passes act summary essay 300 words

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Short Bantu Education Act Essay 300 Words

In this quick post, we’ll give you a sample Bantu Education Act Essay 300 words. The Bantu Education Act was a law in South Africa a long time ago. This law was not fair. It was made in 1953 and lasted for many years until it was changed in 1976. We have written extensively about Bantu Education, covering it’s history .

This law said that black children should go to different schools than white children. The schools for black children were not as good as the ones for white children. They didn’t have good teachers, books, or buildings. This made it hard for black children to get a good education.

The Bantu Education Act was part of a system called apartheid. Apartheid means that people were separated based on their skin color. Black people were treated worse than white people in many ways, including in education.

In 1976, there was a big protest against the Bantu Education Act. Many black students and their families said that they wanted better education. This protest led to some changes, but the Bantu Education Act was still not fair.

Reasons The Bantu Education Act Was Passed

The Bantu Education Act of 1953 was a significant piece of legislation in South Africa during the era of apartheid. This act was passed by the government led by the National Party, with Dr. Hendrik Verwoerd , the Minister of Native Affairs, playing a key role in its implementation. The primary purpose of the Bantu Education Act was to formalize and segregate education for black South Africans, particularly those of Bantu descent.

The government’s motivation behind this act was deeply rooted in the apartheid ideology, which aimed to maintain a system of racial segregation and white supremacy. By controlling and limiting the education opportunities for black students, the government sought to perpetuate social and economic disparities between racial groups. 

The act not only separated black and white education systems but also curtailed the quality of education provided to black students. Funding for black schools was significantly lower, and the curriculum was designed to restrict opportunities for black students to pursue higher education and skilled professions.

Bantu Education Act was passed to enforce racial segregation in education and perpetuate the apartheid system by limiting the educational opportunities and quality available to black South Africans. It was a manifestation of the government’s discriminatory policies aimed at maintaining white dominance and racial inequality.

Also Read: The 9 Provinces of South Africa and their Capital Cities

The Negative Effect Of The Bantu Education Act  

The Bantu Education Act, implemented in South Africa in 1953, had several negative effects, primarily targeting Black South Africans:

1. Educational Inequality: The act enforced racial segregation in schools, resulting in vastly unequal educational opportunities for Black students compared to their White counterparts.

2. Inferior Curriculum: Black schools received a substandard curriculum that focused on manual labor and domestic skills, limiting the intellectual and career prospects of Black students.

3. Limited Access to Quality Education: The Bantu Education Act restricted Black students’ access to well-funded and adequately staffed schools, perpetuating the cycle of poverty and limiting social mobility.

4. Political Indoctrination: The curriculum aimed to indoctrinate Black students with apartheid ideology, promoting a racial hierarchy and reinforcing segregation.

5. Stifling Creativity and Critical Thinking: The system discouraged critical thinking, creativity, and intellectual development, hindering the ability of Black students to challenge the oppressive apartheid regime.

6. Economic Disadvantage: Limited access to quality education left Black individuals at a significant economic disadvantage, affecting their ability to secure well-paying jobs and participate in the broader economy.

7. Social Division: The act contributed to social divisions by segregating students based on race, perpetuating racism and reinforcing apartheid policies.

8. Loss of Cultural Identity: Black students were often forced to learn in languages other than their own, leading to a loss of cultural identity and language heritage.

9. Long-term Educational Impact: The negative effects of the Bantu Education Act continue to impact South African society, as many individuals who received this education faced long-term disadvantages in their personal and professional lives.

10. Resistance and Struggle: Despite these negative effects, the Bantu Education Act also fueled resistance and activism against apartheid, ultimately contributing to its downfall.

Also Read: The 11 Official Languages in South Africa

Sample Bantu Education Act Essay 300 Words

Below is a sample Bantu Education Act Essay 300 words.

The Bantu Education Act was a significant apartheid-era law in South Africa. Enacted in 1953, it had a profound impact on the education of black South African students. The act aimed to segregate and limit the education opportunities for black students, perpetuating racial inequality.

Under the Bantu Education Act, black students received an inferior education compared to their white counterparts. The government provided fewer resources, outdated materials, and poorly trained teachers to black schools. The curriculum was designed to prepare black students for menial jobs rather than providing them with a quality education.

The Act also enforced racial segregation in schools, which led to overcrowded and poorly maintained facilities for black students. This policy aimed to maintain the racial hierarchy of apartheid and deny black South Africans the opportunity to access quality education.

The Bantu Education Act was met with widespread resistance and protest from the black community and anti-apartheid activists. Students and teachers protested against the inferior education system, which resulted in many arrests and demonstrations. Despite the hardships, black South Africans continued to fight for their right to equal education.

How The Bantu Education Act Was Stopped

The end of the Bantu Education Act can be attributed to a combination of internal and external factors. Internally, the resistance from Black students, teachers, and communities was instrumental in challenging the apartheid regime’s education policies. Protests, boycotts, and civil disobedience became common forms of opposition to the system.

Externally, international pressure played a significant role. The global community, through the United Nations and other entities, increasingly condemned apartheid policies in South Africa, including Bantu education. Economic sanctions and diplomatic isolation were imposed on the apartheid regime, which added to the pressure for change.

Ultimately, in 1994, with the end of apartheid and the establishment of a democratic South Africa, the Bantu Education Act was officially repealed. This marked a pivotal moment in the country’s history, as it signified the dismantling of one of the most oppressive aspects of apartheid and a step towards a more equitable education system.

Also Read: Full List of Nigerian 36 States and Capitals and their Slogans

Frequently Asked Questions About the Bantu Education Act 1953

Certainly! Here are 10 frequently asked questions (FAQs) and their answers on the topic of the Bantu Education Act:

1. Q: What was the Bantu Education Act?

   A: The Bantu Education Act was a South African law passed in 1953 that segregated education for black and white students during the apartheid era.

2. Q: Who introduced the Bantu Education Act?

   A: Dr. Hendrik Verwoerd, the Minister of Native Affairs in South Africa, introduced the Bantu Education Act.

3. Q: What was the main goal of the Bantu Education Act?

   A: The main goal was to provide separate and inferior education for black South Africans, with a focus on vocational training rather than academic development.

4. Q: How did the Bantu Education Act impact black students?

   A: It led to underfunded, overcrowded, and poorly equipped schools for black students, limiting their educational opportunities and perpetuating racial inequalities.

5. Q: Were black teachers affected by the Bantu Education Act?

   A: Yes, black teachers were subjected to lower pay, reduced job security, and limited career advancement opportunities under this act.

6. Q: When was the Bantu Education Act repealed?

   A: The Bantu Education Act was officially repealed in 1979, but its impact on education continued for years.

7. Q: How did the Bantu Education Act affect the anti-apartheid movement?

   A: It fueled opposition to apartheid and played a role in the rise of student protests and activism against the discriminatory education system.

8. Q: Did any organizations or individuals oppose the Bantu Education Act?

   A: Yes, organizations like the African National Congress (ANC) and individuals like Steve Biko and Desmond Tutu strongly opposed the act and fought for educational equality.

9. Q: What were the long-term consequences of the Bantu Education Act?

   A: The act had lasting effects on South African society, contributing to educational inequalities that persist even after apartheid ended.

10. Q: How has South Africa reformed its education system post-apartheid?

    A: After apartheid, South Africa worked to desegregate and improve its education system, focusing on equal access and quality education for all racial groups.

Please note that the Bantu Education Act is a historically significant but highly controversial topic due to its association with apartheid policies.

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Summary of Bantu Education Act Essay 300 Words

In summary, the Bantu Education Act was a discriminatory. The struggle against this act played a significant role in the broader fight against apartheid and for equal rights in South Africa.

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• South African History Online - Pass laws in South Africa 1800-1994

pass law , law that required nonwhites in South Africa to carry documents authorizing their presence in restricted areas. Pass laws were among the main instruments of apartheid until the government ended the requirement to carry documentation in 1986.

The pass law system arose out of a series of regulations, beginning with those enacted by the Dutch East India Company in the 18th century, that restricted the settlement and movement of nonwhites in Southern Africa . Many Africans were forcibly expelled from the Cape Colony , especially as British settlers acquired more land in the early 19th century. But even as the colony experienced chronic labour shortages, they envisioned a colony that did not include Black African citizens. So Cape authorities enacted policies that allowed labourers from outside the Cape Colony to enter for work but with restricted rights. Among the earliest of these “pass” policies was Ordinance 49 (1828), which permitted Black labourers from east of the Keiskamma River to enter the colony for work if they possessed the proper contracts and passes.

The practice of racial segregation by law was further codified in South Africa in the 20th century, particularly after the National Party , led by Daniel F. Malan , gained office in 1948, and implemented its vision of apartheid . The Population Registration Act of 1950 classified all South Africans as either Bantu (all Black Africans), Coloured (those of mixed race), or white. A fourth category—Asian (Indian and Pakistani)—was later added. 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—which led to thousands of people assigned “Coloured,” “Black,” or “Asian” labels being removed from areas classified for white occupation.

The pass laws were strengthened to enforce the segregation of the races and prevent Blacks from entering into white areas. The Natives (Abolition of Passes and Co-ordination of Documents) Act, enacted in 1952, replaced passes with “reference books” that included detailed information, including employment information and evaluations from employers, as well as fingerprints . Every Black man of at least 16 years of age was required to carry a reference book at all times.

In the late 1970s the daily average prison population in South Africa was almost 100,000, one of the highest rates in the world. Of these, the majority were imprisoned for statutory offenses against the pass laws. By the end of the pass law system, over 17 million arrests had been made. In 1986, under pressure from international sanctions, the South African government abolished the pass laws; the broader system of legislated apartheid was not dismantled until 1990–91.

Pass Laws During Apartheid

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South African pass laws were a major component of  apartheid  that focused on separating South African citizens according to their race. This was done to promote the supposed superiority of White people and to establish the minority White regime.

Legislative laws were passed to accomplish this, including the Land Act of 1913, the Mixed Marriages Act of 1949, and the Immorality Amendment Act of 1950—all of which were created to separate the races.

Designed to Control Movement

Under apartheid, pass laws were designed to control the movement of Black Africans , and they are considered one of the most grievous methods that the South African government used to support apartheid.

The resulting legislation (specifically Abolition of Passes and Co-ordination of Documents Act No. 67 of 1952 ) introduced in South Africa required Black Africans to carry identity documents in the form of a "reference book" when outside a set of reserves (later known as homelands or bantustans.)

Pass laws evolved from regulations that the Dutch and British enacted during the 18th-century and 19th-century enslavement economy of the Cape Colony. In the 19th century, new pass laws were enacted to ensure a steady supply of cheap African labor for the diamond and gold mines.

In 1952, the government passed an even more stringent law that required all African men age 16 and over to carry a "reference book" (replacing the previous passbook) which held their personal and employment information. (Attempts to force women to carry passbooks in 1910, and again during the 1950s, caused strong protests.)

Passbook Contents

The passbook was similar to a passport in that it contained details about the individual, including a photograph, fingerprint, address, the name of his employer, how long the person had been employed, and other identifying information. Employers often entered an evaluation of the pass holder's behavior.

As defined by law, an employer could only be a White person. The pass also documented when permission was requested to be in a certain region and for what purpose, and whether that request was denied or granted.

Urban areas were considered "White," so a non-White person needed a passbook to be inside a city.

Under the law, any governmental employee could remove these entries, essentially removing permission to stay in the area. If a passbook didn't have a valid entry, officials could arrest its owner and put him in prison.

Colloquially, passes were known as the dompas , which literally meant the "dumb pass." These passes became the most hated and despicable symbols of apartheid.

Violating Pass Laws

Africans often violated the pass laws to find work and support their families and thus lived under constant threat of fines, harassment, and arrests.

Protests against the suffocating laws drove the anti-apartheid struggle—including the Defiance Campaign in the early '50s and the huge women's protest in Pretoria in 1956.

In 1960, Africans burned their passes at the police station in Sharpeville and 69 protesters were killed. During the '70s and '80s, many Africans who violated pass laws lost their citizenship and were deported to impoverished rural "homelands." By the time the pass laws were repealed in 1986, 17 million people had been arrested.

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Bantu Education in South Africa Essay

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Introduction

Views of structural functionalists on education, neo-marxist perspective on education, nature of bantu education, criticism of bantu education, works cited.

Education is an important aspect of development in any society. It contributes towards societal development by preparing learners with the relevant skills, values and attitudes they require to take occupational roles in their future lives. This implies that educational systems play a vital role in determining the well-being of a country.

For many years, South Africa was exposed to discriminatory actions resulting from the apartheid system. This was extended to the education sector through the introduction of the Bantu Education. This Essay focuses on the nature of the Bantu education system and its shortcomings in the eyes of structural functionalists and neo-Marxist sociologists.

There are different structural-functionalist approaches used in the study of sociology of education. However, the most important ones are derived from the works of famous sociologists Durkheim and Parsons. Until the late 1960s and early 1970s, sociological thinking on matters of education was dominated by structural functionalism. Functionalist sociologists of education look at how education contributes towards the well-being of the society.

The provision of social solidarity and value consensus is the strongest of the functional contributions that education makes to the society. Education as socialization is associated with transmission of culture, values and norms that enable people to stick together and facilitate social life in highly traditional social communities. Similarly, the modern education system is supposed to hold modern societies together.

This thinking is founded on the need to deal with the characteristics associated with the transition from simple traditional to complex and modern societies. Complex modern societies involve a change from a homogeneous life based on rural kinship into concentrated but heterogeneous populations in societies which live in urban areas and characterised by differentiated division of labor.

Mass education is a tool that can be used in such societies to instill proper rules and curricula in children that bind them and the new form of society together. This makes it possible for non-kinship -based, consensual and cooperative lives to be established. This was the argument of sociologist Durkheim (Martin 6).

After the establishment of industrial capitalist society, Parson advanced an argument that the function of education was to create a bridge between the primary socialization that took place at home and adult life preparation. He focused on the role of the school in equipping children with universalistic values as opposed to the particularistic ones obtained from the family.

Particularistic roles are the ascribed ones such as the role and status of an individual, such as his/her place in the family. Universalistic roles on the other hand emphasize the teachings that on the basis of birth, nobody is better than the other. According to structural functionalists, education is the basis of modern society where it socializes children and equips them with the necessary skills for adult life and to function in a modern society marked by universalistic values.

They also believe that education plays an important role in modernizing the society as opposed to mere transition from simple to modern. In addition, the role of education in helping the society adapt to changes in the broader environment such as the competitive advantage cannot be underestimated.

There are numerous neo-Marxist approaches to education but the most influential ones are those of Bowles and Gintis who argue that the education system leads to the production of a capitalist society. According to them, the purpose of education in a capitalist society is to reproduce capitalist relations of production meaning profit, capitalist power and capitalist control of power. They believe in a correspondence principle which explains how the school corresponds with work that serves this purpose.

Its function is to reproduce labor in the sense that it provides enough quantities of the different labor types capitalists need. In addition, it reproduces the right type of the labor required by capitalists since it dampens the desire towards class struggle and instead isolates pupils into the highly class-stratified roles they will occupy in the job market once they leave school. Ideally, the purpose of the school is to isolate and integrate pupils into the capitalist society (Blackledge and Hunt 136).

Neo-Marxists argue that for both capitalist and working class children, schools take over from families and socialize the child into the primary societal values, norms, roles and attitudes. The correspondence they talk of between the school and workplace is meant to prepare pupils to assume occupational roles. Schools are organised in a hierarchy and run along authoritarian lines. Learning is also extrinsically motivated rather than being intrinsically motivated.

These characteristics of schools the neo-Marxists argue that are replicated in the workplace where the workers follow the orders given by their bosses without questioning. There motivation is only an extrinsic one in the form of the wages they get.

While formal curriculum is mandated with the task of giving pupils the basic literacy and numeracy they require in their future jobs, the correspondence between school and work is a form of hidden curriculum that prepares them to politically and ideologically embrace life in a capitalist society.

They are prepared to be obedient, docile, passive and loyal to authorities and hierarchy. According to the neo-Marxists, the bottom line is that only a revolutionary transformation of the capitalist mode of production as a whole can lead to a transformed education system.

After the national party came into power in 1948, the neglect and limitation that had characterised native education from 1910 paved the way for strict state control for black education. This control marked the disappearance of the mission school system which was faced by many challenges despite the fact that it was an important educational institution.

The national party government was committed to eliminate the tolerant laissez-faire perceptions towards black education. The Bantu Education Act of 1953 made it possible for the enactment of legislation that was aimed at promoting Christian National Education separate development.

Bantu Education in South Africa was intended at providing the ruling elites with a cheap and submissive labor. In addition, it aimed at resolving the urban crisis that had developed in the 1940s and 1950s due to industrialisation and rapid urbanisation. This was caused by the collapsing homeland agriculture and the expansion of secondary industrialisation after the Second World War. Transport, housing and wages were not enough for the increasing number of working class people who lived in towns.

The response to the breakdown of these services and poor conditions was squatter movements and the formation of trade unions. Radical oppositions to political activities became the norm, accompanied by the leadership of the African National Congress. The increasing levels of poverty became a threat to the physical productivity of the white elites. Social stability in the 1940s was either obstructed by the presence of education or lack of it (Hyslop 80).

Educationalists attributed the increase in crime rates and the defiant nature of youths to the lack of enough schools. They were afraid that political mobilisation was going to be on the increase. Bantu education was therefore ideally aimed at exercising social control over youth and especially those who were working. In addition, there was the need to socialize them in relation to the norms that were regarded as appropriate by the ruling elites alongside producing properly trained and trainable labor.

The uniqueness of Bantu Education was in its adherence to non-egalitarian and racist education. Intellectually, it was believed that such a system of education was important in spreading the idea that the mentality of a native made him suited for repetitive tasks. Such ideas were important in producing a mass education system that was characterised by constrained spending. Although Bantu Education was regarded as a racist-based cheap education, ironically, Africans were responsible for the costs.

They suffered additional taxation in order to fund the cost of African education. The contribution of the state was an annual grant that originated from the general revenue. Taxes raised were used in supplementing the grant where a small percentage was used to develop Bantu Education. The government policy of financing Bantu Education and the increase in the number of students affected the quality due to the worsening of the pupil-teacher ratio.

During the early years of Bantu Education, a lot of effort was made to use the wages earned by Africans as the basis of funding the education instead of taxing employers. Although the national party was not willing to endorse adequate academic training and skills training, the education served the interests and needs of the industry hence there was no ill relationship between capital and the state.

Anybody was in a position to tell that the educational policies of the government were intended at ensuring that black people secured very few opportunities with regard to employment. They were only prepared to render ready unskilled or skilled labor. This was the relationship between the Bantu Education and the industry (Ballantine 55).

Later in the 1950s, Bantu Education was compatible with the significant expansion of the capitalist economy. However, in the 1960s, the educational policies of the state brought about friction between the government and the industry.

The state used force to give its organisational and ideological interests the first over more particular interests of business and the industry. Under the guise of concentrating growth of secondary, technical and tertiary education in the homelands, the government succeeded in using the urban school system as a tool of influx control. Education was used to propagate apartheid policy.

The purpose of any educational system is to equip pupils with relevant knowledge that prepares them for future occupational roles and transforms the society as a whole. However, the Bantu Education that was practiced in South Africa was a faulty education system that could not transform the society.

In the eyes of structural functionalists and neo-Marxist sociologists, it was detrimental to the social and economic development of the country. The main focus of structural functionalists is to look at how education contributes towards the well-being of the society. It plays an important role since it forms the basis of modern society by equipping learners with relevant skills that prepare them for adult life.

However, according to structural functionalists Bantu Education was devoid of this important function of education. It was racist in nature and could not bring the society together. It was inspired by apartheid and instead of preparing the learners for a cohesive society, it led to more divisions. The system was aimed at ensuring that the black people did not get jobs that were regarded as white men’s. In this structural functionalist perspective, the education system was detrimental to the social and economic development of South Africa.

In the eyes of neo-Marxist sociologists, Bantu Education was still harmful to the social and economic development of South Africa. Education to them is supposed to equip the learners with the right attitudes, values and norms that allow them to thrive in a capitalist society.

However, Bantu Education was only interested in giving learners skills that could not allow them to thrive in a capitalist society. For instance, the skills that were being passed to them could only allow them to be used in the provision of cheap unskilled or semi-skilled labor.

Neo-Marxists also believe that education is supposed to equip learners with the right skills to provide various labor types required by capitalists. On the contrary, Bantu Education provided learners with skills that could only be applied in limited areas. It was even a disadvantage to the capitalists since they could not get skilled labor whenever they required it. The education system was therefore detrimental to the social and economic development of South Africa.

Education plays an important role in preparing children for their future occupational roles by equipping them with the right values, norms and attitudes. This enables them to make positive contributions in the society. Although structural functionalists and neo-Marxists hold some differing views on the purpose of education, they both share a common belief that education plays an important role in transforming the society.

However, the Bantu Education in South Africa was discriminatory in nature and prevented societal development. According to the two groups of sociologists, it was detrimental towards the social and economic development of South Africa.

Ballantine, Jeanne. The sociology of education: A systematic analysis, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1993.Print.

Blackledge, David and Barry Hunt. Sociological interpretations of education, London: Routledge, 1985.Print.

Hyslop, Jonathan. The classroom struggle: policy and resistance in South Africa,1940-1990, Pietermaritzburg: University of Natal Press, 1999.Print.

Martin, Ruhr. The Sociology of Education, Pretoria: University of South Africa, 2006.Print.

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Bantu Education Act Essay (300 Words) + PDF

The Bantu Education Act of 1953 was a South African law that established a separate and inferior education system for black South Africans. This act was a key policy of apartheid, the system of institutionalized racial segregation that existed in South Africa from 1948 until the early 1990s. The act had far-reaching and long-lasting effects on the education and social mobility of black South Africans.

Related: 13 Bibliography of Bantu Education Act 1953

Under the Bantu Education Act, the government established separate schools for black South Africans and created a separate curriculum that was designed to train them for unskilled labour and menial jobs. This curriculum excluded many subjects that were taught in white schools, such as mathematics, science, and literature. Instead, it focused on subjects like agriculture, manual labour, and home economics, which were seen as more relevant to the lives of black South Africans.

The Bantu Education Act also drastically underfunded black schools, resulting in poor facilities, overcrowded classrooms, and a shortage of qualified teachers. The act required that all black schools be run by the government, which allowed the government to control the content of the curriculum and the hiring of teachers. This policy effectively excluded many qualified black teachers from the profession and left many schools without adequate staffing.

Related: 10 Effects & Impact of Bantu Education Act in South Africa 

The impact of the Bantu Education Act was profound. Black South Africans were denied access to quality education, which severely limited their opportunities for social mobility and economic advancement. The curriculum was designed to prepare black students for low-skilled jobs, perpetuating a cycle of poverty and reinforcing racial inequality. The act also led to the development of a separate and unequal education system, which contributed to the overall inequality and segregation of South African society.

Resistance to the Bantu Education Act was widespread and included protests, boycotts, and demonstrations by students, parents, and teachers. Many black schools refused to implement the new curriculum, and students often boycotted classes or went on strike to demand better education. The government responded to this resistance with harsh repression, including arrests, detentions, and violence.

Despite the resistance, the Bantu Education Act remained in effect until the end of apartheid in the early 1990s. The act left a lasting legacy on the education system and society of South Africa, and its effects continue to be felt today. Although South Africa has made significant strides in addressing the legacy of apartheid and promoting educational equality, much work remains to be done to fully address the inequality and injustices that were perpetuated by the Bantu Education Act.

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Related: 47 Questions and Answers Based on Bantu Education Act

Olusegun Iyejare is a career coach and certified counselor. He helps individuals discover and maximize their potential to live satisfying lives regardless of obvious limitations holding them back.

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Grade 9 - Term 3: Turning points in South African History, 1960, 1976 and 1990

Turning points in modern South African History since 1948&

In 1948 South Africa held a general election which was to be decided by the white population of the country. A manifesto outlined how Apartheid would be implemented in practice which was enforced by the National Party (NP) when they won the election. The focus of this lesson will be on some of the key turning points in South African history, including the coming of apartheid in 1948 and non-violent resistance to apartheid in the 1950s.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights after World War II

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), also known as the Magna Carta, was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1948. Due to the experience and effects of the Second World War, the international community vowed to prevent the atrocities and conflicts that occurred during the Second World War to take place again. After approximately six million Jews, Gypsies homosexuals and people with various disabilities were exterminated, the idea of Human rights grew and there was a need to protect every inpidual from these heinous crimes.The United Nations was born from various governments with the principle aim to bolster international peacE and prevent crime and conflict. World leaders then decided to codify these rights that are attributed to each inpidual within a single document, hence the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This document aimed to be the fundamental document of all countries with regard to human rights and strove to secure these rights to all inpiduals.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights captured the international community’s need to guarantee that no one would ever be unjustly denied life, freedom, food, shelter and nationality; as occurred during World War II. The Commission of Human Rights was established within the United Nations which laid out the basic fundamental rights and freedoms as proclaimed in the Charter. One of the most significant aspects of the UDHR is legitimization of the notion that how a government treats its citizens is, especially after World War II, an international concern, and not just a domestic issue. The importance of the UDHR can be seen in the fact that some of the principles have been adopted into national constitutions. 

In its preamble and in Article 1, the Declaration unequivocally proclaims the inherent rights of all human beings: “Disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people...All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.”

The Declaration of Human Rights is the most universal human rights document in existence, delineating the thirty fundamental rights that form the basis for a democratic society.

Definition of racism

According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary definition, racism can be described as the “poor treatment of or violence against people because of their race”, and it supports the notion that “some races of people are better than others”. Throughout history race has been associated with the belief that it is a primary determinant of human traits, and it has played a significant factor in the way that power relations occur. Below follows two different discourses regarding the definition and understanding of racism throughout history, as well as South African history.

Human evolution and our common ancestry

Human Evolution describes the extensive process of change where people originated from apelike creatures. Aspects of Human Evolution has been proved by scientific evidence and one of the the main findings that forms the fundamental basis of Evolution is that physical and behavioural traits, which are shared by all humans, originated from these apelike ancestors and have evolved for approximately six million years. 

Apartheid and the myth of ‘race’

The construct can be seen as a highly notorious term, despite it having no physical basis. This term was, however, heavily used in South Africa’s pre- democracy phase, Apartheid. During this period between 1948 and 1994, race was used as a measure to categorize and distinguish people from each other, and determined their position within society. To be more specific, this system categorized people on the basis of their skin colour. All aspects of society were pided to facilitate the complete pision of all race groups. Certain activities and privileges were only reserved for certain people of a specific race. In short, Apartheid was the system during which Africans were legally, socially, politically and economically disenfranchised while the National Party governed South Africa. It is a fact that in any society, race is never an objective, biological characteristic; race is a socially created construct. 

Apartheid, literally meaning (if translated into Afrikaans) “to be in a state of being apart”, was further facilitated by institutionalized Apartheid laws, which further dictated the everyday lives of South Africans. These laws determined where blacks would stay, work, and even who they would marry. During modern times, the indicators of the pision of people are class, status, education, etc. During Apartheid, race was the only aspect that pided society.

1948 National Party and Apartheid 

Racial segregation before Apartheid 

Before the official institutionalisation of Apartheid in 1948, some historians saw it as a complex development that started during the 20th century which was linked to the evolution of South African Capitalism. After the Mineral Revolution took place in South Africa, cheap labour became widely used (which was advocated by Cecil John Rhodes), which the dominating notion that Black labour was cheaper to use in mines and on farms. It is also believed that Apartheid was an outcome of earlier racial prejudices and policies imposed by the British and Dutch. Various sources can be attributed to the cause of Apartheid, or rather the idea of racism. These include colonial conquest, land dispossession, economic impoverishment and exclusion from citizenship for black Africans. These factors shaped the way the world saw Africans and influenced the negative manner in which they were perceived. 

Uneven and, in some cases limited, capitalist growth was facilitated by the colonial conquests of the British and Dutch during the 17th and 18th centuries. The Dutch East India Company (VOC) was established in 1795 with the aim of being a refreshment station for passing ships. When it was established, it was done so at the expense of indigenous citizens, such as the KhoiKhoi and Xhosa people. The Khoi societies sustained their livelihood through their land and livestock, and when the VOC took over their land, the Khoi were subjected to becoming underclass domestic farm workers. They were further disenfranchised when the VOC imported slaves imported from Angola, Mozambique, Madagascar and South East Asia, which curtailed the Khoi’s chances of earning a decent wage. 

Apartheid arose when the National Party, who represented ethnic Afrikaner Nationalism, won the National election on the basis of racism and segregation in 1948. It significantly extended the reach of the racist state and led to a systematic and fundamental deterioration of the position of black people in South Africa until 1994.

The victory of the NP in 1948 can be attributed to the rise in Afrikaner Nationalism during the 1920’s and 1930’s. Afrikaners constituted a majority in terms of quantity of the white electorate, but they were pided by class, regional and educational fault lines. When the Afrikaner Broederbond, a secret Afrikaner society, was established in 1918, Afrikaner nationalism grew from a Calvinist perspective which was united by a common language. The Dutch Reformed Church provided a foundation for the theological justification of Apartheid. In terms of capital, the Afrikaners grew and expanded their financial support through the insurance company Sanlam, the Volksklas Bank and Spoorbond. The rise of the use of cheap labour was induced by the emergence of mines, factories and farms. White-owned businesses accumulated big profits by supporting a government that denied blacks the vote and paid artificially low wages. Many white factory workers and World War II veterans voted for apartheid in 1948 to protect their economic advantages and to oppose black urbanization and social welfare. Furthermore, many white families benefited from the work of black domestic servants who provided childcare, cooking, and house care. D.F. Malan and Hendrik Verwoerd can be considered as the architects of Apartheid. 

Main apartheid laws in broad outline 

The period of the 1950’s can be described as “Petty Apartheid” where Nationalists imposed the laws that created a racially segregated and unequal social order. One of these laws was the 1953 Reservation of Separate Amenities Act that imposed segregation on all public facilities; including post offices, beaches, stadiums, parks, toilets, and cemeteries, and buses and trains as well. In other words, the Act was to provide for the reservation of public premises and vehicles or portions thereof for the exclusive use of persons of a particular race or class, for the interpretation of laws which provide for such reservation, and for matters incidental thereto.

The Pass Laws Act of 1952 was implemented to ensure that a supply of cheap African labour, and increasingly they were made more restrictive. This law required all black South Africans over the age of 16 to carry a pass book, known as a dompas, everywhere and at all times.  It was a criminal offense for Africans to be without a pass and made movement and residence dependent upon a pass. Within the pages of an inpidual'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. 

Two laws that were implemented during this time had arguably the biggest impact on the country. 

The Population Registration Act, which commenced 7 July, classified all South Africans as members of the White, African, Coloured, or Indian racial groups, and because racial identities were (and are) historically and socially constructed, the government created Racial Classification Boards to officially determine a person’s "race." A person’s race was reflected in their identification numbers.

The Group Areas Act imposed strict residential racial segregation. Apartheid social engineering irreparably damaged countless families, communities, and livelihoods, as the government forcibly removed blacks to African, Coloured, or Indian "townships" (also known as "locations") on the outskirts of cities and towns. In the process of enforcing this plan, government bulldozers destroyed vibrant, racially mixed neighbourhoods, such as Sophiatown in Johannesburg and District Six in Cape Town. In practice this meant that all white, black, coloured and Asian people in South Africa would have to live in group areas allocated to members of their groups. Their ownership of property and business rights would be confined to those areas. This also meant that many people had to move out of their homes where they had lived for years and go and live in unfamiliar places which they knew little or nothing about because they had occupied a Group Area designated for another race.  Township residents tried to rebuild their lives despite inadequate housing, material poverty, and, for Africans, the constant danger of arrest for not carrying a pass book.

The Immorality Act caused couples of differing racial backgrounds to be tracked down by the police who were suspected of being in a relationship. Homes were invaded, and mixed couples caught in bed were arrested. Underwear was used as forensic evidence in court. Most couples found guilty were sent to jail. Blacks were often given harsher sentences than whites.

The impact of Apartheid on education was so profound it can still be seen today. Verwoerd’s 1953 Bantu Education Act established an inferior education system for Africans based upon a curriculum intended to produce manual labourers and obedient subjects. Similar discriminatory education laws were also imposed on Coloureds, who had lost the right to vote in 1956, and Indians. The government denied funding to mission schools that rejected Bantu Education, leading to the closure of many of the best schools for Africans. In the higher education sector, the Extension of University Education Act of 1959 prevented black students from attending "white" universities (except with government permission) and created separate and unequal institutions for Africans, Coloureds, and Indians respectively. The apartheid government also undermined intellectual and cultural life through intense censorship of books, movies, and radio and television programs. Censorship reached absurd proportions, exemplified by the banning of the children’s book Black Beauty and the tardy introduction of television in 1976. After that date, government-controlled broadcast media regularly disseminated apartheid propaganda. Educational ties with the rest of the world gradually diminished as countries applied a cultural boycott on South Africa.

In the 1960s the pursuit of white domination led to a new policy of "Grand Apartheid." As a massive social engineering project, grand apartheid created ethnically defined "Bantustans" (or "Homelands") out of the "Tribal Reserves" carved out by the 1913 Land Act. Between 1960 and 1985, approximately 3.5 million Africans were forcibly removed to alleged "homelands." These rural dumping grounds functioned as reservoirs of cheap black labour for white employers, but the apartheid regime also envisioned them as "independent" territories that would ensure the denial of South African citizenship to millions of Africans. Some of these territories, such as Bophuthatswana, comprised dozens of isolated pieces of territory with no common frontier. Situated in the most unproductive regions of the country, Bantustans were inhabited largely by poverty-stricken women and children since men migrated annually to work in South African cities and towns, and farms as well. Generally, government-approved "tribal" leaders ruled over the Bantustans in violent and corrupt fashion with the full support of the South African government, which was responsible for their entire budgets and provided military assistance.

Case study: Group Areas Act: Sophiatown forced removal 

Sophiatown was established in 1904. Before 1913 black South Africans had freehold rights, and they bought properties in the suburb. By the 1920s whites had moved out, leaving behind a vibrant community of blacks, coloureds, Indians and Chinese.

One of the most controversial actions occurred in the mid-1950s when blacks living in Sophiatown, Johannesburg, were compelled to move along with many others to a vast new black township southwest of Johannesburg, called Soweto. In 1955, army trucks and armed police removed 60,000 people from Sophiatown to areas that were designated for Africans such as Meadowlands, Lenasia, Western Coloured Township (now Westbury) and Noordgesig. 

Sophiatown was rezoned for whites only and renamed Triomf (Triumph). The removals sparked the creation of a song called “Meadowlands”, in reference to the Meadowlands township to which many Sophiatown residents were forced relocate.  Another removal that caused particular outrage occurred in the second half of the 1960s, when 65 000 Coloured people from District Six, a vibrant inner city ward of Cape Town, were forced to leave. 

One white observer remarked:

“It was a fantastic sight. In the yard [opposite the local bus station] military lorries were drawn up. Already they were piled high with the pathetic possessions which had come from the row of rooms in the background. A rusty kitchen stove; a few blackened pots and pans; a wicker chair; mattresses belching out their coir stuffing; bundles of heaven-knows-what; and people, all soaked to the skin by the drenching rain”.

When the removals scheme was promulgated, Sophiatown residents united to protest the forced removals, creating famous the slogan "Onsdaknie, onspholahier" (We won't move). Another source states that "We got a notice that we were going to be moved on 12 February 1955, but we were taken by surprise by thousands of policemen and soldiers, who were heavily armed, "We were still preparing ourselves to protest the removals, and we had no choice because no one was ready for them - and besides, they were armed" .  Some people did not qualify for resettlement, so they had to find their own accommodation. Many people moved to Orlando East and other parts of Soweto. 

The Forced Removals Act disrupted the existing family dynamic due to racial classifications and separation of group areas. 

Dr Alfred Xuma, who lived in Toby Street, was one of the last residents to leave Sophiatown in 1959. Today, his house is one of only two houses that managed to escape the destruction of Sophiatown by the apartheid government.

The removals continued for over eight years. Blue-collar Afrikaners were moved in, and still largely occupy the small houses that replaced the lively but desperately poor three-bedroomed homes and backyard shacks of Sophiatown.

Case study: Bantustans: Forced removal: People of Mogopa to Bophuthatswana 

For over 70 years, these people had lived on good land which their forefathers purchased before the 1913 Land Act made this impossible. Then their land was designated a “black spot” in a white area and they were ordered to move to Pachsdraai, in Bophuthatswana. They refused to move. The government, confronted by organized and strong resistance, mounted a counterattack. It imposed a new corrupt chief whom the community refused to recognize. Bulldozers razed the school, the church, and some houses. It withdrew services, no pensions were paid out, no annual labour contracts were issued and the bus service was suspended. Still the people of Mogopa stood fast.

Then a removal squad arrived, complete with tractors, trucks and buses, and camped on their land. Challenged in court for trespass, the government backed down temporarily. But soon the people of Mogopa received an order to leave by November 29, 1983. Hundreds of supporters, black and white church people, students, political groups and the press arrived to wait with the Mogopa people for the government trucks. They did not come. The supporters returned home.

The Mogopa people began to rebuild their battered community. They raised money to buy a new water pump. The men rebuilt the school. The women repaired the roads.

But in the early hours of the morning of February 14, 1984, heavily armed police arrived in Mogopa and declared it an “operational zone” a term usually reserved for the war zones of Namibia. No outsiders were allowed in. Lawyers, priests, diplomats and the press were all turned away at the entrance. The police, working with dogs, forcibly loaded people and belongings onto buses and trucks and took them to Pachsdraai. They arrived to a barren welcome, with their furniture broken, many belongings lost, their cattle sold at a pittance to white farmers, who were the only civilians allowed into the area. Pachsdraai offered little. It was far from towns and job opportunities. The depleted soil was unsuitable for the non-irrigated farming that was the basis of their subsistence agriculture, and the hated imposed headman was given complete control of the allocation of all resources.

The Mogopa people refused to stay, and moved to another area of Bophuthatswana, Bethanie, which is under the jurisdiction of their paramount chief. But their lives are still painfully difficult; the strong community now lives, pided into three groups, without water, without permission to hold meetings, without grazing grounds, without plots to farm, a witness to the real meaning of the bantustan system.

1950s: Repression and non-violent resistance to apartheid  

SACP banned

Initially known as the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA) which was founded in July 1921, its name was changed to the South African Communist Party (SACP) during the 1950’s. The Party was founded on the foundation of various leftist movements, including the International Socialist League (ISL), the Social Democratic Federation, the Durban Marxist Club, the Cape Communist Party, and the Jewish Socialist Society, and affiliated itself with the Communist International (Comintern) which was headquartered in Moscow. By the mid-1940s, CPSA membership was increasing, and the party had gained influence after a few CPSA members (all white) won political office. After the 1948 NP election victory, however, the government quickly restricted black political activity and in 1950 banned the CPSA. The party went underground temporarily but also strengthened its ties to local nationalist organizations, such as the ANC. During the years it was banned, while the ANC continued to operate legally, the CPSA viewed the ANC as the primary expression of black aspirations for a multiracial socialist state under eventual communist leadership. The SACP and the ANC in the 1950s held similar views about policy and tactics as embodied in the ANC's Freedom Charter; in addition, they both advocated the use of guerrilla warfare against the apartheid regime in order to bring about the dual-phase revolution of political liberation followed by economic transformation. 

In 1950, the Apartheid Government introduced a bill called the Unlawful Organisation Bill, but later its name was changed to the Suppression of Communism Bill to focus on the undermining and limiting of communism within South Africa due to the government’s concern of a large number of communists infiltrating non- White political organisations.

When the SACP was unbanned in February 1990, its strength was difficult to estimate because many party members had been underground for years. In July 1990, a party spokesman publicized the names of twenty-two SACP members who were prominent in national politics but said that the names of others would remain secret. In 1991 SACP leaders estimated that the party had 10,000 dues-paying members, but refused to publish the party's membership rolls.

ANC programme of action

A Programme of Action was introduced on 17 December 1949 at the December conference which could be considered as a major turning point in the existence of the party. After the victory of the National Party, which was representative of an Apartheid government, the ANC, who stood for the deals of national freedom, wanted to introduce a policy that would counter the NP’s decision. Through this Programme of Action, the ANC was transformed from a party that was run by Middle Class liberals, to a militant liberation movement. The Programme of Action called on the ANC to partake in mass action, including civil disobedience, strikes, boycotts, and other forms of non- violent resistance.

The ANC Programme of Action was based on the principle of national freedom, which is meant by the freedom from white domination and the attainment of political independence. This would also include the rejection of the notion of segregation, apartheid, trusteeship, and white leadership which are motivated by the idea of white domination over blacks. Another basis for the Programme of Action is the Africans’ desire to claim the right of self determination. 

Brief biography: Albert Luthuli, his role in the ANC, and resistance to apartheid 

Albert John Luthuli (1898- 1967), was a South African statesman and the first African to win the Nobel Prize for peace. He was born in Solusi mission station, Rhodesia, where his father served American missionaries as an interpreter. On completing a teacher’s course from a Methodist Institution at Edendale around 1917, Luthuli took up a job as principal in an intermediate school in Natal. In 1920, he attended a higher teacher’s training course at Adams College with a scholarship provided by the government and joined the training college staff afterward. Albert Luthuli was elected as the secretary of the African Teacher’s Association in 1928 and subsequently as its president in 1933. It was while he was teaching at Adams that the Groutville community requested him to become its chief. Sugarcane production, which was the reservation's main source of income, had run into difficulties. Luthuli accepted the invitation and saved the community's economy from collapse.

Luthuli regarded the traditional evaluation of the person as transcending all barriers of race because the infinite consciousness has no colour, and that black and white people are bound together by the common humanity they have. He believed that Christian values can unite black and white in a democratic coalition. Apartheid's preoccupation with colour and the particular experience of the Afrikaner outraged him because it gave a meaning to Christian values which used race to fix the person's position in society and set a ceiling beyond which the African could not develop his/her full potential as a human being.

For holding these views Luthuli was later to be deposed, banned, and brought to trial for treason. The law under which he was charged (1956) was the Suppression of Communism Act. South African law recognizes two forms of communism: the Marxist-Leninist, and the statutory. Whoever opposes apartheid with determination or advocates race equality seriously was a statutory Communist.

Luthuli had involved himself directly in his people's political struggle and, in 1946, had been elected to the Natives Representative Council, a body set up by James Munnik Hertzog to advise the government on African affairs. Luthuli became president of the Natal section of the African National Congress (ANC) in 1951. In this capacity he led the 1951-1952 campaign for the defiance of six discriminatory laws. 

In 1936, the government imposed total restriction on the non-white community, circumscribing every aspect of their lives. Luthuli’s concern for all black people made him join ANC (American National Congress) in 1944. The Africans were denied the right to vote, and in 1948 the government adopted the policy of racial segregation, known as ‘Apartheid’; the Pass Laws were tightened in the 1950's. The objective of the ANC was to secure human rights for the black community, bringing them the rights to justice and equality.

He was elected to the committee of the Natal Provincial pision in 1945 and soon after, he became the president of the pision in 1951. The following year, he came in contact with other ANC leaders and decided to join them in a struggle for justice and equality for all South African people. He organized non-violent campaigns to raise voice against discriminatory laws and racial segregation. He was charged with treason and was asked to pull out with the ANC or leave his office as tribal chief. Luthuli refused to do either and subsequently, he was fired from his chieftainship. In the same year, he was elected president-general of ANC.

For around fifteen years before his death, Luthuli suffered from high blood pressure and he suffered a slight stroke. Over time his sight and hearing also became impaired. In July of 1967, he was fatally injured when a freight train struck him at the age of sixty nine. 

The Defiance Campaign (including the influence of Mahatma Gandhi) 

The ‘Defiance of Unjust Laws Campaign’, as it was formally known, was launched on 26 June 1952 by the ANC and South African Indian Congress (SAIC) in the tradition of Mahatma Gandhi. A tremendous number of people demonstrated against the existing Apartheid Laws by disobeying them to combat Apartheid. The Defiance campaign embraced Gandhi’s notion of Satyagraha, the term he coined in 1907 when he led a batch of volunteers to defy anti-Asian legislation in the Transvaal. Satyagraha entails a firm but non-violent struggle for a good cause. This non-racial initiative raised the controversial issue of the different ‘locations’ of the perse communities it aimed at mobilising, in contrast to the more homogeneous nature of the earlier campaigns, which comprised of Indians only. More than 8000 people of various race groups were arrested for defying the laws of Apartheid by using bathrooms that are not reserved for them, by riding in busses not reserved for them and by committing other offences that were against the law. A major tactic employed by the resistors was choosing to be imprisoned, rather than paying a fine, after arrests which allowed demonstrators to burden the government economically, while giving them a chance to voice their opinions on apartheid when they were tried in court.

In response to the campaign being spread to small rural areas, the South African Security Police, a branch of the government, implemented in August 1952 the biggest police raids on both the offices of the liberation campaign and the homes of liberation leaders. Many of these raids were carried out without legitimate search warrants and if the offices or homes were locked, the police would simply break in. This was a major effort by the South African government to repress the movement, intimidate the people, and find evidence for a trial that would remove the leadership of the campaign. The courts also got involved in the repression by levying the maximum sentence in each case of a resistor. Police brutality also escalated as spectators at trials of protesters were often roughed up by police officers. In prisons, especially, the resistors were targeted by officers for punishment and beatings.

An increasing number of people joined the movement despite the government trying to curtail it. The government aimed all attacks at the leaders of the movement in an attempt to combat the growing popularity of the movement. Nelson Mandela, who was the president of the ANC Youth League at that time, was one of the Defiance Campaign leaders, and was charged with leading the Campaign with the goal of effecting change in both the industrial and social structure of the country using “constitutional and illegal tactics”. This trial provided the foundation for campaigners to spread their message on a national level. 

Although this campaign had been non- violent since its formation, a turning point at this trial occurred when riots broke out, which started in New Brighton and moved to Port Elizabeth, continuing to Denver (in Southern Transvaal) on 18 December 1952. An African person was shot by a railway officer in New Brighton after being accused of stealing paint, which was followed by a group of other Africans who witnessed the commotion and threw rocks at the station where the man was shot, which led to the police opening fire on the crowd, killing seven people. The riots of Denver had a different cause than the one in New Brighton. The residents of the Denver African Hostel refused to pay the increased rental fee. This sparked a conflict in which police fired into the hostel, killing three people. Five days later, after three people gave an ANC salute when they finished their drinks in a Municipal African Beer Hall; they were thrown out of the bar. A group accumulated outside the bar and they began throwing rocks at the hall. Police arrived and opened fire on the crowd, killing thirteen Africans and injuring seventy-eight.

At the end of November 1952, the government prohibited all meetings of more than ten Africans throughout the country and then followed by instituting two laws, the Criminal Law Amendment Act (which targeted any person who broke any law in protest or support of a campaign) and the Public Safety Act (which allowed the Cabinet to temporarily suspend all laws whenever they declared a state of emergency and to enact emergency rules for anything necessary). These new laws were meant to directly suppress the campaign. In the middle of April 1953, after the two laws were passed and all of the damage had been done by the riots, Chief Albert John Mvubi Luthuli, the President-General of the ANC, proclaimed that the Defiance Campaign would be called off so that the resistance groups could reorganize, taking into consideration the new climate in South Africa. The Defiance of Unjust Laws campaign had not been successful and the further movement against apartheid would go on for several more decades.

Freedom Charter and Treason Trial

The initiative for the adoption of the Freedom Charter came from a multiracial coalition of political organisations, including the ANC, Congress of Democrats, Indian National Congress, and South African Coloured People’s Congress. The Freedom Charter’s basic principles rested on the demands for human and political rights, as well as the image of the society it envisioned to replace the Apartheid System, including ideals of the sharing of wealth, adequate housing, education, and healthcare. In other words, the Freedom Charter consists of the political parties’ emphasis on non-racialism is enshrined in a single seminal document of the liberation movement. It also asserts that South Africa belongs to everyone who owns it - which had a strong socialist basis to it. These statements were sued by the government to ascribe communist influence to the movement, and they arrested 153 leaders of the alliance who were charged with high treason. 

The Freedom Charter grew from a campaign to collect the citizens’ ideas for alternative regimes other than Apartheid, which were gathered at meetings. On the June the 26th, 1955 at a Congress where delegates were discussing the Freedom charter, police arrived in force armed with stun guns, and they formed a cordon around the sports field where the discussions were held. Fifteen security policemen then mounted the platform to address the crowd. They claimed that all people present at the congress were committing treason. They then confiscated all documents, posters and film and proceeded taking names and addresses of all the delegates. Everybody was under arrest. A few days later Congress Alliance proceeded to gain the charter's ratification by inpidual member organizations, and launched a campaign to get a million signatures endorsing the document.

A few months after the discussion of the Freedom Charter, the police conducted the raid of 500 activists’ homes, including the homes of Chief Albert Luthuli (president of the ANC) and Nelson Mandela, seizing documents related to the Freedom charter, and also searching for possible evidence of high treason or sedition. The following week, another 12 people, including Walter Sisulu, were arrested. In total the police arrested 156 people: 105 Blacks, 21 Indians, 23 Whites and 7 Coloureds. Banning and restriction were served to hundreds of activists as the Apartheid government stepped up pressure on the liberation movements.In December 1956 police organized a nationwide crackdown on the anti-apartheid movements; top leaders of these movements were arrested and driven or flown in military aircraft to Johannesburg where they were incarcerated in The Fort Prison. In 1957 the "Treason Trial" began in the Johannesburg Drill Hall. The trial lasted until 1961. During this time the leaders of the various liberation movements had the opportunity to share ideas and make future plans.

The accused were represented by a legal team which included Izrael Maisels, Sydney Kentridge, Vernon Berrangé and Bram Fisher. A Treason Trial Defense Fund was started up by Bishop Ambrose Reeves, writer Alan Paton, and Alex Hepple to pay the bail of the accused.

The trial required two stages, a preparatory examination in a magistrates court which would determine if there was sufficient evidence to support a trial, and then, if evidence existed, a trial by the Supreme Court. The preparatory examination of the case lasted until January 1958 (over a year), and resulted in charges against 61 of the accused being dropped - 95 people were still facing trial.

The treason trial proper started on 3 August of 1958

International observers flocked to the trial. Supporters of the liberation movement from all over the world rallied around the black leaders in prison. Funds started pouring in to sustain the accused, their families, and to pay legal costs. Most of those charged were subsequently freed without going to trial. In 1961 the remaining 30 prisoners were freed. The trial lasted for more than 4 years 

Within a week of the trial starting, one of the two charges under the Suppression of Communism Act was dropped. Two months later the Crown announced that the whole indictment was being dropped, only to issue a new indictment against 30 people - all members of the ANC. Additional indictments against another 61 people were threatened but were never realized.

Chief Albert Luthuli and Oliver Tambo were released for lack of evidence. Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu (ANC secretary-general) were among the final 30 accused.

On 29 March 1961 Justice FL Rumpff interrupted the defense summation with a verdict. He announced that although the ANC was working to replace the government and had used illegal means of protest during the Defiance Campaign, the Crown had failed to show that the ANC was using violence to overthrow the government, and were therefore not-guilty of treason. The Crown had failed to establish any revolutionary intent behind the defendant's actions. Having been found non-guilty, the remaining 30 accused were discharged.

Women’s March

The women’s march was greatly a response to one of the Apartheid laws that were originally imposed on African men alone.  Although African men had been required to carry passes for many decades, only in the 1950s did the government impose pass laws on African women. The first attempt to make black women in South Africa carry passes was in 1913 when the Orange Free State introduced a new requirement that women, in addition to existing regulations for black men, must carry reference documents. The resulting protest that was by a multi-racial group of women, many of whom were professionals (a large number of teachers, for example), took the form of passive resistance - a refusal to carry the new passes. African women were not allowed to live in towns unless they had permission to be employed there, and extending pass laws to them made it more difficult for women without jobs to take their children and join their husbands in town. Many of these women were supporters of the recently formed South African Native National Congress (which became the African National Congress in 1923, although women were not allowed to become full members until 1943). The protest against passes spread through the Orange Free State, to the extent that when World War I broke out, the authorities agreed to relax the rule. Across the country, dozens of protests against pass laws for African women took place before the Federation of South African Women (formed in 1955) and the African National Congress Women’s League organized a massive protest march in Pretoria. 

At the end of World War I, the authorities in the Orange Free State tried to re-instate the requirement, and again opposition built up. The Bantu Women's League (which became the ANC Woman's League in 1948 - a few years after membership of the ANC was opened to women), organized by its first president, Charlotte Maxeke, coordinated further passive resistance during late 1918 and early 1919. By 1922 they had achieved success - the South African government agreed that women should not be obliged to carry passes. However, the government still managed to introduce legislation which curtailed the rights of women and the Native (Black) Urban Areas Act No 21 of 1923 extended the existing pass system such that the only black women allowed to live in urban areas were domestic workers.

With the Blacks (Abolition of Passes and Co-ordination of Documents) Act No 67 of 1952, the South African government amended the pass laws, requiring all black persons over the age of 16 in all provinces to carry a 'reference book' at all times - thereby enforcing influx control of blacks from the homelands. The new 'reference book', which would now have to be carried by women, required an employer's signature to be renewed each month, authorization to be within particular areas, and certification of tax payments.

During the 1950s women within the Congress Alliance came together to combat the inherent sexism that existed within various anti-Apartheid groups, such as the ANC. Lillian Ngoyi (a trade unionist and political activist), Helen Joseph, Albertina Sisulu, Sophia Williams-De Bruyn, and others formed the Federation of South African Women. The prime focus of the FSAW soon changed, and in 1956, with the cooperation of the ANC's Women's League, they organized a mass demonstration against the new pass laws.

On August 9, 1956, 20,000 women, representing all racial backgrounds, came from all over South Africa to march on the Union Buildings, where they stood in silent protest for 30 minutes while petitions with 100,000 signatures were delivered to Prime Minister JG Strijdom’s office. These petitions were in favour of the introduction of new Pass Laws and the Group Areas Act No. 41 of 1950. Many men in the anti-apartheid movement were surprised by the women’s militancy, and the protest contributed to women playing a bigger role in the struggle for freedom and democracy. August 9th now is celebrated as National Women’s Day in South Africa.

During the march the women sang a freedom song: Wathint' abafazi, Strijdom!

wathint' abafazi,

wathint' imbokodo,

[When] you strike the women,

you strike a rock,

you will be crushed [you will die]!

Brief biographies: Helen Joseph and Lillian Ngoyi and their roles in resistance to apartheid

Helen Joseph: Helen May Fennell was born in Sussex, England, in 1905 and grew up with her parents and brother. She graduated from King’s College, University of London, in 1927 with a degree in English. She then went to India to teach at a school for girls in Hyderabad for three years. In 1931 Helen came to Durban, South Africa where she met her husband, Billie Joseph. 

During the Second World War Helen served as an Information and Welfare officer for the Women's Auxiliary Air force where she decided to become a social worker. In 1951 she took a job with the Garment Worker’s Union, led by Solly Sachs. During this time, and as a result of working closely with Sachs, Helen came to see and experience the "true face" of Apartheid, which angered her tremendously due to its blatant injustice. Helen was a founding member of the Congress of Democrats (the ANC's white ally). In 1955 Helen was selected as one of the people who read out clauses of the Freedom Charter at the Congress of the People in Kliptown. In 1956, Helen led a march of 20 000 women to Pretoria's Union Buildings in protest of the Pass Laws.

Like some of South Africa’s black leaders during that time, Helen was arrested on a charge of high treason, followed by her being banned in 1957 as well as being the first person to be placed under house arrest. When she was 80, she regained her freedom when her final ban was lifted in 1985. 

Helen died on 25 December 1992 in Johannesburg, Gauteng. 

Lillian Ngoyi: Lillian Ngoyi was one of the women leading the Women’s March on 9 August 1956. She was born on 25 September 1911 and she, a widowed seamstress supporting two children and an elderly mother, joined the ANC Women’s League in 1952.  She went on to become the first woman elected to the executive committee of the African National Congress.

She travelled to Switzerland in 1955 to participate in the World Congress of Mothers held by the Women’s International Democratic Federation to plead the cause of black women in South Africa.  Then she went on to visit England, Germany, Romania, China and Russia before returning to South Africa as a “wanted woman”. She was arrested in 1956, spent 71 days in solitary confinement and for eleven more years was banned and confined to her home in Orlando, Soweto, causing great suffering for her and her family.  Mangosuthu Buthelezi and Beyers Naudé wrote several letters pleading Lilian Ngoyi’s cause. Naudé discussed her various domestic and financial needs, while raising the possibility of her banning order being lifted. 

Amongst the many honours since the fall of apartheid that have been heaped on her, a community health centre in Soweto, a Hall at Rhodes University, as well as an environmental patrol vessel is named in her honour.

Lilian Masediba Ngoyi died on 13 March 1980, many years before the country would reap the fruits of her labour despite her express wish:  “I am hoping with confidence that, before I die, I will see change in this country.”

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• From 7 June 1985 New York Times, Nicholas Kristof, "Pretoria Curb: Business View"
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About this site

This resource is hosted by the Nelson Mandela Foundation , but was compiled and authored by Padraig O’Malley. It is the product of almost two decades of research and includes analyses, chronologies, historical documents, and interviews from the apartheid and post-apartheid eras.

This resource is hosted by the Nelson Mandela Foundation , but was compiled and authored by Padraig O’Malley. Return to theThis resource is hosted by the site.

Apartheid Essay for Grade 9 Examples: 300 -1000 Words

The apartheid era in South Africa was a time of extreme racial segregation and discrimination that lasted from 1948 to 1994. Writing an essay about this complex subject requires an understanding of history, social dynamics, and human rights. This guide will help you break down the topic into manageable parts for a well-structured essay.

Section 1: Introduction to Apartheid

• Background : Explain what apartheid was, when it began, and who was involved.
• Thesis Statement : Summarise your main argument or perspective on apartheid.
• Keyword : Apartheid, racial segregation.

Section 2: Implementation of Apartheid Laws

• Introduction : Detail how apartheid laws were created and implemented.
• Examples : Mention laws such as the Population Registration Act, Group Areas Act.
• Keyword : Laws, racial classification.

Section 3: Effects on South African Society

• Introduction : Describe how apartheid affected different racial groups.
• Examples : Provide real-life examples, like forced relocations.
• Keyword : Discrimination, societal impact.

Section 4: Resistance to Apartheid

• Introduction : Explain how individuals and groups resisted apartheid.
• Examples : Talk about movements like the ANC, people like Nelson Mandela.
• Keyword : Resistance, liberation movements.

Section 5: End of Apartheid

• Introduction : Discuss how apartheid came to an end and the transition to democracy.
• Examples : Refer to negotiations, elections, and the role of global pressure.
• Keyword : Democracy, reconciliation.
• Summary : Recap the main points and restate your thesis.
• Closing Thoughts : Offer a reflection on the legacy of apartheid in contemporary South Africa.

Additional Tips

• Use Simple Language : Write in a way that’s easy to understand.
• Use South African Context : Focus on facts and examples relevant to South Africa.
• Research : Back up your points with well-researched facts and theories.

Introduction

Apartheid , a system of racial segregation that lasted from 1948 to 1994, defined a dark era in South African history. It dictated where people could live, work, and even socialise, based on their racial classification. This essay will explore the genesis of apartheid, its impact on South African society, the brave resistance against it, and finally, its dismantling.

Section 1: Implementation of Apartheid Laws

In 1948, the National Party came to power and implemented apartheid as a legal system. The Population Registration Act classified South Africans into four racial categories: Black, White, Coloured, and Indian. Following this, the Group Areas Act designated different living areas for each racial group. These laws not only separated people but ensured that the majority of the country’s resources were reserved for the white minority.

Section 2: Effects on South African Society

The effects of apartheid were profound and painful. Black South Africans were forcibly relocated to townships with poor living conditions. The Bantu Education Act provided an inferior education for Black children, preparing them only for menial jobs. Families were torn apart, and non-white South Africans were treated as second-class citizens, all in the name of maintaining white supremacy.

Section 3: Resistance to Apartheid

Despite the oppressive regime, many South Africans resisted apartheid. The African National Congress (ANC) and other liberation movements organised protests and strikes. Icons like Nelson Mandela and Albertina Sisulu fought tirelessly against the system. The Soweto Uprising in 1976, where students protested against the use of Afrikaans in schools, is a stark example of how even the youth were involved in the struggle.

Section 4: End of Apartheid

The journey to end apartheid was long and fraught with challenges. International pressure, economic sanctions, and internal unrest gradually weakened the apartheid government. Negotiations began, leading to the release of political prisoners like Mandela. In 1994, South Africa held its first democratic elections, in which all racial groups could vote, marking the official end of apartheid.

Apartheid was a system that caused immense suffering and division in South Africa. Its impact is still felt today, as the country grapples with issues of inequality and racial tension. However, the end of apartheid also symbolises the triumph of justice, human rights, and the indomitable spirit of the South African people. The lessons learned from this period continue to shape South Africa’s journey towards a more inclusive and compassionate society. The story of apartheid is not just a history lesson; it is a guide for future generations about the importance of unity, resilience, and the continuous pursuit of equality.

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100-300 Word Paragraph On Bantu Education Act In English

The lack of support and restrictions that native education had experienced since 1910 opened the door for severe state supervision over black education once the national party took office in 1948. This control signalled the end of the mission school system, which despite being a significant educational institution, had many difficulties.

In South Africa, Bantu education was created to supply the ruling class with cheap, obedient labour. Also, it was intended to address the urban crisis that had emerged as a result of industrialization and increased urbanisation in the 1940s and 1950s. This resulted from the post-second world war spread of secondary industrialization and the collapse of domestic agriculture. The number of working class residents in towns was growing, and transportation, housing, and wages were not sufficient for them.

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