Mind your color

In all my time in Africa I've asked many to help me understand Apartheid. I've come to the conclusion that it may very well be impossible to ever fully understand. Even after my morning today the Apartheid museum. To me it's incomprehensible. And as it also seems to many white south africans my age. Because of censorship many of them were sheltered from it's harsh sting unable to really tell me what it was like.

Once again this is a very very short very uneducated re-cap with a lot of help from the internet.

Apartheid is an afrikaans word meaning "seperateness" - it was a legal system whereby people were classified into racial groups - White, Black, Indian and Coloured; and seperate geographic areas were demarcated for each racial group. Apartheid laws were part of South Africa's legal framework from 1948 to 1994.

The apartheid policy of the National Party, which came to power in 1948, brought a barrage of legislation to bear upon South Africans that categorised them by race and then controlled their freedom according to their race group.

Race laws effected every aspect of life for South Africans. It provided whites with access to the most privileged suburbs, education, jobs and positions, even to the extent of exclusive access to beaches, theatres, parks, bridges and public toilets.







The system ensured that 'white' privileges were beyond the reach of blacks.

The government enforced apartheid ruthlessly. Large areas of Cape Town were designated 'white suburbs' and coloured and black communities were forced to leave and settle on the Cape Flats.

Black people had to carry a pass giving them permission to stay in Cape Town and were forced to leave if they were not in work.

The government closed down mission schools and excluded blacks from advanced education.

There were widespread attempts to protest against the apartheid system in the 1950s.



Coloured people campaigned against their removal from the voters roll. But their opposition became divided and broke down.

The ANC-led Congress movement developed more unified opposition, but they faced various laws that gave the Government draconian powers to suppress opposition.

As large-scale anti-pass demonstrations and marches broke out in Cape Town and elsewhere in 1960, a State of Emergency was declared, and the ANC banned.

In the 1960s the breadth of apartheid laws and the power of the police made it impossible to legally protest against the system.

Opposition groups were banned and many leaders exiled or jailed. Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life in prison and sent to Robben Island.

The ANC and PAC turned to armed resistance, but the police successfully suppressed their activities.

Shanty towns continued to grow as poor people migrated fearlessly into the city, driven by poverty. There were brutal slum clearances and the eviction of thousands of people.

Following the example of the children of Soweto, near Johannesburg, youth in the rest of South Africa demonstrated against apartheid in 1976.

Street battles ensued as police tried to crack down on demonstrations. 128 people were killed and over 400 injured in related violence in cape town alone that year.

The scale of the violence shocked the world, and marked the beginning of a new phase of struggle against the authorities.

Under pressure at home and abroad the Government promised change, and ceased to enforce petty apartheid.

City Councils and private companies were quick to remove segregation. Public places were opened and people began to mix more freely.

However, laws that required segregation of residential locations and schooling remained firmly in place throughout the 1980s.

Political changes to allow coloured participation in government were seen as tokenism, and blacks remained excluded.

The reform of apartheid did not impress the growing number of activists and a formidable range of organisations began to work together to fight apartheid.

Church leaders, such as Desmond Tutu, students, unions, welfare organisations and civic bodies began to work under the United Democratic Front to coordinate protests.

Although most protests were peaceful, many ended in violence as the police tried to break them up.

By the mid 1980s the tide had turned and the movement against apartheid gathered an unstoppable momentum.

The government resorted to declaring a 'State of Emergency' several times, but these only confirmed the failure of apartheid and the government's illegitimacy.

Opposition groups were banned and many leaders exiled or jailed. Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life in prison and sent to Robben Island.

Against a backdrop of increasing economic hardship and international pressure the government secretly began negotiations with Nelson Mandela.

By 1989 a mass movement for democracy had developed that included people from all backgrounds, including City and church leaders.


As anti-apartheid pressure mounted within and outside South Africa, the South African government, led by President F. W. de Klerk, began to dismantle the apartheid system in the early 1990s. The year 1990 brought a National Party government dedicated to reform and also saw the legalization of formerly banned black congresses and the release of imprisoned black leaders. In 1994 the country's constitution was rewritten and free general elections were held for the first time in its history, and with Nelson Mandela's election as South Africa's first black president, the last vestiges of the apartheid system were finally outlawed.