Other Pages
   External Afrikaans        Pronunciation Guide
   Concluding Thoughts
   Works Cited

History of South Africa and Apartheid

1795---British seize control of Cape Colony. Boers (Afrikaners) move inland and establish the Orange Free State and the Transvaal.

1867---Diamonds are discovered in Kimberley, South Africa.

1886---Gold discovered on the Witwatersrand. South Africa's mining economy swells.

1895---Cecil Rhodes declares colony of Rhodesia.

1899-1902---Boer War. The President of the Transvaal refuses to allow white foreigners to vote, charges exorbitant prices for the explosives needed by the mines, and generally makes mining and transportation for the British as difficult as possible. Blacks are used as soldiers by both sides. The Vereeniging peace agreement ends the war (the British are the winners).

1910---Union of South Africa formed under the British Commonwealth. The British colonies of Natal and the Cape combine with the Boer republics of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. Louis Botha and Jan Smuts lead the Republic. Blacks are not allowed to vote; this is a step backward for the former British colonies, which theoretically allowed anyone who was literate or owned property to vote (although few blacks could meet both of these requirements).

1912---The South African Native National Congress---which eventually becomes the African National Congress (ANC) in 1923---is formed. In its original form, the group had little success at achieving rights for blacks.

1913---Native's Land Act passed. This act is the original base upon which apartheid was built. This act divided South Africa into exclusively white or black areas, in the process giving ninety percent of the land to the ten percent of the population that is white.

1922---The Afrikaner National Party under General Hertzog enters power. This group brought about severe restrictions on black rights.

1923---Urban Areas Act forces blacks to live in separate areas from whites. This act was designed to stem the tide of blacks that were moving into "white" neighborhoods.

1934---D.F. Malan leads the Afrikaner National Party. This party rallies the support of the vast majority of Afrikaners. Malan began using the word "apartheid" (Afikaans for "separateness") as a campaign slogan. Racial segregation is incorporated into the party's manifesto.

1936---Blacks removed from voters' roll.

1939---South Africa declares war on Germany. Although some Afrikaners support the Nazi movement (J.B. Vorster, future Prime Minister, was imprisoned for committing pro-Nazi acts of sabotage), many support the war, and many others consider it to be a purely British conflict and resist involvement purely on these grounds.

Poor blacks attempt to fill the job vacuum created by the war. Whites begin to fear engulfment and increase support of apartheid legislation in an attempt to keep black separate.

1946---Black mineworkers are upset with working conditions. An invesigation (conducted by the mining companies themselves) decided that African workers could be adequately supported by agriculture in their homelands and that "wages were no more than pocket money and need not be raised in line with the cost of living" (Hayward 13). As a result, 70,000 black mineworkers go on strike, but they are forced to return to work by the South African Army.

1948---National Party (see 1934) wins general election. Era of apartheid is generally considered to have begun at this point.

1949---Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act is passed. (See the Legislative Construction of Apartheid section.)

1950---Population Registration Act, Immorality Act, Group Areas Act, and Suppression of Communism Act are passed.

1952---The counterintuitively-named Abolition of Passes Act is passed. This act began the pass system that would persist for thirty-four years.

1953---Reservation of Separate Amenities Act, Bantu Authorities Act, Bantu Education Act, and Native Labor Act are passed.

1956---Industrial Conciliation Act passed. This act officially sanctioned the already common practice of "job reservation" that required certain jobs to be practiced by whites only.

1956---One hundred and fifty-six ANC members are arrested and accused of treason. Nelson Mandela is one of these.

March 21, 1960---Sharpeville massacre occurs; 249 are shot, 69 of which are killed. A nation-wide State of Emergency is declared. The ANC and PAC are banned.

1961--After a referendum, South Africa becomes a republic and leave the British Commonwealth of Nations.

1962---Nelson Mandela is imprisoned. FRELIMO (Frente de Libertacao de Mocambique), a Marxist liberation movement, is formed.

1964---Mass political trials occur. Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, and others given life sentences.

1966---Prime Minster Hendrik Verwoerd, considered one of the "architects of apartheid", is assassinated; J.B. Vorster, former Nazi saboteur (see 1939), replaces him.

1967---Terrorism Act is passed.

1968---Publication Control Board is created. Essentially a press censorship device.

1969---Stephen Biko founds the South African Students Organization (SASO).

1973---Major black strikes in Durban and Witwatersrand.

1974---Collapse of Portuguese colonial empire in Mozambique and Angola.

1975---Mozambique and Angola gain independence. FRELIMO comes to power in Mozambique. South African Troops invade Angola from Namibia.

June 16, 1976---Soweto Riots. Thousands of black students march to protest the government's proposal to teach some subjects in Afrikaans. The students preferred to be taught in English, and considered Afrikaans to be the "language of the oppressor" (Hayward 35). They are met by the South African military and attacked. Hundreds are killed.

1977---Stephen Biko dies in police detention, allegedly of a hunger strike. All Black Consciousness organizations are banned.

The U.N. issues a mandatory arms embargo against South Africa. In response, South Africa uses is significant mining income to develop its own weapons.

1978---P.W. Botha becomes Prime Minister.

1984---Indians and "colored" (that is, those who were neither white nor black) are brought into the new tricameral system of parliament and new constitution. Massive strikes, protests, and boycotts continue.

1985---A State of Emergency is declared in parts of South Africa. The Immorality Act is abolished. Bishop Desmond Tutu wins the Nobel Peace Prize.

1986---The pass laws are abolished.

Europe and the United States impose economic sanctions on South Africa. Existing arms embargos are strenghtened and expanded to include computer technology. Investment in South African interests is banned, and the importation of steel and iron is stopped.

1987---Severe censorship restrictions are placed on the media.

1988---Seventeen anti-apartheid organizations are banned or restricted.

1989---P.W. Botha steps down and is replaced by F.W. de Klerk.

1990---ANC leader Nelson Mandela is freed by de Klerk after 27 years of imprisonment.

1991---President de Klerk obtains the repeal of all remaining apartheid laws and calls for a new constitution. All people over 18 are allowed to vote, and various other political and social rights are guaranteed. Mandela and de Klerk share the Nobel Peace Prize.

1994---First all-race elections in South Africa. Nelson Mandela is elected President by a large margin.