Apartheid Apartheid was a system of legally enforced racial segregation in South Africa between 1948 and 1990. The National Party that controlled the government formalized and expanded segregationist policies that had existed less formally under colonial rule. Institutionalized racism stripped South African blacks of their civil and political rights and instituted segregated education, health care, and all other public services, only providing inferior standards for blacks and other non-Afrikaans.

Typical Homestead

Beach Picture

Sharpeville Uprising

Man with Passbook

Rodden Island Prison

Checking Passbook

Soweto Uprising

Funeral and Protest

Separate Bathroom Facilities

A Journey of Inequality 1651: Dutch settlers arrive in South Africa. DUTCH: NATIVES OR INHABITANTS OF THE NETHERLANDS 1756: Dutch settlers import slaves from West Africa, Malaysia, and India, establishing the dominance of whites over non-whites BOERS: THE DUTCH FARMERS IN SOUTH AFRICA 1700s: The Dutch farmers, known as Boers, seize land from the natives using shotguns. Natives are forced to work on Boer farms to survive. 1810s: British missionaries arrive and criticize the racist practices of the Boers, urging them to treat the Africans more fairly. The Boers refuse because they believe that they are the more superior race. RACE: OFTEN MISUNDERSTOOD AS A GROUP OF PEOPLE WITH DIFFERENT PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS. WE ARE ALL PART OF THE HUMAN RACE. 1867:Diamond mining begins in South Africa. Africans are the main labor force, are given the most dangerous jobs, and are kept in fenced barracks. 1899-1902: The Boer War is fought between the Boers and the British to see who would rule South Africa. The war was long and bloody. The British were cruel and established 31 concentration camps for Boer women and children and natives. Almost 40,000 people died in these camps. CONCENTRATION CAMPS: A CAMP WHERE CIVILIANS, ENEMY ALIENS, POLITICAL PRISONERS, AND SOMETIMES PRISONERS OF WAR ARE FORCIBLY KEPT UNDER THE HARSHEST CONDITIONS.

A Journey of Inequality 1908-A constitutional convention is held to establish South African independence from Britain. The all-white government decides that non-whites can vote, but cannot hold office. CIVIL: RELATED TO THE CIVILIANS OF A COUNTRY 1910-The South Africa Act takes away all political rights of Africans in three of the country’s four states. 1912-The African National Congress is formed. The political party aims to organize Africans in the struggle for civil rights. LITERATE: ABLE TO READ AND WRITE 1913-The Land Act give 7.3% of the country’s land to Africans, who make up 80% of the population. Africans are allowed to be on white land only of they are working for whites 1920s-Blacks are fired from jobs which are given to whites. 1910s-1930s-Africans educated at missionary schools attempt to organize to resist white rule and gain political power. However, few of them are literate, communication is poor, and money is a problem.

A Journey of Inequality 1939-Representation of Voters Act weakened the political rights for Africans and allows them to vote only for white representatives. COUNTERPARTS: PEOPLE ON THE SAME LEVEL, DOING THE SAME WORK 1946-African mine workers are paid twelve times less than their white counterparts. Over 75,000 Africans go on strike in support of higher wages. Over 1000 workers are injured or killed before police violence forces them to end the strike 1948-The Afrikaner Nationalist Party gains control of the government and passed the first of 317 Apartheid laws, separating whites from blacks. APARTHEID: A POLICY OF SEPARATENESS 1951-The African National Congress (ANC), a political organization for Africans, encourages peaceful resistance to Apartheid Laws. The government reacts by arresting more people. AFRIKANER: A EUROPEAN DESCENDANT OF THE DUTCH IN SOUTH AFRICA 1950-1953-Multiple Apartheid laws are passed restricting the movement and rights of blacks and requiring pass books. From 1948-1973, over ten million Africans were arrested because their passes were not in order

A Journey of Inequality 1973-The United Nations passed a resolution condemning Apartheid. AFRIKAANS: A LANGUAGE ADAPTED FROM THE 17TH CENTURY DUTCH SETTLERS OF SOUTH AFRICA 1976-People in Soweto riot and demonstrate against discrimination and instruction in Afrikaans. The police react with gunfire, killing 575 and injuring and arresting thousands. Stephen Biko is beaten and left in jail to die from his injuries. BOYCOTT: TO ABSTAIN FROM BUYING OR USING 1980s-People and governments around the world launch an international campaign to boycott South Africa. Hundreds of thousands of Africans who are banned from white-controlled areas ignore the laws and pour into forbidden regions in search of work. Civil disobedience and other protests increase. CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE: THE REFUSAL TO OBEY CERTAIN LAWS FOR THE PURPOSE OF INLUENCING GOVERNMENTAL POLICY Mid 1980s-The United Democratic Front was formed in South Africa, which was led by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Reverend Allen Boasek. The organization helped spread the word worldwide about the problem of Apartheid.

A Journey of Inequality Late 1980s-International pressure forces South Africa to end Apartheid. As a result, some of the segregationist laws are repealed, such as the ones separating whites and non-whites in public places. SEGRAGATIONIST: ONE WHO BELIEVES THAT RACES SHOULD BE KEPT APART REPEALED: TO TAKE BACK OR RECALL 1991-1994-South African President F.W. de Klerk repeals the rest of the Apartheid laws and calls for a new constitution. A multiracial transitional government is approved. Nelson Mandela is elected president in 1994.

National Party leaders argued was made up of four distinct racial groups: white, black, coloured, and Indian. These groups were split further into thirteen racial federations. White people encompassed the English and Afrikaans language groups; the black populace was divided into ten such groups.

Grand Laws of Apartheid THE POPULATION REGISTRATION ACT—grouped every South African into a particular “race” (white, Indian, Coloured, and Black). Only whites could vote. Those lower down on the list had fewer rights. THE MIXED MARRIAGES ACT—made it a crime for any marriage to take place between whites and any other “racial” group. Only 75 marriages between blacks and whites had been recorded before Apartheid began. THE IMMORALITY ACT—made it a crime for any sexual act to be committed between a white person and any other “racial” group. Between 1950-1985, 24,000 people were prosecuted for this crime. THE GROUP AREAS ACT—divided South Africa into different areas where the different “race” groups could live. Of the 3.5 million people who had to leave their homes because of this act, only 2% were white. THE PASS LAWS—made it mandatory for blacks to carry pass books at all times, which allowed them to have permission to be in a white area for a limited amount of time. Without their pass, they were arrested

Apartheid - townships During the Apartheid Era blacks were evicted from properties that were designated"white only" and forced to move into townships. Legislation that enabled the Apartheid government to do this included the Group Areas Act.

Typical Squatter’s Camp

Internal resistance to apartheid was met with police brutality, administrative detention, torture, and limitations on freedom of expression. Opposition groups, such as the African National Congress (ANC) and other movements, were banned and were violently repressed.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established by the South African Government to investigate the crimes committed between 1960 and 1994 during the fight against apartheid. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was seen by many in South Africa as a means of healing the wounds of history. "We needed to acknowledge that we had a horrendous past," said the TRC chairman, Desmond Tutu. "We needed to look the beast in the eye, so that the past wouldn't hold us hostage anymore."

The stories that emerge from the hearings are of detentions, abductions, beatings, burnings, torture, rape, and murder. One by one, the victims of apartheid and their families look perpetrators in the eye and ask them to admit and regret their actions. For some victims, it is the first time to confront their torturers in the daylight, face to face. For others, whose family members disappeared and were never heard from again, it is the opportunity finally to know the truth about how their loved ones died, and to ask the most commonly heard question during the hearings: "May we have the bones back?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_report/1998/10/98/truth_and_reconciliation/202453.stm