at the bottom of the rung is the black majority who continue to be confronted by deep poverty unemployment and inequality,” President Jacob Zuma said when the findings were released. Nelson Mandela spent the majority of his life fighting against apartheid laws, and without his activism; many of the changes would never have happened. ^[14]

Sign at a beach: This beach has been reserved for white people only.

Aim of apartheid

The goal of apartheid was to separate the people of South Africa into small independent nations. The black ones were called Bantustans. South Africa said they were independent countries and exchanged ambassadors but other countries did not. D.F. Malan and the National Party government did not want to spend a lot of money on this project. They also wanted to keep the majority of South Africa's land for white people, especially the richest places, like the gold mines of Johannesburg. They wanted black men to work in these mines for little money but their families had to live far away or face imprisonment. Those imprisonments often served as "a symbol of oppression".^[15][16]

Related pages

• Jim Crow laws
• Dhimmi
• Race (sociology)
• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination Kanister