SOUTH AFRICA
REVISION BOOKLET
, Topic 1:The response to Apartheid 1948-59
Race, segregation, and discrimination
1946 census
African - 8 million
White - 2.3 million
Coloured - 1 million
Indian - 300,000
Laws affecting Africans
-1913 Native Land Act - Land ownership limited to tribal reserves: 7% of total land in South Africa
-1936 Native Trusts and Lands Act - Tribal reserves could be extended to 13.6% of total land area
of South Africa
Afrikaner culture and politics
-Broederbond set up financial support so Afrikaners could start their own businesses
-Dutch reformed church provided Afrikaner schools and cultural celebrations of their Afrkaner
identity
-1899 Boer War - tried to expel the british, they were defeated and the settlement made South
Africa a British dominion
Reasons for the National Party victory in 1948
Ox wagon guard - anti war movement with 300,000 members at its peak
Economic effects of war - of 125,000 extra workers employed in manufacturing, only 25% were
white
1948 election - NP won 38% vs 49% for UP. However NP won 79 seats vs 71 for UP
Implementing apartheid: strengthening the National Party
, Securing Power
By 1959 only 6 out of 40 heads of government departments were English speakers
Created six more seats for South West Africa (Namibia). These constituencies had far less voters
(6000-9000) compared to the average constituency in South Africa (24000).
Senate Act - increased the senate from 48 to 89 members
Physical Segregation
Groups Areas Act 1950 - Responsible for the forcible eviction of 3.5 million African people
between 1951 and 1986.
Pass laws and education
Pass Laws: Native Laws Amendment Act, 1952 - In the early 1950s there were almost 1 million
arrests for violation of the pass laws
In 1945 there were 4360 mission schools vs 230 government ones. Government spent 16 times
more on education for white children as it did for African ones. By 1948, less than 33% of black
Africans went to school at all.
Bantu Education Act 1953 gave the department of native affairs the management of 26,000
African teachers
The Tomlinson Commission recommended a 100 million (GBP) investment into the Bantustans
Political suppression and the Treason Trial
18 months after the ratification of the Freedom Charter, on the 5th December 1956, the authorities
arrested 156 of those who had attended the Kliptown meeting and charged them with high
treason. The treason trial dragged on for 5 years
From 1957 onwards, some defendants were released for lack of evidence and indictments were
withdrawn against 73 defendants. The trial against the remaining 30 defendants finally began in
August 1959. In March 1961 the trial ended with the acquittal of all the defendants.
African nationalism, 1948-59: Political opposition in 1948
In 1935, 400 delegates did manage to meet in Bloemfontein to establish the All African Congress
Miners strike of 1946 - 100,000 miners went on trike and were brutally repressed by the police
REVISION BOOKLET
, Topic 1:The response to Apartheid 1948-59
Race, segregation, and discrimination
1946 census
African - 8 million
White - 2.3 million
Coloured - 1 million
Indian - 300,000
Laws affecting Africans
-1913 Native Land Act - Land ownership limited to tribal reserves: 7% of total land in South Africa
-1936 Native Trusts and Lands Act - Tribal reserves could be extended to 13.6% of total land area
of South Africa
Afrikaner culture and politics
-Broederbond set up financial support so Afrikaners could start their own businesses
-Dutch reformed church provided Afrikaner schools and cultural celebrations of their Afrkaner
identity
-1899 Boer War - tried to expel the british, they were defeated and the settlement made South
Africa a British dominion
Reasons for the National Party victory in 1948
Ox wagon guard - anti war movement with 300,000 members at its peak
Economic effects of war - of 125,000 extra workers employed in manufacturing, only 25% were
white
1948 election - NP won 38% vs 49% for UP. However NP won 79 seats vs 71 for UP
Implementing apartheid: strengthening the National Party
, Securing Power
By 1959 only 6 out of 40 heads of government departments were English speakers
Created six more seats for South West Africa (Namibia). These constituencies had far less voters
(6000-9000) compared to the average constituency in South Africa (24000).
Senate Act - increased the senate from 48 to 89 members
Physical Segregation
Groups Areas Act 1950 - Responsible for the forcible eviction of 3.5 million African people
between 1951 and 1986.
Pass laws and education
Pass Laws: Native Laws Amendment Act, 1952 - In the early 1950s there were almost 1 million
arrests for violation of the pass laws
In 1945 there were 4360 mission schools vs 230 government ones. Government spent 16 times
more on education for white children as it did for African ones. By 1948, less than 33% of black
Africans went to school at all.
Bantu Education Act 1953 gave the department of native affairs the management of 26,000
African teachers
The Tomlinson Commission recommended a 100 million (GBP) investment into the Bantustans
Political suppression and the Treason Trial
18 months after the ratification of the Freedom Charter, on the 5th December 1956, the authorities
arrested 156 of those who had attended the Kliptown meeting and charged them with high
treason. The treason trial dragged on for 5 years
From 1957 onwards, some defendants were released for lack of evidence and indictments were
withdrawn against 73 defendants. The trial against the remaining 30 defendants finally began in
August 1959. In March 1961 the trial ended with the acquittal of all the defendants.
African nationalism, 1948-59: Political opposition in 1948
In 1935, 400 delegates did manage to meet in Bloemfontein to establish the All African Congress
Miners strike of 1946 - 100,000 miners went on trike and were brutally repressed by the police
