In May of 1902 the Peace of Vereeniging was signed between Boer forces and

the British (putting an end to a set of wars between the two sides). After a
few years, the former Boer republics joined with the British territories and, in
May of 1910, they formed the Union of South Africa.

The African National Congress was then created, just two years later, in 1912
to respond to the white-run government. Ironically, eight years after this
formation, in 1918, Nelson Mandela was also born.

The government began to, immediately; codify its suppression of black South
Africans.

In 1913 the Natives Land Act was passed which set aside about 13% of South
Africa's land for the "Native population." It prohibited blacks from buying,
renting, or using land anywhere outside of the areas that were set aside for
them.

The government also enacted "pass laws" which held that blacks had no real
reason to go into municipal areas unless they were there for employment
reasons and, thus, required them to have passes which could help to control
their movement. Other laws were passed to restrict the types of skills blacks
could practice as trades.

In addition, a separate administration system was set up under the Native

Administration Act of 1927; which allowed for proclamations to be used to
administer black areas, instead of acts of parliament.

In 1948 the National Party (which traditionally represented Boers who were
negatively impacted during the earlier Boer Wars) won the national election.
They brought into existence an even more crushing form of government and
"apartheid" was born.

Apartheid literally means "apartness" and it was the basis for how the races
were to be further separated, by the government, in South Africa. Even more
laws supported their efforts.
The Suppression of Communism Act of 1950 defined communism as any
doctrine or scheme that was aimed to bring about political change through
unlawful acts or the threat of unlawful acts. This gave the government broad
powers to arrest or detains anyone who was suspected of being a
communist--it essentially gave them the power to harass anyone who was
actively working against the Apartheid way of life.

The Population Registration Act, of 1950, required all residents of South

Africa to be classified as coloured (European and African mixed or Asian),
native (Bantu people), or white. Identity cards were issued and a registry for
the entire country was initiated.

The Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act, of 1949, made it illegal for blacks
and whites to marry and the Immorality Act of 1950 forbade sexual relations
between whites and non-whites (a ban on relations between blacks and
whites had already been in place since 1927).

The Separate Registration of Voters Act, of 1951, sought to force coloured

South Africans (in particular those in the Cape) to be removed from the
regular voter rolls and placed on separate rolls where they would only be
allowed to vote for white South Africans to represent them in the House of
Assembly, the South African Senate and on the Cape Provincial Council.

The Bantu Authorities Act, of 1951, set up government-appointed leaders

and authorities in regional, tribal, and territorial areas where blacks were
forced to live. Thus, further striping away their rights.

The Bantu Education Act, of 1953, further formalized the subpar education
that Africans were forced to receive. One of the authors of this act, The
Minister of Native Affairs, Dr. Hendrik Verwoerd, believed that blacks "should
be educated for their opportunities in life…" This act firmly put the
education of blacks into the hands of the racist government.

The Group Areas Act, of 1950, built upon earlier laws and separated specific
areas of the country for blacks and whites. If you were an African living in an
area not designated for your race, the government could forcibly move you
to an area set aside for your category and it did so, with guns and with force.

Sophia town
In 1950, Sophia town was a lively area in Johannesburg. It was one of the
few areas where blacks were allowed to own land. It was home to doctors,
lawyers, artists, etc. Outsiders saw it as a place of poverty, but Sophiatown
held a special significance to many black South Africans. It was a place
teeming with culture and music and it even housed the only pool that black
children in Johannesburg could play in.

So in the early 1950s, when residents started getting eviction notices, under
the Group Areas Act, there was bound to be a groundswell of resistance.
Sophia town had been newly designated as a white area and the people who
lived there were being notified that they were going to be forcibly removed
and relocated to an area in Soweto. The government sent in authorities to
survey the residents, as a way of devising their plan to effectively remove
them.

Nelson Mandela and members of the ANC were very active in Johannesburg
and were working to oppose the removal plan. They found very willing
participants in the residents of Sophia town. Meetings were held, always
with armed troops present, and cries began to ring out, “Over our dead
bodies! We will not move!” There were some 50,000 people who lived in
Sophia town. They were, of course, told that they were going to be moved to
areas that had better living conditions.

February 9, 1955 was the date the government set for removals to begin.
Despite their willingness to actively resist, the ANC and its leaders realized
that they didn’t have enough fire power, or momentum, to combat the level
of force the government was willing to demonstrate and they told the
protestors to stand down.

Some 4,000 army troops and police officers showed up and surrounded
Sophia town; they came with government trucks and with equipment to tear
down houses. They went from door-to-door yelling for the occupants to,
"Open up!", and they carted off entire families to their new living areas some
13 miles away.
Sharpeville

In March of 1960 black South Africans gathered in Sharpeville in front of a

municipal building. The plan was to have black South African men and
women leave their passes (which they were required by law to carry) at
home and to present themselves for arrests. They hoped to demonstrate the
unfairness of the pass laws, to overcrowd the prisons and to slow down the
economy since so many black South Africans did important work throughout
the cities.

Some 5,000 men and women showed up to the authorities on that day and
assembled to be arrested for not having their passes. Police used low-level
aircrafts to disperse them and finally opened fire on the unarmed men and
women. Some 69 of them were killed and many more were injured.
Following the event many citizens filed civil complaints against the
government.

The government responded by passing the Indemnity Act. The act

indemnified officers and anybody acting under the authority of the
government from any criminal or civil proceedings in a court of law. The
government also made the law retroactive so that it took effect from the
date of the Sharpeville event, thus no one involved in the Sharpeville
massacre ever faced charges.