Apartheid was a system of institutionalized racial segregation that dictated the social structure in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 until the early 1990s, after South Africans Whites voted for its abolition in a referendum on March 17, 1992, after decades of racial strife.
Apartheid was characterized by an authoritarian political culture rooted in white supremacy, or “baasskap”, which established South Africa’s minority white population as the dominant group in politics, society and the economy.
Under apartheid’s system of social stratification, the country’s white citizens had the highest status, followed by Asians and Coloreds, followed by black Africans.
Before 1948, some aspects of apartheid were in place and enforced by South Africa’s white minority, segregating public facilities and segregating black Africans from other races. This was called “little apartheid,” while “big apartheid” dictated housing and employment opportunities based on race.
As a codified system of racial stratification began to take shape in South Africa under the Dutch Empire in the 18th century, the first apartheid law was passed in 1949 – the Prohibition of Intermarriage Act, 1949, followed closely by the Immorality Amendment Act of 1950.
These prohibited most South Africans from adorning or having sexual relations across racial divisions defined by the classifications that would later follow.
Pictured: Photo taken on March 1, 1989 of a sign reading “Whites only / Slegs Blankes” in the empty mining town of Carletonville due to protest by black consumers after the reintroduction of traditional apartheid law.
The Population Registration Act of 1950 classified all South Africans into one of four racial groups based on their appearance, known ancestry, socio-economic status and cultural lifestyle: “Blacks”, “Whites”, “Coloreds” and “Indians”. The last two classifications included several subclassifications.
Places of residence were determined by racial classification, and between 1960 and 1983, 3.5 million black Africans were removed from their homes and forced to live in separate neighborhoods from others.
These were the largest mass expulsions in modern history, with the legislation and expulsions aimed primarily at restricting South Africa’s black population to ten designated “tribal homes”, four of which became independent states. The South African government announced that the displaced people would lose their citizenship.
However, the authoritarian system of racial oppression did not go unnoticed abroad and apartheid triggered significant backlash. The practice has been frequently condemned at the United Nations and has resulted in a broad arms and trade embargo, as well as cultural boycotts, such as artists demanding that their works not be exhibited in the country.
South Africa has also been boycotted in the sporting world, with FIFA banning the football team from major events. White South Africans ranked the lack of international sport among the three most damaging consequences of apartheid.
1959: South African police beat black women with batons after raiding and burning a brewery to protest apartheid, Durban, South Africa.
In South Africa and abroad, some of the most influential social movements of the 20th century were created in the wake of oppression, and during the 1970s and 1980s resistance to the system became increasingly activist, while countries – such as Sweden – provided support. to the ANC.
Growing resistance has sparked a brutal crackdown by the ruling National Party government, with prolonged sectarian violence that has left thousands dead or arrested by officials, including the most prominent figure in the anti-government movement. apartheid, Nelson Mandela, who served 27 years in prison. and was the leader of the African National Congress (ANC).
Statistics show that between 1960 and 1994, the Inkatha Freedom Party was responsible for 4,500 deaths, the South African security forces for 2,700 deaths and the ANC for 1,300 deaths.
Government agents assassinated opponents in South Africa and abroad and carried out cross-border military and air attacks on suspected ANC and PAC bases. In return, resistance groups detonated bombs in restaurants, shopping malls and government buildings. A state of emergency was declared in 1985.
Although South Africa has undertaken some reforms to the system, such as allowing Indian and Colored political representation in Parliament, this has done little to appease the majority of activist groups who wanted the abolition of the system. apartheid.
Finally, in 1987, the then-ruling National Party began negotiations with the ANC – leader of the anti-apartheid movement – to end segregation and introduce majority rule, leading to Mandela’s release in 1990. .
Apartheid legislation was repealed on June 17, 1991, in the 1992 referendum called two years earlier by then state president FW de Klerk. In his opening speech to Parliament in 1990, de Klerk announced that the ban on certain political parties such as the African National Congress and the South African Communist Party would be lifted and that Nelson Mandela would be released.
Pictured: Nelson Mandela, South African anti-apartheid leader and member of the African National Congress (ANC), greets the press as he arrives at the Elysée, June 7, 1990.
On March 21, 1990, South West Africa became independent as Namibia, and in May of the same year the government began negotiations with the ANC. In June, the state of emergency was lifted and the ANC agreed to a ceasefire.
In 1991, laws limiting land ownership, separating living areas, and classifying people according to race were abolished.
The National Party and the Democratic Party campaigned for a “yes” vote, while the pro-apartheid conservative right was led by the Conservative Party, which campaigned for a “no” vote.
De Klerk, who led negotiations with Mandela for the abolition of apartheid, staked his political career on the referendum. He would have resigned and a general election would have taken place if the “no” vote had been won. However, with support from abroad, the media and major political parties, the odds were stacked against the “No” campaign.
Although questions were raised about the decision to only allow whites to vote in the referendum, the result of the election was a landslide victory for the “yes” side (with 68.73 percent), which resulted in the lifting of apartheid, while universal suffrage was abolished. introduced two years later.
In the 1994 elections, the first fully representative democratic elections, Nelson Mandela was elected South Africa’s first black president, serving in the role from 1994 to 1999.