The Apartheid

in South Africa
Apartheid; a social and political system of
segregation implemented in South Africa

It began after World War 2 and continued

until the early 1990s
 Background
• The Dutch set up trading ports in South
Africa in the 17th Century

• The Dutch authorities granted farmland

to Dutch settlers to grow wine and
grains

• As the need for labor increased slaves

were imported from East Africa

• The Dutch colonists were called Boers,

meaning farmer in Dutch. They would
later be known as Africaners
• In the mid 1800s gold was discovered in
the region

• The British began settling in the area

• This led to a series of wars called the

Boer Wars, between the British and the
Dutch settlers

• In 1902 the British won the wars and

controlled South Africa

• Racist policies and civil rights violations

of the local people continued under
British rule
 Apartheid Begins
• After World War 2 the policy of Apartheid (“aparthood” or “separation”)
began the white minority created the National Party (Afrikaner
nationalist party) and passed a series of segregation laws

All resident were identified as 1 of 3 races

Colored (Indian and

White Natives (Black) people of mixed race)
 Apartheid Laws
• Land Acts set aside more than 80
percent of the country’s land for
the white minority

• “Pass laws” required non-whites to

carry documents authorizing their
presence in restricted areas.

• The government established

separate public facilities for whites
and non-whites
• The Bantu Self-Government
Act of 1959 created 10 Bantu
homelands called Bantustans

• Non-whites had to live in

these new areas

• They were given citizenship of

the Bantustans homelands
where they resided as opposed
to national citizenship

• This stripped them of their

rights as citizens of South
Africa
 Resistance
● Black South Africans had always
resisted their civil rights violations

● In 1912 The African National Congress

(ANC) was formed to protest racial
oppression

● They employed non-violent means, such

as protests and boycotts

● They also began civil disobedience,

which is peacefully breaking unjust laws
Nelson Mandela
• A leader of the ANC was Nelson Mandela

• He led many non-violent protests against

Apartheid laws

• The South African government responded

harshly to the protests

• In 1960 a protest in Sharpeville ended in

the slaughter of 69 people

• After this event Mandela formed a more

violent wing of the and was imprisoned in
1962 for his actions
The End of Apartheid
• In 1989 F.W. de Klerk became president of South
Africa

• He repealed (ended) the laws that formed the legal

basis for apartheid

• De Klerk freed Nelson Mandela on February 11,

1990

• A new constitution was written and the first

democratic elections were held

• Nelson Mandela was elected president of South

Africa in 1994 and apartheid was officially ended