Oral History Education

Anti-Apartheid protest march

A Summary of Apartheid’s History

South Africans share a painful past that includes many decades of racial discrimination.   Yet, throughout this history are the stories of leaders and of ordinary people overcoming racial barriers to create a contemporary and culturally rich democracy.  Their stories build meaning into history and teach us valuable strategies for the social justice issues of today, and for future generations.

Apartheid is defined as the social and political policy of racial segregation and discrimination enforced by a white minority government in South Africa from 1948 to 1994.[1] The word “apartheid” is from the Afrikaans language that was developed over the years by Dutch colonists, and means “apartness.”  While apartheid policies extend back to the beginning of white government in South Africa in 1652, it became codified, or officially written into law, in 1948 when the Afrikaner Nationalists came to power after a long struggle against British colonists.

A benchmark law that empowered South Africa’s white rulers was the Population Registration Act of 1950, categorizing people into three racial groups:  Bantu (blacks), white, or Coloured (mixed race).  A fourth category, Asian (Indians and Pakistanis) was added later.  More apartheid laws were created, reflecting an insidiously racist perspective on human kind.  The Group Areas Act of 1950 and the Land Acts of 1954 and 1955 assigned these racial groups to different residential sections, to different job and business categories, and prevented nonwhites from entering restricted areas without a special permit.

Nelson Mandela uses the clenched fist symbol during a speech. Raising a clenched fist was a sign of protest and solidarity for activists in the struggle against Apartheid.

In the early 1990s, after a long struggle for equal and democratic rights, and under external pressure from the governments of the United States and Great Britain, the apartheid system was ended under the presidency of F.W. de Klerk. In 1994 the South African constitution was rewritten and the first democratic election held. Nelson Mandela, a prominent leader in the struggle against apartheid, was elected the first black president. Mandela was a political prisoner for 27 years prior to the election, and because of his inspirational impact he is called the Father of South Africa.  Both Mandela and de Klerk were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their leadership in the transition from apartheid to democracy without a civil war.

An important role was played by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), led by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, as the government turned its efforts toward healing and moving forward. The TRC heard thousands of testimonies from around the country in an effort to document and understand the effects of apartheid on all South Africans.

South Africa’s new democracy is founded in a national constitution considered to be one of the world’s most inclusive and progressive because in addition to protecting racial equality, it includes environmental rights, language rights, and access rights to health care, food and water.  For details on the South African Constitution, go to:

www.info.gov.za/documents/constitution/index.htm.