Establishment of Apartheid in South Africa
- Date
- 1948
- Category
- Politics & governance
- Region
- South Africa
- Era
- Contemporary
- Significance
In the general election of May 1948, the National Party (NP), led by Daniel François Malan, narrowly won power and began constructing apartheid (Afrikaans for 'apartness'), a comprehensive system of institutionalised racial segregation and white-minority rule.
Through a rapid wave of legislation, the government codified racial hierarchy: the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act (1949), the Population Registration Act and Group Areas Act (1950), and the Bantu Education Act and Reservation of Separate Amenities Act (1953) classified the population by race and dictated where people could live, work, study, and marry. Hendrik Verwoerd, minister of native affairs and later prime minister, became known as the 'Architect of Apartheid' for systematising the policy of so-called 'separate development.' Apartheid stripped Black, Coloured, and Indian South Africans of political rights and triggered decades of resistance, repression, and international condemnation, including sanctions and sporting boycotts. The system endured for 46 years of NP rule, with its legislation repealed in 1991 and formally ended by the first non-racial democratic elections in April 1994.
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Empires active in 1948
- Soviet Union1922 CE – 1991 CE
- French Colonial Empire (Second)1830 CE – 1962 CE
- British Empire1583 CE – 1997 CE
- Spanish Empire1492 CE – 1976 CE
- Portuguese Empire1415 CE – 1999 CE
- Solomonic dynasty1270 CE – 1974 CE
Related politics & governance events
- The end of apartheid and Nelson Mandela's election in South Africa27 April 1994 (election); 10 May 1994 (inauguration)
- Founding of the People's Republic of China1 October 1949
- Independence and Partition of British India14–15 August 1947
- Construction of the Berlin Wall13 August 1961
- Iranian RevolutionJanuary–February 1979
- Gorbachev's glasnost and perestroika1985–1991 (from 11 March 1985)
Further reading
The wider story
The Ethiopians: A History
Standard general history of Ethiopia and its dynasties.
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