Apartheid in South Africa

Karen Lesmerises (Berry)
AC0622398
GE350 World Geography
Assignment 6
July 7, 2011

South Africa’s Apartheid

    South Africa is a beautiful country with an abundance of natural resources and farmlands. But then in 1948 the Enactment of Apartheid Laws happened, racial discrimination was institutionalized.   These race laws touched the lives of everyone. There was a prohibition of whites and non-whites getting married, and jobs were sanctions as white only jobs.

    In 1950 the Population Registration Act required that all South Africans be racially classified into one of three different categories- white, black, or colored ( of mixed decent).Classification into these categories was based on appearance, social acceptance and descent. The Department of Home Affairs (government bureau) was responsible for the classification of the citizens of the country. “Any and all non compliance of these laws was harshly dealt with. All blacks (Africans) were made to carry “pass books” containing vital statistics- fingerprints, photo etc. In 1951 the Bantu Authorities Act established “homelands” – these were independent states to which each African was assigned by the government according to the record of origin.” (Dugard, 1992)   They were able to vote in their homelands not in South Africa. They were citizens of their homelands- not South Africa anymore. In 1953, The Public Safety Act and Criminal Law Amendment were passed. The Act empowered the government to declare stringent states of emergency and increased penalties for protesting against or supporting the repeal of the law. In 1960 a large group of blacks in Sharpeville refused to carry their passes: this lead to the government declaring a state of emergency. This emergency lasted for 156 days. Wielding the public Safety Act and the Criminal Law Amendment Act, the white regime had no intention of changing the unjust laws of apartheid. During the states of emergency which continued intermittently until 1989;...