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The Natives Land Act
The Natives Land Act was passed in order to give the more fertile and desirable land to the white minority. Only 7% of the arable land was given to the black Africans in South Africa. This designated land was considered a reserve and the law prohibited blacks from buying land designated to the whites who made up only 20% of the population. -
Nelson Mandela co-founds the ANC Youth League
The African National Congress Youth League was founded to target the younger generation to continue the fight against the segregation and oppression that had befell South Africa. The foundation of the league was to promote "Africanism" and to unite the people of the country. Fighting for liberation, the league created a sub-program called the Program of Action that involved boycotting and strikes. -
National Party takes over South Africa
The Great Depression and the following WWII enacted a series of economic and social blows to South Africa, which provided room for stricter segregation laws. Policy of apartheid is adopted once the National Party takes power. This policy made a grueling distinction between the white minority and implemented racial segregation as well as economically and politically. DF Malan leads the charge of this Party, thinking that United Party was softening on their policies. -
Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act
Being one of the first laws passed, this law prohibited marriages of people with different classified races. This reality was already uncommon accounting for less than 1% of the South African population. The government was very strict in enacting this law. Moreover, police could break into a home at night to check if there were mixed races in the same home. -
The Population Registration Act
This Act was the basic building block for all other Apartheid laws and acts that would follow. This Act classified each South African by race which included, Bantu (blacks), colored (mixed races and/or different races than white or black), and white. Sadly, this legislative act could even separate families who were identified differently. -
Group Areas Act
This was the act that made the city centers strictly for Whites only. Although the city centers were "all white," black Africans still worked in the city centers. This was really difficult for them because there were no public amenities for them to get to and from work, grab lunch, or hang out. This was considered legal because blacks had no right to live in cities anyway. The Group Area Act is extremely different from the policy that was in the United States, "separate but equal." -
The Native Abolition of Passes and Coordination of Documents Act
This act required all of the black Africans to carry around a 96 page packet called a "reference book." This book include a miscellaneous of documents like police records, taxes, employment history, and familial status. Additionally, there were permits that blacks had to have in order to work and even be in a city. They had to be pre-approved, and if any part of their reference book was missing they were likely to be arrested and detained. -
Reservation of Separate Amenities Act
This amenities act created an intense segregation of any public facility like transportation, vacation spots, and hangout destinations. Due to the fact that cities were permitted for strictly white habitation, public amenities downtown were told to not allow any non-whites in their establishments. The policies of racial segregation were so strict that to defy the rules meant they faced the potentiality of imprisonment. -
The Bantu Education Act
Schools could only have one race of students in it; there was complete segregation. Additionally, there were separate boards for education (blacks vs. whites.) The school boards were different, so therefore the curriculum were different, the blacks education being lesser than that of the whites. The very basic education was implemented in order that the blacks could never move to higher educational level. Designed by Verwoerd, it was meant to keep blacks in lasting servitude. -
The Public Safety Act and the Criminal Law Amendment Act
These series of laws allowed for the government to randomly call for states of emergency and increase the penalties that come with protesting to repeal the law or against racism. Some of these punishments included physical harm, monetary fines, and imprisonment. -
Natives Resettlement Act
The black Africans were forced to leave their homes and find new settlements by the forced removals of the Group Areas Act.These new settlements were massively overcrowded all the way from inside apartments to the town as a whole. The fact that the people who settled here still had to work where there was opportunity in cities meant long communes. Likewise, the spontaneity meant barely developed towns with few schools, no regulations or police, and violence. -
The Promotion of Bantu Self-Government Act
In this Act there were 10 Bantustans created for the black citizens in South Africa. These Bantu "reservations" were designed to separate blacks from other blacks, with the goal to officially claim there to be no black majority. This also limited their interaction, which in turn ensured safety from a revolution. They were effectively removed from participating or counting for any politics in the country. -
The Sharpville Massacre
The ANC and the PAC worked together to devise a protest that called all of the members to leave their passes at home and gather around local police stations, putting themselves at risk to be arrested. It was argued that if each participant, which added up to be thousands, the South African jails would be too packed, negatively impacting the economy. 300 police faced 5000 protesters. A police man nervous fired, which led to many consecutive shots leaving 69 people dead and 180 injured.
