Apartheid was the official doctrine of the South African government, and the ruling National Party (NP), between 1948 and 1991. Meaning ‘separateness’, it was in practice nothing more than an excuse for domination by the white minority population of blacks and ‘coloureds’ (see racism). The word ‘coloured’ is used here in the South African legal sense as someone who cannot be classified as black, but is not ‘purely’ white. Apartheid consisted of a set of legal inequalities. Non-whites were restricted in the areas in which they could live, and had to carry ‘passbooks’ to prove they were entitled to enter white areas for purposes of work or whatever; this central element of apartheid was officially removed in 1986, when a uniform identity document for all races was introduced. Most publicly and privately provided facilities, from schools and transport to bathing beaches and public toilets, were racially segregated. There was, until 1985, a legal ban on marriage, and indeed extra-marital sexual intercourse, between members of different races.
But above all blacks and, until 1983, coloureds, were not allowed to vote in national elections, so that there was absolutely no peaceful political route through which they could work to end apartheid. This naturally encouraged political activists into illegal channels, particularly the African National Congress (ANC) which was banned in the wake of demonstrations against the ‘pass laws’ in 1960, and remained so until 1990. In 1961 the ANC established a military wing, the guerrilla movement Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation).
As was inevitable in such circumstances, a whole set of other inequalities were perpetuated by apartheid even if they were not legally enshrined, so that on all indicators—income, job opportunities, poverty rates, health statistics, educational opportunities and attainment—the black, and to a lesser extent coloured, population was deeply exploited. After defying world opinion, and some economic pressure, throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the NP government accepted the inevitability of change and began to remove the structures of apartheid. The formal legal expression of apartheid was abolished by 1991, and by 1993 multi-party negotiations on constitutional reform had been completed, with the first non-racial elections following in 1994. The NP participated in coalition governments until 1996, since when government membership has reflected the overwhelming black majority among the electorate. It will be several decades, however, before the accrued effects of inequality and racial discrimination evaporate.
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