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Act of Union
South Africa became a unified state within the British Empire. -
SANNC founded
Its vision was to unite Africans and to secure their right to vote. -
ANCYL Manifesto
ANC Youth League Manifesto urged new militant African leaders to wage a more vigorous campaign against racial discrimination. -
NP Wins the General Election
The National Party of Daniel Malan takes power promising to introduce a policy of apartheid (separateness) against non-whites. -
The Prohibition of Mixed Marriages/ Immorality Acts
Designed to promote separation of races by outlawing sexual relations and procreation between different races. -
The ANC Youth The League Programme of Action was implemented by the ANC
The Youth League Programme of Action was adopted as the official platform of the ANC in 1949. It emphasized the rights of African people to self-determination and laid out plans for strikes, boycotts, and civil disobedience. -
Stock Limitation Act
Its practical significance was the forced removal or slaughter of cattle belonging to african [sic!] reservists. -
May Day Strike (SACP)
The ANC, SACP, ACPO co-ordinate a May Day strike. The police opened fire on the protesters killing 18 and wounding 30 people. -
National Day of Protest (ANC)
On June 26 the ANC called for a general strike and a day of mourning in protest at the May day murders. This call was supported by the African colored People’s Organization and the South African Indian Congress. -
Group Areas Act
Formally divided South Africa up into territories where the different race groups had to live. The areas designated for the Blacks were called Bantustans. -
Suppression of Communism Act
Banned the South African Communist Party and allowed the government to take action against any group or individual intending to bring about 'any political, industrial, social or economic change in the Union'. -
Population Registration Act
Required that every person be classified within a hierarchy specified as white, colored, Asian or Bantu (black African). -
Separate Representation of Voters Act
The National Party introduced it to enforce racial segregation, and was part of a deliberate process to remove all non-white people from the voters' roll and revoke the Cape Qualified Franchise system. -
The Pass Laws
Replaces the existing passbooks with more comprehensive documents that Africans would be required to carry at all times. -
Defiance Campaign of 1952 (ANC)
The largest scale non-violent resistance ever seen in South Africa. More than 8,000 people across towns in South Africa went to jail for defying apartheid laws. -
The Public Safety Act
Empowered the government to declare states of emergency and increased penalties for protestors. The penalties included fines, imprisonment and whippings. -
The Criminal Law Amendment Act
Anyone even speaking out against the regime would be guilty of ‘incitement’ -
The Bantu Education Act
Provided an inferior and separate education for black children and youth. Its objective was to direct young black people into lower level jobs. -
The Reservation of Separate Amenities Act
Enforced the segregation of all public facilities. The main aim was to eliminate any and all contact between white people and other races. -
Natives Resettlement Act
Armed the government with the beauvatic machinery that would finally allow it to carry out its policies of the forced urban resettlement of Africans. -
Congress of the People
The Congress of the People was held over two days in a field in Kliptown, just outside Johannesburg. Up to 7 000 people from all over the country attended from a wide range of anti-apartheid groups -
Freedom Charter Campaign (ANC)
The Freedom Charter united people of all racial origins in a common struggle to end apartheid and to establish a non-racial democratic state. It formed the basis of the country’s democratic Constitution of 1996. -
The Women’s March (FASW)
The Women’s March: 20,000 ANC women marched to the Prime Minister’s office to deliver a petition calling for the abolition of The Pass Laws. -
The Treason Trial
The police arrested 156 Congress Alliance leaders (104 African, 23 white, 21 Indian and 8 coloured) and charged them with treason under the Suppression of Communism Act. -
Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC) Splinters Away from the ANC
A group of radicalized activists split away from the ANC to form the PAC. They felt that the focus of the ANC was being lost through its compromises with non-Black organizations and that it was time to pursue a more vigorous “Africanist” campaign which would secure “Black Power” in Africa (“Africa is for Africans”). -
The Bantu Authorities Act and The Promotion of Bantu Self Government Act
Divided territories designated for blacks into “bantustans” (or “homelands”) based upon 10 tribal groupings. -
PAC develops an armed wing called Poqo (“Pure”)
In the PAC, Leballo set up a militant wing called Poqo (pure), which launched a campaign of terrorism against Individuals. -
Winds of Change
British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan delivered his “Winds of Change” speech, suggesting that Black nationalism was a force that had to be acknowledged and accepted. -
Sharpeville Massacre
During a PAC demonstration against pass books in Sharpeville, the police opened fire, killing 69 black protestors. In March of 1960, 20,000 PAC-mobilized protesters left their homes without their passes and gathered in Sharpeville, a township in the Transvaal about 30 miles south of Johannesburg. -
Government Reaction to Sharpeville Massacre
The ANC and the PAC were outlawed. Due to his overall ‘responsibility’ for the Pass Protest in Sharpeville, Sobukwe was arrested and jailed until 1969. -
South Africa Declared itself a Republic
South Africa’s request to remain a member of the commonwealth is rejected by the British government. -
Resolution 1598
UN Resolution 1598 condemns apartheid. -
Resolution 1761
UN Resolution 1761 encourages members "separately or collectively, in conformity with the charter" to break trade and diplomatic relations with South Africa. -
ANC develops an armed wing called Umkhonto we Sizwe
Members of both the PAC and ANC felt they had no alternative but to turn to armed resistance. In the ANC, Mandela set up a militant wing called Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation) which launched a campaign of sabotage against Property. -
The Rivonia Trial and Mandela’s “I Am Prepared to Die” speech
Often referred to as "the trial that changed South Africa” in October 1963, ten leading opponents of apartheid went on trial for their lives on charges of sabotage. In arguably the most profound moment, Nelson Mandela renounced his chance to be cross-examined in favour of a speech from the dock in which he condemned the court and the laws he was charged with breaking as being illegitimate. -
Government Reaction to the Rivonia Trial
Mandela and other leaders of the MK were given life sentences and sent to Robben Island. They did not get the death penalty, as this risked too much international condemnation. By imprisoning leaders of MK and the ANC, the government broke the strength of the ANC but at the same time this increased international criticism of apartheid. -
Formation of the African Resistance Movement (ARM) Bombing of Johannesburg Station by Frederick John Harris
It was a group made up largely by white students who had been part of the National Union of South African Students (NUSAS). On 24 July 1964, Frederick John Harris, a member of ARM, planted a time bomb in the Johannesburg station. One person was killed and 22 were injured.