Setting up apartheid Flashcards
how was South Africa segregated in 1948
-1913 Land Act forbade blacks except for native reserves to own land or practice share cropping
-native reserves were 7%
-In the cape black voting rights were abolished, as the Native Economic Commission believed black people were different people to white, and did not belong in cities.
-They also raised area of reserves to 13.5% and modernised farming methods so blacks would stay there, and 70% of the population lived in these overpopulated regions
-segregation laws such as the Mines and Work act of 1911 which was amended in 1926 also increased the colour bar so that more skilled and better-paid jobs were reserved for white workers,
-after Afrikaner farmers were hit by drought and diseases in 1920, Hertzog created jobs for those on the railways at the expense of blacks
-black people were controlled from entering white town by using passes
-when the Union of SA was created, extremely few well-off cape blacks could vote, which could not have any influence on national law making
features of black resistance before 1948
-ineffective
-they never thought of themselves as a single people, scattered in thousands of farms and villages or migrating to cities
-few were well educated
-whites owned farms and businesses which provided black jobs but controlled army and police force
-the whites were united in their intention or “keeping blacks in their place”
how did the ANC, NP and UP differ in what they wanted
-ANC: first national black association, wanted freedom for all South Africans
-NP opposed to giving any political rights to blacks, said that equality would mean suicide of the white race
-UP: started to believe that segregation would work as South Africa’s booming economy was due to labour it had from more blacks coming to work in cities, so he wanted more educated, stable workforce
what were the policies of the UP and NP
United Party: Fagan Report was its policy
-segregation would not work, modern industry needed black population living in towns, near their workplaces
-migrant labour should be discouraged and they should make their homes in towns
-black people could not return to native reserves which were overcrowded
National Party: Sauer Report was its policy
-institutionalise racial segregation to enforce the economic and social superiority of Afrikaners
-supported Afrikaner farmers and workers, which were rendered insignificant by English-speaking business elites dominating the economy
-wanted to preserve the Afrikaner identity and culture which was marginalised by the British
-reserves should continue to be the home for blacks
-migrant labour system should continue using pass laws
-blacks that lived in towns should be temporary visitors without political rights, and numbers controlled
by what extent did the NP win
-NP had 79 seats, UP had 71 seats
why did the NP win the election
- electoral system (first past the post system) worked in its favour. 40% vs UP’s 50% of votes, because it won most of the smaller rural seats, while thousands of UP votes were wasted in large urban majorities. Rural areas were overrepresented, and they support the NP, whereas urban areas, which supported the UP were underrepresented relatively, favouring the NP
- played on white fears of black surging into towns. Said that Fagan Report endangered civilised town life, and that Smuts was too soft on the blacks and would lead the country to destruction. The UP also were proposing less extreme segregation laws, exacerbating fear of Afrikaners
- Afrikaners outnumbered the English by a ratio of 3:2. Afrikaners were less rich and more threatened by black labour, so Malan secured most Afrikaner votes, because he united the Afrikaners and his policies favoured their interests
to what extent was the 1948 election a turning point
-remarkable impact
-lead to big changes in the country in the long term
-NP stayed in power for more than 40 years
-reversed the movement of desegregation in which the South Africa was proceeding towards
-precluded the political, social and economic reforms needed to make blacks feel like citizens of SA
what was the Tomlinson Report
-Malan appointed Professor Tomlinson to advise how apartheid should work in practice, and he reported in 1955
1. Separation could work, but large sums of money had to be spent.
2. divide reserves into 7 areas, each the homeland of a separate black people e.g. Xhosa and Zulu.
3. Spend £104m to improve farming in homelands and set up factories on boarders
4. homelands would provide enough employment for most blacks, and they would move/be moved from white towns, and whites would no longer be outnumbered there
Issues of the Tomlinson Report
- Area set aside for the homelands was fertile, but was 13% of land for 70% of population, too overcrowded
- predicted that black numbers would increase more slowly than they did, failed to realise how fast factories run by whites would expand and pull more black labour into white towns
- government did not spend as much as Tomlinson advised on farming improvements or business in reserves. Many blacks lived in poverty in land not fertile enough to support the numbers. Many went to live in cities for jobs, but were harassed by apartheid laws which kept them out
Laws made by the National Government between 1948 and 1956
- the prohibition of mixed marriages act 1949
- the population registration act 1950
- the group areas act 1950
- the suppression of communism act 1950
- the native laws amendment act 1952
- the abolition of passes act 1952
- the separate amenities act 1953
- the Bantu education act 1953
- the separate representation of voters act 1956
the prohibition of mixed marriages act 1949
made it illegal for people of different races to marry
-around 75 mixed marriages annually before law-> 0
the population registration act 1950
-forced each South African into a particular racial group, to allow government officials to know who belonged to each race
-generation of mixed marriages made this difficult
-prevented the Cape Coloureds from being treated as white
-coloured families had different members of the same family being classified differently
-11m classified by 1966
the group areas act 1950
-each town or city was separated into white, coloured, or blacks areas
-if you were living in the wrong area you had to move
-600k affected by it
-30K in cape town alone relocated over 25 years
-by 1982, 3.5m forcibly removed from their homes
Immorality act amendment 1950
made sexual relations between a white man and a non-white man illegal (previously was white and black illegal, not coloured)
the suppression of communism act 1950
-banned communism but also any political group which aimed to bring about political change by the promotion of disturbances and disorder
-gave the government the power to arrest and hold people without charge, ‘ban’ them so they could not meet others or take part in politics, or put them under house arrest
-over 1,600 men and women banned in less than 45 years
Bantu authorities act 1951
-gave government the power to appoint chiefs to 10 reserves named Bantustans.
-these were established for black people to live in
-black Africans made up 70% of the population, and it covered 13% of the land
-over 50% of the black population lived in these homelands by the 1970s)
the native laws amendment act 1952
controlled the movement of blacks in and out of towns and cities
the abolition of passes act 1952
-tightened pre-war pass laws
-forced all black men living in ‘white’ areas to carry a pass containing personal details including their racial group
-living and working in a ‘white’ area without a pass was illegal, could be fined or sent back to a reserve
-renewing a pass involved waiting in queues for days outside government offices
-strictly enforced by police raids
- over 250,000 people arrested in 1956 for pas law violations
the separate amenities act 1953
-designated all public services and space with signs specifying ‘Europeans Only’ or ‘Non Europeans Only’
-Non-European areas were typically drastically less pleasant than European ones
the Bantu education act 1953
-brought black education fully under government control
-black school had to provide different courses from white ones and teach in their native language, not English
-pupils were prepared for life in the homelands, not white cities
-government closed down many mission schools
native resettlement act
-
the separate representation of voters act 1956
-ended the right of Cape Coloureds to vote with the whites in elections
-they could only vote for four white representative in the house of assembly
-(50k coloured voters affected by this act)
impact of the separate amenities act
-segregated most services
-90% of parks and recreational facilities in Johannesburg were for whites, and only 10% for others
-facilities for non-white populations were poorly maintained
-public hospitals for black south Africans received 30% funding per patient vs white hospitals
impact of the bantu education act
-96% of teachers in white schools were certified vs 15% in black
-by the 1970s the government spending on black education was one tenth of white education per capita
-1:39 ratio in black schools vs 1:18 in white schools
how did blacks react to the apartheid laws
-rioting in Natal in 1949 lead to >140 deaths and convinced political leaders of Africans and Indians that they had to work together against the National government
-Youth Leaguers grew impatient with Dr Xuma who disliked mass action. They forced him to resign and Dr Moroka succeeded him as President of the ANC. Sisulu became Secretary-General, Mandela and Tambo joined the national executive
-Youth league leaders became in control and knew nationalists would not take notice of polite opposition, so took direction action. A day of national protest in June 1950 shows the resistance
Defiance Campaign features
-ANC used the 26th of June 1952 to be national day of protest to show the unscrupulous nature of the apartheid and that black patience was running out
-planned and started as peaceful black protest against apartheid laws, where demonstrators ignored Europeans only signs. They chanted “open the jail doors, we want to enter”.
->8,000 arrested
-Riots took place, killing blacks and whites.
-Government introduced new laws: defiance will lead to whipping, fines and imprisonment, protest leaders leaders can be sent to jail up to 3 years instead of a month or two
impact of defiance campaign
-Caused ANC’s membership to rise from 7,000 to 100,000, ANC campaign ran out of steam by 1952
-gave confidence to the opponents of government that further mass protest could bring political changes
-led to the Freedom charter as opponents realised a clear statement of what they wanted was needed
-raised international awareness of South Africans
Freedom Charter
1955:
-ANC and other opposition groups met at Kliptown, calling themselves the Congress of the People
-presented prizes to three known anti-apartheid campaigners, while being watched by police
-Father Trevor Huddleston: tried to stop government using Group Areas Act to destroy his parish, a mainly black-owned township called Sophiatown
-Yusuf Dadoo: the Indian Leader
-Chief Albert Luthuli: recently succeeded Dr Moroka as President of ANC
-Only Huddleston could receive his prize as the other two were banned from any political meeting by the Suppression of Communism Act
-after the awards, the Freedom Charter was read out
-the Charter showed the aims of what opposers of the National government wanted, and said it ‘would be a torchlight in whatever dark skies overcast the path to freedom’
Treason Trial
1956:
-156 people, including leaders of the ANC and of the Indian community, were arrested and charged with high reason
-government lawyers tried to prove the Freedom Charter was communist and accused the plotting of a violent revolution
-failed to make their case and all the accused were eventually released
-been on trial and out of action for 5 years, during this time opposition was greatly weakened
why did women resist apartheid
Apartheid heavily burdened black women
-migrant system might take their husbands away for moths and leave them to care for animals, crops and children
-‘Section 10 laws’ which government used to control black movement into cities could break up marriages if only one partner had residence rights
-black women had to start carrying passes in 1952
anti-pass law demonstrations
government announced black women also had to carry passes in1952
-men and women joined together in large, peaceful demonstration
-ended with passes being burnt in Market Square
-led by Albertina Sisulu, who was arrested and imprisoned. In and out of jail and banned for 17 years
-in 1956, the prime minister ignored a group of women that wanted to discuss Pass Laws, so 20,000 women marched to Union Buildings in Pretoria to campaign against the extension of pass laws led by Federation of South African Women
Winnie Mandela
-Nelson’s second wife
-maintained resistance in the 1970s and 1980s
-popular among young people of Soweto, where she lived
-frequently detained or imprisoned, government eventually moved her to Brandfort in Orange Free State
-this increased her international fame
-layer years clouded by violence, scandal and the break up of her marriage
