Pre Nationalist Party South Africa Flashcards
What were the four racial groups that South Africa’s population consisted of in 1948?
- Black Africans; the largest group.
- Coloureds or decedents from mixed marriages, mainly from the Cape province.
- Asians, mainly of Indian origin, mainly lived in the Natal Province.
- Whites, who comprised of Afrikaans and English speakers, with tensions between them. Until 1948, Afrikaaners felt that English whites dominated the country both economically and politically.
What were the different rights like for the different groups in 1946?
The different races were strictly segregated, with only a few exceptions, whites were the only racial group who could vote - the rights of coloured people was protected by the 1910 constitution, however they were eventually disenfranchised by 1956.
- Black Africans were treated as cheap labour, unable to compete with whites for whom the best jobs and thus conditions were reserved. - Every single aspect of life was pretty much inferior to whites from education, to incomes and obviously rights; Asians did not receive particularly better treatment either.
What were pass laws like in 1946?
All black males had to carry passes, a type of internal passport system, as the Whites did not want them to freely be able to access their areas. Each province had their own passes, so there was no centralised system until 1952.
What were three significant laws that affected Africans prior to 1948?
The 1913 Native Land Act - Land ownership that Africans could own was limited to tribal reserves, comprising of only 7% of SAs total land.
The 1923 Urban Areas Act - Africans had to live in Townships in white areas (segregated parts of urban areas), aim was to stop them from mixing, so they could work in white areas but not live there.
The 1936 Native Trusts and Lands Act - Tribal reserves could be extended to 13.6% of South Africa.
Who was the largest group? Who had the most resources?
Black Africans were the overwhelming majority group, however the majority of the wealth was held by the whites who only made up around 21% of the total population.
Why did whites become more urbanised, and why did South Africa become industrialised, causing demand for African labour?
Despite mostly being rural, white South Africa grew more urban as the 20th century progressed, mostly due to the development of the mining industry. South Africa relied on mining, especially it’s large gold, diamond and rare metal reserves for its wealth in the Kimberley region of the Orange Free State in 1867 and gold in the Transvaal by the 1880s. This led to a large influx of workers moving to these areas, especially black migrant workers, leading to the growth of urban areas - should be noted that in these urban areas segregation occurred and to encourage white urbanisation, they were reserved the best parts of the cities, and a greater connection to the global economy saw whites prosper in the second and third sectors of the economy; where Africans were just the cheap labour to do the work needed for the growth to occur.
How did Africans become more urbanised?
Although skeptical to allow Africans into white areas, they understood the need for cheap labour, and hired Africans on temporary contracts, forcing them to move back to tribal areas allocated to them when these contracts ended. Although it is estimated that between 1919 and 1939, every African male went to urban areas to work for whites at some point during his life. By 1946, 23% of African Americans were living in urban areas - opposed to 75% of whites, 61% coloured and 71% Indians. `
What was township life like?
Migrant workers lived in townships for the most part, which were special settlements on the edge of urban settlements (ghettos and ghetto conditions.) These continued
