Historical and contemporary issues associated with the apartheid system of South Africa The apartheid era of South Africa refers to the time period of 1948-1994 where the political system in power enforced strict legislation promoting racial segregation. Apartheid which literally means separateness, was the slogan used by the Afrikaner National Party for their victorious electoral campaign in 1948. Racial segregation had been a prominent theme in South Africa well before the apartheid era began, South Africa as a whole has never fully been able to shake the oppressive and racist attitudes that dominated in its colonial past. In 1913 just three years after South Africa gained its independence the government passed the Land Act which forced
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Under the Afrikaner government the previous reservation system was updated into the homeland system, 13 percent of the land in South Africa was reserved for black “homelands” in typically unproductive areas of South Africa. Under the apartheid “separate development” policy ten different homelands were created and the inhabitants were forced to relinquish their South African citizenship and become citizens of their specific homeland instead. Sensibly, barely any people wanted to leave their homes to move to these homelands so the government underwent a massive relocation program that saw millions of people moved and countless neighbourhoods completely destroyed to make room for the white population. Much like in the United States before the civil rights movement, blatant examples of segregation could be found thru ought the apartheid era. In what became known as “petty apartheid” the government passed a string of legislations that prohibited blacks and other coloured people from being able to do many things. Marriage between people of colour and whites was prohibited along with “unlawful racial intercourse”. Transport, public …show more content…
The most important human rights that were limited under the Afrikaner government were the rights that stated all are born free and equal, freedom of movement, and the freedom of opinion and expression. These violations are quite different in nature but they’re all tied together by the role epistemic violence played in creating
Under the Afrikaner government the previous reservation system was updated into the homeland system, 13 percent of the land in South Africa was reserved for black “homelands” in typically unproductive areas of South Africa. Under the apartheid “separate development” policy ten different homelands were created and the inhabitants were forced to relinquish their South African citizenship and become citizens of their specific homeland instead. Sensibly, barely any people wanted to leave their homes to move to these homelands so the government underwent a massive relocation program that saw millions of people moved and countless neighbourhoods completely destroyed to make room for the white population. Much like in the United States before the civil rights movement, blatant examples of segregation could be found thru ought the apartheid era. In what became known as “petty apartheid” the government passed a string of legislations that prohibited blacks and other coloured people from being able to do many things. Marriage between people of colour and whites was prohibited along with “unlawful racial intercourse”. Transport, public …show more content…
The most important human rights that were limited under the Afrikaner government were the rights that stated all are born free and equal, freedom of movement, and the freedom of opinion and expression. These violations are quite different in nature but they’re all tied together by the role epistemic violence played in creating