History of South Africa 1948-1980

By JamesAdam
  • Period: to

    History Of south Africa, 1948-1980

  • National Party wins the election

    The National Party wins the election and enforces race based laws.

  • Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act.

  • Population Registration Act authorises racial classification.

  • uppression of Communism Act bans anti-apartheid activities.

    Communist Party of South Africa disbands (reemerges in 1953 as South African Commnunist Party).

  • International Court of Justice supports League of Nations oversight in South-West Africa.

    Group Areas Act authorizes residential segregation.

  • December South Africa rejects UN criticism of apartheid. reasserts claim to South-West Africa. Black political organizations unite to oppose apartheid.

  • Separate Representation of Voters Act separates voting lists for whites, coloureds.

  • ANC leaders petition for direct parliamentary representation, end to apartheid. UN calls for South-West African independence. South Africa suspends participation in UN General Assembly.

  • South African Supreme Court invalidates removal of coloureds from voting lists.

  • Passive resistance campaign by ANC and South African Indian Congress; 8,000 arrested.

  • Interracial violence flares. Black Defiance Campaign leaders convicted of "statutory communism."

  • Reservation of Separate Amenities Act strengthens apartheid in public places. Bantu Education Act limits black education. Communist Party of South Africa reactivated as South African Communist Party (SACP).

  • International condemnation of forcible resettlement of Sophiatown (most residents moved to area later named Soweto).

  • South Africa quits United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) after protests over apartheid.

  • Congress of the People adopts Freedom Charter based on UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights; signers later charged with high treason.

  • Tomlinson Commission recommends formation of Bantustans in reserved areas.

  • Industrial Conciliation Act reserves most skilled jobs for whites.

  • Police arrest 156 for signing Freedom Charter.

  • Pan-Africanist Congress established.

  • Sharpeville protests over pass laws; at least sixty-seven deaths, several thousand arrested.

  • UN Secretary General Dag Hammerskjöld visits South Africa, expresses racial concerns.

  • Pretoria court acquits twenty-eight activists, including ANC leaders Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu.

  • Republic of South Africa established on May 31, quits Commonwealth. Month-long police raids, 8,000 arrested.

  • ANC establishes military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation); PAC establishes armed wing Poqo (blacks only).

  • UN General Assembly refuses to recognize South Africa.

  • ANC leader Albert Luthuli receives Nobel Peace Prize. Nelson Mandela announces campaign of sabotage against government buildings.

  • UN General Assembly calls for sanctions against South Africa. Nelson Mandela sentenced to five years in prison for inciting unrest, travelling abroad without a passport.

  • Military wings of ANC, PAC banned. Newly established Organization of African Unity (OAU) charter condemns apartheid.

  • UN voluntary embargo on arms shipments to South Africa. Libya joins Algeria and Egypt, prohibits South African overflights.

  • Rivonia trial of ANC activists begins.

  • Eight ANC activists, including Nelson Mandela, sentenced to life in prison in Rivonia trial.

  • May Pan-Africanist Congress founder Robert Sobukwe released after nine years in prison.

  • Herstigte (Reconstituted) National Party established by white extremist wing of NP.

  • Black Homelands Citizenship Bill authorizes withdrawal of South African citizenship from blacks.

  • International Olympic Committee (IOC) refuses recognition of South Africa (participation suspended since 1964).

  • Black People's Convention founded to coordinate black consciousness movement role in politics. Afrikaner intellectuals protest against apartheid.

  • Sixteen Arab countries implement OAU embargo against oil to South Africa.

  • Reports of white South Africans killed in fighting in Angola.

  • June Worst racial violence in history in Soweto; 575 reported dead.

  • Black Consciousness leader Steve Biko dies in police detention; thousands attend funeral.

  • UN mandatory embargo against arms shipments to South Africa. Pretoria adopts Total Strategy to counter internal and external threats.

  • Government recognizes black labor unions.

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