 |
Business | Industries | Finance | Tax |
| Index: > A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
|
|||||
| First Prev [ 1 2 3 4 ] Next Last |
In some ways Apartheid was an extension of the segregationist laws implemented by previous white minority governments. Examples include the 1913 Land Act and the various workplace "colour bars". However, by the end of the Second World War, the enforcement of these laws had been lessened by the United Party government of Jan Smuts. This culminated in the 1948 report of the Fagan Commission, which was set up by the government to investigate changes to the system. The report recommended that segregation in the cities be ended, thus also ending the migrant labour system whereby the permanent home of Black South Africans was in distant rural "reserves". Prime Minister Smuts was in favour of the findings of the Commission, stating that: "The idea that natives must all be removed and confined in their kraals is in my opinion, the greatest nonsense I have ever heard."
In response to the Fagan Commission, the National Party convened its own commission known as the Sauer Commission. The findings of this commission were almost the exact opposite of those of the Fagan Commission, as it recommended that not only should segregation continue, but it should be made even stricter, and implemented in all spheres of social and economic life. It recommended the concept of "Apartheid", in which the races were to be completely separated as much as possible.
The National Party won the national election of 1948, narrowly defeating Smuts' United Party (though losing the popular vote). It immediately began implementing stricter racial segregation policies, creating the system of "Apartheid" which was to last for 42 years until it was dismantled in 1990 by F.W. de Klerk.
Apartheid was implemented in the law. The following restrictions were not (only) social but were strictly enforced by law. Non-whites were excluded from national government and were unable to vote except in elections for segregated bodies which had no power. Blacks were prohibited from holding many jobs and were not allowed to employ whites. Non-whites were not allowed to run businesses or professional practices in any areas designated as being for whites only. Every significant metropolis, and practically every shopping and business district was in a white area. Blacks (except for a few who had "Section 10" rights), being in excess of 70% of the population, were excluded from all but a small proportion of the country, unless they had a pass which was impossible for most to get. Implementation of this policy resulted in the confiscation of property and the forced removal of millions of blacks. A pass was only issued to someone who had approved work; spouses and children had to be left behind. A pass was issued for one magisterial district confining the (black) holder to that area only. Being without a valid pass made a black person subject to immediate arrest, summary trial and "deportation" to the "homeland". Police vans containing sjambok-wielding police roamed the "white area" to round up the "illegal" blacks.
The land assigned to blacks was typically very poor, unable to support the population forced onto it. Black areas rarely had plumbing or electricity. Hospitals were segregated, the white hospitals being the match of any in the western world, the black ones being comparatively seriously understaffed and underfunded and far too few in number. Ambulances were segregated forcing the race of the person to be correctly identified when the ambulance was called. A "white" ambulance would not take a black to hospital. Black ambulances typically contained little or no medical equipment.
In the 1970s each black child's education cost the state only a tenth of each white child's. Higher education was practically impossible for most blacks: South Africa's few world class universities were reserved for whites. Besides, the schooling provided for blacks was deliberately not designed to prepare them for university but for the menial jobs available to them.
Trains and buses were segregated. White trains also had no third class carriages, while black trains were overcrowded and had only third class carriages. Black buses stopped at black bus stops and white buses at white ones.
Beaches were racially segregated, with the majority (including all of the best ones) reserved for whites. Public swimming pools and libraries were racially segregated but there were practically no black pools or black libraries. There were almost no parks, cinemas, sports fields or any amenities except police stations in black areas. Park benches were all labeled "Europeans Only". Sex between the races was prohibited. Black policemen were not allowed to arrest whites. Blacks were not allowed to buy most alcoholic beverages. A black could be subject to the death penalty for raping a white, but a white raping a black was faced only a fine, and often not even that. Cinemas in white areas were not allowed to admit blacks. Restaurants and hotels were not allowed to admit blacks, except as staff.
Membership in trade unions was not allowed for blacks until the 1980s, and any "political" trade union was banned. Strikes were banned and severely repressed. Blacks were taxed on income as low as R30/month (approx. GBP15 in the '70s), while the white threshold was much higher. Apartheid pervaded South African culture, as well as the law. A white entering a shop would be served first, ahead of blacks already in the queue, irrespective of age, dress, or any other factors. Until the 1980s, blacks were always expected to step off the pavement to make way for any white pedestrian. A white boy would be referred to as "klein baas" (little boss) perhaps through gritted teeth by a black; a grown black man would be referred to as "boy", to his face, by whites.
| Politics | Business | Finance |
 |
 |
 |
|