Política social del apartheid

Apartheid, (Afrikaans: "apartness") política que regía las relaciones entre la minoría blanca de Sudáfrica y la mayoría no blanca y sancionaba la segregación racial y la discriminación política y económica contra los no blancos. La implementación del apartheid, a menudo llamada "desarrollo separado" desde la década de 1960, fue posible gracias a la Ley de Registro de Población de 1950, que clasificó a todos los sudafricanos como bantú (todos los africanos negros), de color (los de raza mixta) o blanco.. Posteriormente se agregó una cuarta categoría: asiática (india y pakistaní).

Preguntas principales

¿Qué es el apartheid?

Apartheid (Afrikaans: "apartness") es el nombre de la política que gobernó las relaciones entre la minoría blanca y la mayoría no blanca de Sudáfrica durante el siglo XX. Aunque la segregación racial había estado en práctica durante mucho tiempo allí, el nombre del apartheid se utilizó por primera vez alrededor de 1948 para describir las políticas de segregación racial adoptadas por el gobierno de la minoría blanca. El apartheid dictaminó dónde podían vivir y trabajar los sudafricanos, en función de su raza, el tipo de educación que podían recibir y si podían votar. Los acontecimientos a principios de la década de 1990 marcaron el fin del apartheid legislado, pero los efectos sociales y económicos permanecieron profundamente arraigados.

Sudáfrica: Segunda Guerra Mundial

Obtenga más información sobre el apartheid en el contexto de la historia más amplia de Sudáfrica.

¿Cuándo comenzó el apartheid?

Racial segregation had long existed in white minority-governed South Africa, but the practice was extended under the government led by the National Party (1948–94), and the party named its racial segregation policies apartheid (Afrikaans: “apartness”). The Population Registration Act of 1950 classified South Africans as Bantu (black Africans), Coloured (those of mixed race), or white; an Asian (Indian and Pakistani) category was later added. Other apartheid acts dictated where South Africans, on the basis of their racial classification, could live and work, the type of education they could receive, whether they could vote, who they could associate with, and which segregated public facilities they could use.

National Party

Read more about the National Party.

Race

Read more about the concept of race.

How did apartheid end?

Under the administration of the South African president F.W. de Klerk, legislation supporting apartheid was repealed in the early 1990s, and a new constitution—one that enfranchised blacks and other racial groups—was adopted in 1993. All-race national elections held in 1994 resulted in a black majority government led by prominent anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela of the African National Congress party. Although these developments marked the end of legislated apartheid, the social and economic effects of apartheid remained deeply entrenched in South African society.

F.W. de Klerk

Learn more about F.W. de Klerk.

Nelson Mandela

Learn more about Nelson Mandela.

What is the apartheid era in South African history?

The apartheid era in South African history refers to the time that the National Party led the country’s white minority government, from 1948 to 1994. Apartheid (Afrikaans: “apartness”) was the name that the party gave to its racial segregation policies, which built upon the country’s history of racial segregation between the ruling white minority and the nonwhite majority. During this time, apartheid policy determined where South Africans, on the basis of their race, could live and work, the type of education they could receive, whether they could vote, who they could associate with, and which segregated public facilities they could use.

South Africa: World War II

Learn more about apartheid within the context of South Africa’s broader history.

Racial segregation, sanctioned by law, was widely practiced in South Africa before 1948, but the National Party, which gained office that year, extended the policy and gave it the name apartheid. The Group Areas Act of 1950 established residential and business sections in urban areas for each race, and members of other races were barred from living, operating businesses, or owning land in them. In practice this act and two others (1954, 1955), which became known collectively as the Land Acts, completed a process that had begun with similar Land Acts adopted in 1913 and 1936; the end result was to set aside more than 80 percent of South Africa’s land for the white minority. To help enforce the segregation of the races and prevent blacks from encroaching on white areas, the government strengthened the existing “pass” laws, which required nonwhites to carry documents authorizing their presence in restricted areas. Other laws forbade most social contacts between the races, authorized segregated public facilities, established separate educational standards, restricted each race to certain types of jobs, curtailed nonwhite labour unions, and denied nonwhite participation (through white representatives) in the national government.

Under the Bantu Authorities Act of 1951 the government reestablished tribal organizations for black Africans, and the Promotion of Bantu Self-Government Act of 1959 created 10 African homelands, or Bantustans. The Bantu Homelands Citizenship Act of 1970 made every black South African, irrespective of actual residence, a citizen of one of the Bantustans, thereby excluding blacks from the South African body politic. Four of the Bantustans were granted independence as republics, and the remaining had varying degrees of self-government; but all remained dependent, both politically and economically, on South Africa. The dependence of the South African economy on nonwhite labour, though, made it difficult for the government to carry out this policy of separate development.

Although the government had the power to suppress virtually all criticism of its policies, there was always some opposition to apartheid within South Africa. Black African groups, with the support of some whites, held demonstrations and strikes, and there were many instances of violent protest and of sabotage. One of the first—and most violent—demonstrations against apartheid took place in Sharpeville on March 21, 1960; the police response to the protesters’ actions was to open fire, killing about 69 black Africans and wounding many more. An attempt to enforce Afrikaans language requirements for black African students led to the Soweto riots in 1976. Some white politicians called for the relaxation of minor restrictions, referred to as “petty apartheid,” or for the establishment of racial equality.

Apartheid also received international censure. South Africa was forced to withdraw from the Commonwealth in 1961 when it became apparent that other member countries would not accept its racial policies. In 1985 both the United Kingdom and the United States imposed selective economic sanctions on South Africa. In response to these and other pressures, the South African government abolished the “pass” laws in 1986, although blacks were still prohibited from living in designated white areas and the police were granted broad emergency powers.

In a more fundamental shift of policy, however, the government of South African president F.W. de Klerk in 1990–91 repealed most of the social legislation that provided the legal basis for apartheid, including the Population Registration Act. Systematic racial segregation remained deeply entrenched in South African society, though, and continued on a de facto basis. A new constitution that enfranchised blacks and other racial groups was adopted in 1993 and took effect in 1994. All-race national elections, also in 1994, produced a coalition government with a black majority led by antiapartheid activist Nelson Mandela, the country’s first black president. These developments marked the end of legislated apartheid, though not of its entrenched social and economic effects.

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