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Racial segregation and the supremacy of whites had been traditionally
accepted in South Africa prior to 1948, but in the general election
of that year, Daniel F. Malan officially included the policy of
apartheid in the Afrikaner Nationalist party platform, bringing
his party to power for the first time. Although most whites acquiesced
in the policy, there was bitter and sometimes bloody strife over
the degree and stringency of its implementation.
The purpose of apartheid was separation of the races: not only
of whites from nonwhites, but also of nonwhites from each other,
and, among the Africans (called Bantu in South Africa), of one
group from another. In addition to the Africans, who constitute
about 75% of the total population, those regarded as nonwhite include
those people known in the country as Coloured (people of mixed
black, Malayan, and white descent) and Asian (mainly of Indian
ancestry) populations.
Initial emphasis was on restoring the separation of races within
the urban areas. A large segment of the Asian and Coloured populations
was forced to relocate out of so-called white areas. African townships
that had been overtaken by (white) urban sprawl were demolished
and their occupants removed to new townships well beyond city limits.
Between the passage of the Group Areas Acts of 1950 and 1986, about
1.5 million Africans were forcibly removed from cities to rural
reservations.
Under the prime ministership of Hendrik Verwoerd apartheid developed
into a policy known as separate development, whereby each of the
nine African (Bantu) groups was to become a nation with its own
homeland, or Bantustan. An area totaling about 14% of the country's
land was set aside for these homelands, the remainder, including
the major mineral areas and the cities, being reserved for the
whites. The basic tenet of the separate development policy was
to reserve within the confines of the African's designated homeland
rights and freedoms, but that outside it blacks were to be treated
as aliens.
Movement to and between other parts of the country was strictly
regulated, the location of residence or employment (if permitted
to work) was restricted, and blacks were not allowed to vote or
own land. Thus African urban workers, including those who were
third- or fourth-generation city dwellers, were seen as transients,
their real homes in rural reservations from which they or their
ancestors migrated. Only those holding the necessary labour permits,
granted according to the labour market, were allowed to reside
within urban areas. Such permits often did not include the spouse
or family of a permit holder, contributing to the breakup of family
life among many Africans.
Most African urban dwellers had to live in townships on a city's
perimeter. All Africans living outside the Bantustans were subject
to strict curfew regulations and passbook requirements, especially
in the cities; if unable to produce these when challenged, they
were subject to arrest. The police were granted sweeping powers
of preventive detention in 1962, initially for 30 days, later for
indefinite periods.
In 1962 the South African government established the first of
the Bantustans, the Transkei, as the homeland of the Xhosa people,
and granted it limited self-government in 1963, later becoming
independent. Bophuthatswana, Ciskei, and Venda were also granted
independence, but no nation other than South Africa recognized
them. Lebowa, Kangwane, Gazankulu, Qwaqwa, KwaZulu, and KwaNdebele
were declared self-governing in the 1970s.
None of the reserves were viable nations; they were made up of
broken tracts of poor-quality land, riddled with erosion and incapable
of supporting their large designated populations. With no industry,
opportunities for employment were few. Urban wage earners attempted
to contribute to the support of their families in the reserves,
but the level of black wages was so low that this was barely feasible.
In 1994 the Bantustans were abolished and the territories were
reabsorbed into the nation of South Africa.
Despite public demonstrations, UN resolutions, and opposition
from international religious societies, apartheid was applied with
increased rigor in the 1960s. In 1961 South Africa withdrew from
the Commonwealth of Nations rather than yield to pressure over
its racial policies, and in the same year the three South African
denominations of the Dutch Reformed Church left the World Council
of Churches rather than abandon apartheid. Although the policy
of apartheid was continued under Prime Minister John Vorster, there
was some relaxation of its pettier aspects, and this accelerated
under his successor, P. W. Botha.
Probably the most forceful pressures, both internal and external,
eroding the barriers of apartheid were economic. International
sanctions severely affected the South African economy, raising
the cost of necessities, cutting investment, even forcing many
American corporations to disinvest, for example, or, under the
Sullivan Rules, to employ without discrimination. In addition,
the severe shortage of skilled labour led to lifting limits on
African wages, and granting Africans the right to strike and organize
unions. Unions, churches, and students organized protests throughout
the 1970s and 80s. Moreover, political, economic, and military
pressures were exerted by the independent countries of sub-Saharan
Africa.
As a result of these pressures, many lesser apartheid laws-such
as those banning interracial marriage and segregating facilities-were
repealed or fell into disuse by 1990. In 1991 President de Klerk
obtained the repeal of the remaining apartheid laws and called
for the drafting of a new constitution. In 1993 a multiracial,
multiparty transitional government was approved, and fully free
elections were held in 1994, which gave majority representation
to the African National Congress.
See R. Sutter, The Freedom Charter (1984); R. Ormond, The Apartheid
Handbook (rev. ed. 1986); M. Uhlig, Apartheid in Crisis (1986);
M. Merideth, In the Name of Apartheid (1988); S. Mallaby, After
Apartheid (1992). |
