Laws/Effects of Apartheid

Introduction

Apartheid was officially incorporated into the South African government when the while Afrikaner Nationalist Party came to power in 1948. Under this system of legal discrimination, more than 25 million blacks had their rights revoked while the less than 5 million whites held the power of government in South Africa. The laws established during apartheid combined earlier segregation laws and customs into a comprehensive code of racial statutes that were to be carried out for the next thirty years. Strategists belonging to the Nationalist Party who wanted to guarantee their (white) control over the economy and social system of South Africa created apartheid. The supreme goal of apartheid, according to the Nationalist Party, was to establish racial separation legally and maintain white authority.

Apartheid was legally established in South Africa through 317 thorough laws that touched every aspect of black living. The laws established were designed to create restrictions based upon race. Under these racist laws, South Africa became the first country in the world to officially legalize racism thereby allowing discrimination of people based upon the color of their skin. The restrictions placed on the black people of South Africa dealt with matters such as land issues, jobs, housing, living areas, personal relationships, constitutional rights, and general rights.

Property

The Group Areas Act of 1950 divided the lands in which blacks and whites resided into distinct residential zones. This act established the distinct areas of South Africa in which members of each race could live and work, typically setting aside the best urban, industrial, and agricultural areas for whites. Blacks were restricted from renting or even occupying property in the areas deemed as "white-zones", unless they had received permission from the state to do so. The establishment of the Bantu Self-Government Act of 1950 created the bantustans (homelands) for the black population based upon their tribal groupings. Blacks were stripped of their rights to participate in the national government of South Africa when the Bantu Authorities Act was established. Ratified in 1951, the Bantu Authorities Act created a basis for ethnic government in African reserves, known as the "homelands." These homelands were established by the national government to function as independent states. Black Africans were assigned to a homeland based on their tribal grouping, which was in accordance to their record of origin. Often times, these records of origin were incorrect. Every political right held by black Africans was restricted to their designated homeland, including their right to vote. The South African government established this law in hopes of black Africans becoming citizens of their designated homelands, thereby forfeiting their citizenship to South Africa. Along with their loss of citizenship, blacks lost every right to take part in South African government, which held complete dominance over their homelands. From 1976 to 1981, four homelands were created, denationalizing over nine million South Africans. These laws became so strict and severe that passports were required for black Africans to enter into South Africa, the land that had formerly been their country of citizenship.

[A typical homeland in South Africa -- http://xenon.stanford.edu/~cale/cs201/apaetheid.hist.html]

Black rights to land tenure were forbidden in most areas. As mentioned above, blacks were only allowed in the white-zoned areas if they had obtained permission from the state. Such permission was granted only to household workers, such as gardeners or housemaids, whose jobs required them to live in the white suburbs. Typically, this permission did not extend to the domestic worker's spouse. For example, if a black woman's husband was caught staying overnight in the white-zoned areas, he was in danger of being arrested and imprisoned. These stiff restrictions were established and enforced because government officials wanted to control and limit the number of blacks in the white zones. The Group Areas Act also prevented blacks from owning personal business enterprises in the white-zoned areas. The only ownership or occupational rights a black African possessed were restricted to the bantustans or the black townships. These black townships were racial ghettos that served as labor pools for the white employers in need of black workers.

Marriage/Relationships

The laws dealing with personal rights during apartheid were so extensive and invasive that even inside the black townships, married couples and their families were required by law to obtain state permission before they could live together. Authorities had every right to deny such permission if the families of black workers were considered to be "surplus blacks." Families labeled "surplus" were forced to leave the bantustans, thus decreasing the number of blacks living near the white-zoned areas. Under the Immorality Act of 1950 and the Mixed Marriages Act of 1949, marrying a person of a different race was illegal. In addition, with the enactment of the Immorality Amendment Act of 1957, showing or even having intentions to have any type of relationship between members of a different race became a crime.

Education

The Bantu Education Act of 1953 was instituted to provide black pupils with different expectations and future goals than white students. These differences were incorporated to make sure that blacks had different syllabi and schooling facilities than white children. For black students, the emphasis of their education was placed on technical education, equipping them for practical work as opposed to the education received by white students equipping them for a professional job. The job reservation laws set aside the elite jobs and professions for whites. According to Prime Minister H.F. Verwoerd, "the only way blacks would be tolerated near white areas was if there were some need that had to be carried out." Blacks were primarily trained to become artisans, tradesmen, and semi-skilled laborers. Their only reason for being, according to government theory, was to be of maximum benefit to the national economy. Only a few of the black students in the public schools aspired beyond their mediocre training to higher education levels. Those that did were segregated into black universities under the Extension to University Education Act. Only 14 percent of black students reached secondary schools, and even fewer furthered their education to the university level.

Pass Laws

The Pass Laws Act of 1952 required black South Africans over the age of 16 to carry a pass book, known as a dompas, everywhere and at all times. The dompas was similar to a passport, but it contained more pages filled with more extensive information than a normal passport. Within the pages of an individual's dompas was their fingerprints, photograph, personal details of employment, permission from the government to be in a particular part of the country, qualifications to work or seek work in the area, and an employer's reports on worker performance and behavior. If a worker displeased their employer and they in turn declined to endorse the book for the pertinent time period, the worker's right to stay in the area was jeopardized. According to the Pass Law, government officials possessed the power to expel the worker from the area by adverse endorsement in the passbook. This technique was known as 'endorsing out' and could be carried out at any time and for any reason. Officials were not required to provide an explanation for their actions. Family members of a worker who was 'endorsed out' also forfeited their right to remain in the area and faced eviction and exile to a bantustan. Forgetting to carry the dompas, misplacing it, or having it stolen rendered one liable to arrest and imprisonment. Each year, over 250,000 blacks were arrested for technical offenses under the Pass Laws. As a result, the dompas became the most despised symbol of apartheid.

Constitutional Rights

Blacks forfeited their civil rights under several laws passed by the national government. They were forbidden to engage in political activity and exercise their democratic rights. Any type of opposition to apartheid was outlawed within the enactment of the Suppression of Communism Act of 1950. This act banned any type of opposition, whether it was Communist or otherwise. This law allowed the South African government to oppress any one person or group who they felt posed a threat to their system of apartheid. The Separate Representation of Voters Act terminated the rights of blacks to vote in the national government elections. Blacks who rejected the restrictions risked imprisonment and/or death. Since 1963, the Security Police has killed more than 100 people in political confinement. Tens of thousands were imprisoned, many without trials or access to lawyers, relatives, or friends. Thousands more died in political protests, many gunned down by the police or military. Statute laws permitted the South African government to incarcerate any citizen to a remote region of the country. This harsh banishment meant blacks were forbidden by state mandate to travel, write, or speak publicly, just to name a few sanctions. They had no power to appeal against these sanctions.

General laws

The Population Registration Act of 1950 required all citizens of South Africa to be classified into categories according to their race. The categories established were white, black (African), and coloured (people of mixed descent). The Reservation of Separate Amenities Act of 1953 created separate public facilities to be used by whites and blacks. Workers, Africans or Coloured, were restricted by law from protesting the enactment of the Native Labor Act of 1953. Government officials, under the Public Safety and Criminal Law Amendment Acts, possessed the power to declare states of emergency and increase the penalties for protesting against any or supporting the repeal of any government established law. Imprisonment, whippings, and fines were a few of the penalties the government could enforce. One such state of emergency occurred in 1960, during a peaceful protest at Sharpeville. Large groups of blacks refused to carry their dompas, attempting to overthrow the unjust Pass Law. According to the police, the protest became violent. During this particular protest, 69 blacks were killed and another 187 were wounded.