Apartheid System

Why in the News?

South Africa recently celebrated 30 years of end of Apartheid, a system of racial discrimination.

About Apartheid System

• About: It was a legal system of racial discrimination unique to South Africa which was imposed by White Europeans on Non-whites (Black Africans, Coloured and Indians) by treating them as Inferior. 
• Apartheid was institutionalized in 1948, but previous governments had passed many pass laws (precursors of apartheid) during 19th and first half of 20th century.
  • Pass laws restricted movements of blacks into areas occupied by whites and colored.
• Statutory Basis of Apartheid System: 
  • Population Registration Act of 1950 provided basic framework for apartheid by classifying all South Africans by race, including Bantu (Black Africans), Colored (mixed race), white and Asian (meaning Indian and Pakistani).
  • Through Group Areas Act of 1950, each race was allotted its own area, which was used in later years as a basis of forced removal.
  • Other apartheid laws include Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act 1949, Bantu Education Act 1953 (segregation of education) etc.

Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM)

• It was first successful transnational social movement in 20th century.
• Objectives of AAM included internal campaign to destabilize racist apartheid regime in South Africa, and external campaign for political, economic, and cultural sanctions on Apartheid Regime.
• AAM consisted of three phases
  • First Phase:  It included use of nonviolent direct-action tactics under leadership of organizations such as African National Congress (ANC), South African Communist Party (SACP) etc.
  • Second Phase (After 1960s): It was characterized by the internationalization of struggle, with support from African Union, United Nations and Including India.
    • UN: Adopted International Convention on Suppression and Punishment of Crime of Apartheid. 
  • Third Phase: Massive resistance (After 1980s): Making country ungovernable through strikes, boycotts, demonstrations, and acts of sabotage.
• Impact of Anti-Apartheid Movement: By 1990, government lifted ban on political parties and repealed 1913 and 1936 Land Acts, Population Registration Act, and Separate Amenities Act. 
  • Nelson Mandela was released in 1991, from prison. Four years later, on May 10, 1994, Mandela became President of South Africa.

Contribution of India in South African Anti- Apartheid Struggle

Mahatma Gandhi: 

• Seeds of AAM in South Africa were sown by Mahatma Gandhi upon witnessing humiliation and contempt shown to Asians by White Europeans.
• He established first anticolonial and anti-racial discrimination movement there and founded Natal Indian Congress (1894) and newspaper Indian Opinion (1903).
• In 1906 thousands of Satyagrahis under Gandhi’s leadership boycotted 1906 legislation requiring Indians to carry registration certificates with their fingerprints all times.
• When Gandhi left South Africa in 1915, he had left behind his legacy of Phoenix Settlement (Ashram-like settlement established, near Durban).

Yusuf Mohamed Dadoo:

• He was prominent from Indian community in South African struggle.
• He was a founder and leader of Non-European United Front and of Communist Party when it was revived as a secret organisation.
• And since going into exile in 1960, he played a key role in promoting underground and armed struggle in South Africa and a world-wide anti-apartheid movement.

Role of Indian Government: 

• India was the first country to sever trade relations with apartheid Government (1946) and subsequently imposed a complete embargo on South Africa.
• India was first country to bring issue of South African apartheid to United Nations in 1946 which helped internationalize issue of racism.
• ANC maintained a representative office in New Delhi from 1960s onwards. India actively worked for AFRICA Fund to sustain AAM.

Role of UN in South African Anti-Apartheid Struggle:

• Request to UN came after South Africa passed Asiatic Landownership Act in 1946, which restricted Indian land ownership and segregated Indians.
• Some of the key actions taken by the UN include:
  • Condemnation and sanctions: UN imposed diplomatic and economic sanctions on South Africa. In 1971 resolution apartheid was declared as a “crime against humanity”.
    • In 1977, the UN Security Council made arms embargo mandatory, and in General Assembly also imposed a voluntary oil embargo.
  • Legitimizing resistance: 
    • UN established Special Committee against Apartheid in 1963 and Centre against Apartheid in 1976. 
    • In 1973, International Convention on Suppression and Punishment of Crime of Apartheid was approved by UN General Assembly.
  • Suspension from the UN: UN General Assembly suspended South Africa in 1974 and only readmitted it in 1994 after the democratic transition.