HistoryIn what ways were the lives of Africans changed by the policy of Apartheid during the 1950's, 1960's and 1970's?

History Coursework-Question 2

In what ways were the lives of Africans changed by the policy of Apartheid during the 1950’s, 1960’s and 1970’s?

The term Apartheid means “Separation”. The policy of Apartheid affected blacks in many ways- socially, economically and politically. After 1948 the government was run by the Afrikaners. Their aims were to make the white race superior, separate the white and maintain the purity of the white race in South Africa by passing harsh laws.

The government thought they were superior and because they had such a low population compared to the blacks, the Afrikaners were afraid to lose it. In order to achieve this they had to control the blacks.

In 1949 the “Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act” was established, this separated the blacks and whites from marriage, to ensure no mixed race babies were born, as this would corrupt their aims of Apartheid and cause more problems. Then in 1950 the government realised that this was not thorough enough and so the “Immorality Act” was passed, which stopped any sexual intercourse with whites and other different races. To further this, other laws were introduced as previous laws attempted were not achieved successfully, as it was impossible to check up on everyone.

In 1951 the “Population Registration Act” was enforced to separate each racial group, by colour of their skin; white, native or coloured using a racial register. The “Group Areas Act” made them live in different areas to other races, which helped with the white supremacy. Non-whites were not allowed to live in cities and towns (white area), this caused suffering and humiliation for those forced to move. Again, this law did under achieve, as categorising became difficult, but it still maintained the effect of white dominance.

Being a non-white, did mean having to work in towns and so ...

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Being a non-white, did mean having to work in towns and so in 1952 the “Pass Law Act” was introduced. This was a 96 page book that non-whites had to carry in order to get into white area. Without this living or working in white area would be illegal. Police would take regular checks if the coloured had a pass. If they did not produce one then it would’ve resulted to the police beating them or sending them to prison. This was performed cleverly after the “Population Registration Act” to make it easier to identify white areas.

Now that the government had their high status of controlling the blacks, Apartheid could become much easier. For this, “Petty Apartheid” was introduced in 1953. This was the separation of public services such as buses and trains etc. different places like the post office, parks and beaches which were signposted Europeans or Non-Europeans only. This affected the blacks as the facilities were in much poorer condition and mainly because the government were accomplishing their aims.

During the 1960’s and 1970’s Apartheid was strengthened. Police powers were extended tightening the rope on the laws, to guarantee any form of protest could be strictly controlled. For example from 1965 suspects could be kept in for 180 days without charge. Reports of torture were common and in 1977 the black student leader, Steve Biko died in police custody.

Between 1951 and 1986 four million people were forced to move from white area into Bantustans. Bantustans were small homelands set across South Africa for only black people to live in. Sophiatown was a township of black people that got destroyed by the police which led the blacks into Bantustans.

The worst form of control was when the “Bantu Education Act” was passed. It altered the black children’s way of life as they were sent to separate schools and they learned how to do labour work etc. which meant that the whites could get all the good jobs with high pay to keep their high status.

In conclusion, the South Africans lives throughout the three decades were hard times. Apartheid affected every aspect of life in South Africa, for both races. It made whites stronger and gave blacks an unhappy and an unsettled future. Black people were forced to live in the worst parts of the country, and they were educated poorly so they stay low in society.

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