Apartheid in South Africa

Enquiry question

Investigate the sources

1. Source 1: Mixed marriages, 1949

   Source 1a relates to the Mixed Marriages Act 1949 that forbade marriages between people of different racial groups. The Foreign Marriages Act 1892 mentioned in this letter allowed British officials abroad to perform marriages.

   1. 

      No. 96.

      Restricted

      British Consulate-General,

      Lourenco Marques,

      Portuguese East Africa,

      28th November 1949.

      Sir,

      I have the honour to report that an enquiry was recently made of me whether I would solemnize a marriage between a male white British subject born in the United Kingdom to a coloured woman, a South African citizen, born in the Union of South Africa, both parties being residents of the Union of South Africa.

      1. The law of the Union of South Africa now prohibits, so I understand, marriage in the Union between white and coloured persons, but I cannot see that I can refuse to marry such people if they comply with all the formalities and conditions of the Foreign Marriage Act, which takes no account of the new citizenship laws of the countries of the Commonwealth.
      2. I have asked my enquirer to produce evidence of the national status of the two parties and so have avoided giving a direct reply for the present. In the meantime, I should be grateful if I might receive your instructions as it is likely that once British subjects in this predicament become aware that they can be married under English law at the United Kingdom Consulate there will be other applications. It is important that I should be in a position to explain to them their position under South African law and the penalties, if any, to which they will expose themselves in the Union. Thus, I can imagine that if either or both of the parties are citizens of the United Kingdom and the Colonies, and not Union citizens, they might well find themselves barred from returning to the Union or be subsequently deported. It would be necessary to know whether the courts of the Union would refuse to recognise as valid such a marriage where either the man, or both parties, were United Kingdom citizens, (and not Union nationals at all), and what the position is when both parties are Union citizens. It would seem desirable indeed that instructions and information should be circulated to all Consular Marriage Officers.
      3. I have not discussed this matter with my South African colleagues.
      4. I am sending a copy of this despatch to the United Kingdom High Commissioner in Pretoria.

      I have the honour to be with the highest respect,

      Sir,

      Your obedient Servant,

      SGD. G. EDGAR VAUGHAN

      His Majesty’s Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs

      LONDON SW1

   2. 

      2. The feature of the Nationalist Government’s policy, which has caused the greatest shock in their relations with the rest of the world is their programme of Apartheid- a stiffer form of the traditional South African policy of racial segregation. Their ultimate objective is the establishment in the Union of a Republican, white and predominantly Afrikaner, form of Government which would ensure the domination of the white race and postpone as long as possible, if not forever, the rise to power of the native population. While the Republican aspect of their policy has recently been in abeyance [receded], the Nationalists are pressing on with their racial programme. They have by legislation prohibited marriages between Europeans and non-Europeans, and they have now passed the Group Areas Act, 1950 described by Dr Malan as the ’kernel of apartheid’. Which extends earlier legislation so as to provide for the segregation of different racial groups of the population into defined areas for both residential and commercial purposes. In all this they have gone much further than their predecessors, the precious United Party Government, but much of the strength of the Nationalists is derived from the general support for some form of racial segregation apparent among most sections of all the white population including those of British descent.

   Examine Source 1a

   • What type of document is Source 1a?
   • Why has the British Consul asked for clarification on (a) the law concerning mixed marriages (b) his own position?
   • Why is this letter held by the Dominions Office collections at The National Archives?
   • What legislation carried out by the South African government is referred to in the letter?
   • What does the letter imply about the impact of this legislation?
   • How can this law be regarded as an instrument of apartheid?

   Examine Source 1b

   • Why has Source 1b, a Cabinet Memorandum, been circulated to the Cabinet?
   • What according to this source is the result of a ‘programme of Apartheid’?
   • Why is the Group Area’s Act described as the ‘kernel of Apartheid’?
   • Who is Dr Malan?
   • What is the connection between laws about preventing mixed marriages and the Group Areas Act which followed it?
   • How useful are Cabinet papers in finding out about South Africa in the 1950s?

2. Source 2: Population Registration Act, 1950

   The Population Registration Act 1950 defined people exclusively in terms of appearance and perception. People had to be identified and registered from birth as belonging to one of three racial groups: white, ‘native’ (Black African), or ‘coloured’ (neither white nor ‘native’). Identity documents were issued to each person and the Identity Number included their assigned race.

   Field Marshal Jan Christiaan Smuts successfully led troops against Britain in the South African War. Smuts went on to command the South African Defence Force fighting alongside British soldiers in various First World War campaigns. From 1939 to1948 Smuts was also the leader of the United Party, and Prime Minister in South Africa.

   1. 

      POPULATION REGISTRATION

      The Population Registration Act provides for the separate registration of Europeans, Natives and Coloureds. According to Field Marshall Smuts the Act was designed to help the Government to carry out their policy of apartheid and to provide for the elimination of the coloured from the voters’ roll. This is to be done through the compilation of a register after the 1951 census, showing whether a man is a Union citizen, domiciled in the Union or on a temporary visit to the Union. Every person over 16 years of age will be issued with an identity card giving a description of his person and the ethnic group to which he belongs. These cards will have to be presented to authorized police officers. This measure coupled with the Mixed Marriage Act will ensure the supposed purity of the white race.

   Examine the source

   • What information will be used to create a register of the population for the Act?
   • What other measure was also introduced as part of the Population Registration Act?
   • Why were these laws introduced?
   • How do these laws re-enforce the segregation resulting from the Mixed Marriage Act?
   • Why is this legislation for racial classification in this way so repressive?
   • What do you think about the evidence provided in this source?

3. Source 3: Group Areas Act, 1950

   1. 

      11. The Act will affect the various non-European communities in different ways. Segregation is the principle underlying the Native legalisation which Parties of all complexions have accepted for the past half century, and the Act does not add materially to existing powers in respect of Africans. The Native land Act of 1913, the Native Land and Trust Act 1936, and the Native (Urban Areas) Consolidated Act 1945, had already, before the Group Areas Act was ever heard of, provided for Africans being given certain areas to live in and being forbidden except under stringent conditions, to live elsewhere. Of course, the Reserves never contained all the Africans. Of the total African population in the Union of some 8 million, only about 3.5 million live in the Reserves and similar areas, while about 2.3 million live, mostly with their families like their fathers before them, as labourers on farms outside the Reserves. The drift of Africans to the towns, where there are now some 2 million of them, has greatly increase in recent years. Most of these live segregated in native locations and townships and mine compounds, but many live close to Europeans. The Nationalists find it difficult to reconcile themselves to this drift and thus are reluctant to take the steps necessary to make life in the towns more tolerable for Africans. But the less doctrinaire among them appreciates that there can be no question of the Union’s industry foregoing voluntarily its African labour force, however far ahead one looks. If the consequences of this are accepted and the Group Areas Act used to facilitate the replacement of the overcrowded African slums in Johannesburg by a series of adequately built townships to the south of the City, with sufficient transport facilities to bring their inhabitants to and from their work, as was recommended by the Fagan Commission in 1948, a real contribution

      [new page]

      would be made to the easing of racial relations in South Africa. One of the results of the rioting in Johannesburg early this year was to strengthen the demand, among the European inhabitants bordering on the African areas in the City, for the removal of the Africans from their overcrowded hovels. The expense of this operation would however be very great, and its adoption would involve acceptance by the Nationalist of the fact that the Africans have come to the towns to stay. It is therefore unlikely to find any early place in the Government’s programme for the implementation of the Group Area Act.

   2. 

      The Group Areas Act

      9. I went through most of the Indian and Native areas in Durban discussed with the Mayor of Durban, the Provincial Secretary and others, the application of the Group Area Act to these areas. Up to date the Act has been brought into force in Durban to the extent of prohibiting except under licence, the transfer of the ownership or occupation of any land or premises to person of a different race from that of the previous owner or occupier. I attach a sketch map indicating the non-European areas.

   3. 

      …

      Native Urban Areas (Opdom 20 of 1951 paragraph 22)

      1. The removal of the Johannesburg “black spots” of Newclare, Martindale, Sophiatown and the Western Native Township was discussed between the Minister of Native Affairs and a delegation from the Johannesburg City Council in Cape Town on 7th May. As a result of these discussions the United Party majority in the City Council have agreed to proceed with the scheme to remove 57,800 Natives from those areas to new townships to be established. It appears that the City Council were holding out against the Government’s refusal to grant Natives freehold rights in the new townships, but in the face of Government pressure, have agreed to 30-year leases. Land for the new townships has already been acquired and Natives will be transferred as houses are completed. The intention is to use Native labour as far as possible. The African National Congress have announced that they will fight “every stage of the plan”.

      Group Area Act in Durban (1951 Opdom 25 paragraph 8(a))

      1. The Durban City Council on 5th May, after heated discussion adopted a proposal that a modified plan prepared by the Technical Sub-Committee should be sent to the Land Tenure Advisory Board for examination, but that no further action should be taken until the Government had agreed to certain amendments to the Group Areas Act proposed by the council. Under the plan only 2,700 Europeans would be moved as compared with 62,900 Indians and 82,500 Natives, and £8,750,000 of Indian Property would fall into European zones, against only £750,000 of European property into Indian zones.

   Examine Source 3a

   • What was the purpose and impact of the Group Areas Act 1950, and earlier legislation concerning African settlement?
   • Why have many Africans been ‘segregated in native locations’?
   • What steps could the National Government take for ‘easing of racial relations in South Africa’?
   • Why does the High Commissioner suggest that nothing is likely to improve living and working conditions for the African population?
   • What is the value of reports from the High Commissioner to the Commonwealth Relations Office?
   • Find out more about the recommendations of the Fagan Commission.
   • What other types of sources would be useful to find out about the impact of the Group Areas Act 1950?

   Examine Source 3b

   • Why do you think the Group Areas Act prevented ‘the transfer of the ownership or occupation of any land or premises to person of a different race’?
   • Where is Durban located in South Africa?
   • Use the map to find: ‘High Class European Residential Fringe’; ‘Umlazi Reserve’; ‘High class residential European Area’; ‘Indian Occupied’ ‘Cato Manor (Mixed Indian & Native)’; ‘Chesterville (Native)’, ‘Sherwood (European)’.
   • What do these different locations reveal about segregation within the city of Durban?
   • What does the map reveal about the social and economic position of Indian and African communities?

   Examine Source 3c

   • What do you think is meant by the term 'Johannesburg "black spots"'?
   • How many inhabitants have Johannesburg City Council agreed to remove?
   • Why do you think the City Council rejected the Government’s plan to refuse ‘to grant Natives freehold rights in the new townships’?
   • What is the impact of the Group Areas Act on Durban for ‘Europeans’, ‘Indians’ and ‘Native’ communities?
   • How does this source add to your understanding of effects of the Group Areas Act from Sources 3a and 3b?
   • How do all three sources imply that the Group Areas Act is the ‘kernel of Apartheid’? (See Source 1b)
   • Find out about the later forced removals from Sophiatown to Meadowlands, Soweto.

4. Source 4: Reservation of Separate Amenities Act, 1953

   The Separate Amenities Act 1953 enforced segregation for all public amenities, including buildings and transport. Segregation meant that White people (or Europeans) were given separate facilities from everyone else, described as ‘Coloureds, Indians, and Blacks’. The act stated that facilities provided for different races need not be equal.

   1. 

      ACT

      To provide for the reservation of public premises and vehicles or portions thereof for the exclusion of persons of a particular race or class, for the interpretation of laws which provide for such reservation, and for matters incidental thereto.

      (English text signed by the Governor-General.)

      (Assented by 5th October,1953.)

      BE IT ENACTED by the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty, the Senate and the House of Assembly of the union of South Africa, as follows: –

      Definitions

      1. In this Act, unless the context otherwise indicates-

      “public premises” includes any land, enclosure, building, structure, hall room, office or convenience to which the public has access, whether on the payment of an admission fee or not but does not include a public road or street;

      “public vehicle” includes any train, tram, bus, vessel or aircraft used for the conveyance for reward or otherwise of members of the public.

   2. 

      RACIAL BEACH ZONING IN  DURBAN

      6. After months of discussion the Durban City Council has approved the Beach Committee’s recommendations for the racial zoning of the main beach front. The Council has resisted considerable pressure for the reservation of the whole length of the main beach for the exclusive use of Europeans. The Natives get 700 feet, the Coloured 600 feet, and the Indians 2,700 feet. These areas are to the north of the European beach which stretches along the built-up area in which all the hotels are situated.

   3. 

      Non-European & Tradesmen’s entrance

      Through Garage

      No Hawkers Allowed

      This lift is for Europeans only

      Service lift is provided for tradesmen, Non-Europeans, Prams & Dogs

      No Hawkers Allowed [a hawker is a person who travels about selling goods]

   Examine Source 4a

   • What are the aims of this legislation?
   • Look at the photograph at the top of the web page for the lesson. How does it show this law in action?
   • How does the Separate Amenities Act strengthen earlier apartheid legislation?
   • How will this law affect life in the South African Union for all communities?
   • Research the meaning for the term ‘grand apartheid’. How does it apply to other sources of legislation in this lesson?
   • Compare the Separate Amenities Act to the ‘Jim Crow laws’ (a derogatory term used to refer to African Americans) which had enforced racial segregation in the Southern United States.

   Examine Source 4b

   • Look at the map of Durban to find the coastline.
   • What does racial beach zoning in Durban show about the Separate Amenities Act in action?
   • What does the report extract reveal about the nature of segregation?
   • Can you suggest why the ‘European Beach’ is located where ‘all the hotels are situated’?

   Examine Source 4c

   • These signs were displayed before the Separate Amenities Act 1953, (see date of source). What does this reveal about segregation in the South African Union at that time?
   • What is the purpose of these notices?
   • In what type of building do you think they would be displayed?
   • Why do you think there is also reference to ‘Hawkers’, ‘Prams & Dogs’ as well as ‘non-Europeans’?
   • What can we learn from the photograph entitled ‘Apartheid at the Post Office Johannesburg’?
   • Why do you think these photographs come from a booklet produced by Foreign Relations Society of India?
   • What is the value of photographs over written reports to historians?
   • What other sources could be used to research the significance of the Amenities Act, apart from Sources 4a–c?

5. Source 5: Suppression of Communism Act, 1950

   Source 5a describes the terms of the law and comments on its legality. The government later used the Suppression of Communism Act in December 1956 to arrest 156 individuals and charged them with high treason, beginning a five-year legal struggle.

   Source 5b refers to the African National Congress (ANC), a political party in South Africa. At the time of this newspaper the ANC was a liberation movement founded to support rights for Black South Africans before the First World War. By 1948 it worked to oppose apartheid in South Africa through a defiance campaign against unjust laws, and other civil disobedience actions.

   1. 

      The Union Government will now have very wide powers under the Suppression of Communism Act 1950 to pursue their policy of Apartheid in the guise of action against Communism.  The definition of “communism” includes inter alia [among other things] any doctrine or scheme (a) which aims at bringing about any political, industrial, social or economic change by the promotion of disturbances or by unlawful acts and (b) which aims at the encouragement of feeling of hostility between European and non-European races calculated to further the objects mentioned at (a).

      An amending Act widens the definition of Communism so as to include (a) any person, who at an time before the commencement of the Act, professed to be a communist, (b) any person, who at any time before the commencement of the Act, in any way encouraged the achievement of the objectives of communism and (c) any, person, who at any time, was an active supporter of any organisation outside the Union which aided communism. Persons who will be listed as “communist” will not have the right to appeal to the courts. The Bill, when introduced, was opposed vehemently [strongly] in the Legislature and widely denounced by all non-European organisations as well as a number of European organisations.

      The following extracts from a statement issued by the Johannesburg Bar summarised the principal objections to the Bill.

      “Insincerely used, it could become the instrument of the most dreadful tyranny; sincerely used it could, and probably would give rise to injustice to individuals. If the Bill becomes law, any person who has at any time in the past

      professed to be a Communist, even when it was lawful to do so, becomes a Communist for the purposes of the main Act, and the consequent disabilities attach to him for all time. It does not avail the person concerned to prove his abandonment of all Communistic principles.”

      “Another most serious objection to the Bill is the provision which now enables the Governor General to supress a newspaper which serves inter alia as a means for conveying news calculated to further any of the objects of Communism”.

      “The objects of Communism as defined in the Act are very wide indeed. They include many liberal and humanitarian objects which are advocated and cherished by persons who are very far from being Communists.”

      “These provisions have no legal bounds and, coupled with the denial of any right of access to the courts, are a complete negation of the liberty of the subject as guaranteed by the rule of law”.

      …

   2. 

      Africans & Indians to Unite

      By the FOREIGN EDITOR

      Africans have decided to join the Indian community in South Africa in a planned campaign of non-co-operation in 1952.

      This decision was taken at the meeting of the African National Congress which had just been held in Bloemfontein. It is historic because it brings Indians and Africans into a united planned campaign of resistance for the first time.

      They are resisting the Malan Government’s racial laws against both peoples.

      The Congress describes the action, to take place in 1952, as intended “for the redress of the just and legitimate grievances of the majority of the South African people”.

      PASS LAWS

      The laws against which the two communities will act are:

      The Pass Laws, the Group Areas Act, the Separate Representation of Voters Act, the Suppression of Communism Act, the Bantu Authorities Act and certain other regulations.

      This legislation is the basis of racial discrimination and persecution in South Africa.

      If the Government does not repeal these measures by February 29, 1952, says the Congress, the people will have no alternative to launch the mass campaign.

   Examine Source 5a

   • What is the government’s definition of communism according to this extract?
   • What are the main consequences of this legislation for political rights and freedoms in South Africa?
   • How will the press be affected by this legislation?
   • How does the law allow the government to pursue its policy of apartheid?
   • Find out more about the Treason Trial and its connection to this law.

   Examine Source 5b

   • What news story is reported in the Daily Worker?
   • Explain why the laws mentioned are regarded as ‘legitimate grievances of the majority of the South African people’?
   • How useful is this source for understanding resistance to the Suppression of Communism Act?
   • What does the source reveal about the role of the African National Congress in South Africa?
   • What can you find out about the Daily Worker (UK) newspaper?
   • What can you find out about press freedom in South Africa during apartheid in the 1950s?

6. Source 6: The pass laws in the 1950s

   According to apartheid ideology, Black people were only allowed to be in the cities and towns if they carried pass books. This was part of the ‘Grand Apartheid’ scheme of ‘Influx Control’. Black workers were required to always carry their ‘dompas’ and were subject to spot checks.

   The Women’s March of 1956 was a protest against the introduction of pass laws by the apartheid government. Around 20 000 women, organised by the Federation of South African Women (FEDSAW), marched to the Union Buildings in Pretoria, Transvaal, South Africa.

   1. 

   2. 

      [...]

      159. An example will illustrate the system–

      Johannesburg is an urban area “closed” to natives save those who fulfil special requirements. If a native in the Transvaal wishes to go to Johannesburg, he has to produce his tax receipt and identification pass to the

      District pass officer and obtain a travelling pass. On arrival in Johannesburg, he has to report within 24 hours for a permit to seek work for six days. This may be renewed. If he finds work his contract of service must be registered monthly at a cost (to the employer) of 2s. If he wishes to travel, he must have his employer’s permission or a travel pass. An exemption certification relieves the holder of all these obligations.

      […]

      149. According to those who wish to retain the pass system, their object is three-fold:-

      (1) they prevent the collection of vagrant labour in urban areas.

      (2) they assist in the “proper” supply of labour to agriculture and mining; and

      (3) they protect the standard of living of urban natives from the competition of temporary migrant labour.

      The opponents of the system believe that on ethical and moral grounds the movement of the native should not be restricted, he should be able to sell his labour where he wishes. They maintain too that the harassing and constant interference with the freedom of the native is mainly responsible for the growing sense of grievance and injustice felt against the European.

   3. 

   4. 

      Your telegram No. 215.

      PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION

      Following is a draft reply. Begins.

      I assume the question refers to citizens of United Kingdom and the Colonies and British protected persons resident in the Union of South Africa. The law of Union requires that every adult male African resident there must be in possession of a reference book issued by the Union authorities and containing his personal particulars and particulars of his employment. Any authorised officer may at any time call on any adult male African resident in the Union to produce his reference book. Ends.

      1. Following are notes for supplementaries:

      (a)     The Act which deals with ‘passes’ is the Natives (Abolition of Passes) and the Co-ordination of Documents) Act 1952

      (b)     In terms of Section 12 of the Natives (Urban Areas) Consolidation Act 1945 as amended by Act No.16 of 1955 and Act No.79 of 1957, no African born outside the Union and South West Africa may enter or remain in or be employed in an urban or a proclaimed area without the written permission of the Secretary for Bantu Administration and Development. This means that an additional permit is required by ‘foreign natives’ in urban areas but the ‘reference books’ referred to in the draft answer above are the documents commonly known as ‘passes’. It should be noted that Section 10 of the 1945 Act has the effect of requiring Union Africans also to have permits to be in the urban or proclaimed areas unless they were born in the areas in question;

      (c)     Africans from United Kingdom dependencies living in the Union must naturally obey the laws of the Union.

      (d)    The population Registration Act 1950 provides for the issue of identity cards to Europeans and Africans. This Act provides also that from a date to be proclaimed these identity cards must be produced on request to authorised persons but no date has yet been proclaimed and the issue of identity cards is not yet complete.

      [...]

   Examine Source 6a

   Using Source 6a, consider:

   • Why do you think this photograph is held by the ANC Archives?
   • What does the photograph suggest about the nature and impact of the pass laws?
   • How does the photograph relate to source 6b?

   Examine Source 6b

   • Can you suggest why this document was produced?
   • What details given in these extracts suggest that the pass system was so repressive for Black South Africans?
   • What has been the effect of the constant harassment caused by the pass system?
   • Explain how these regulations were part of the ‘Grand Apartheid’ scheme of ‘Influx Control’.

   Examine Source 6c

   • What information does this photograph provide about resistance to the pass laws?
   • What is the value of this source to historians of the system of apartheid in South Africa?
   • Why do you think this photograph is held by a collection in the ANC Archives?
   • How do sources 6a–6c provide understanding of the impact of the pass laws? What other sources would be useful?

   Examine Source 6d

   • Why do you think a question about ‘citizens of United Kingdom and Colonies and British protected persons living in the Union of South Africa’ was asked in the British parliament?
   • What is the official response to this question?
   • Is it significant that this question was asked in March 1960?
   • What is the value of parliamentary questions relating to this topic?
   • What does the supplementary information in the extract suggest about the emergence of the pass laws?

7. Source 7: The Bantu Education Act, 1953

   In 1949 Hendrick Verwoerd, Minister for Native Affairs and the Eiselen Commission, investigated African education. This formed the basis of the later Bantu Education Act that enforced apartheid and created a limited vocational curriculum for African pupils. It meant complete separation of educational facilities for White, Black, ‘Coloured’ (mixed-race), and Indian populations, creating a huge divergence of opportunity. African education was now controlled by the Minister for Native Affairs, not the Ministry of Education. Mission schools were no longer state-funded and large numbers were forced to close.

   The Freedom Charter of 1955 was a charter of universal rights based on the wishes of the people. It meant a fundamental restructuring of South African society and outlined a list of freedoms and ideals in opposition to the apartheid government. In June 1955 the Freedom Charter was adopted by the Congress Alliance, the ANC, the South African Indian Congress, the South African Coloured People’s Organisation, and the South African Congress of Democrats.

   1. 

      [First extract]

      BANTU EDUCATION BILL

      5. This Bill, which will remove control of Native education from the Provincial Administration and place it completely in the hands of the Ministry of Native Affairs is being roundly condemned in Natal. It is conceded that there is a lot to be said for the Government’s arguments in favour of creating a unified system of local Bantu Government, charged with the administration of all local services, in place of the present multiplicity of uncoordinated development services. But it is widely felt that it would be a great mistake to strengthen the hands of the central Government still further, at the expense of the already weakened Provincial councils and all the missionary bodies, which have done such excellent pioneering work in the field of Native education. This Bill proposes to give arbitrary powers to the Minister, who will be able to ban any Bantu school other than a government school, and who will have power to “make regulations for religious instruction in Bantu schools”; it is felt that this may pave the way for the eventual introduction of the discredited “Christian National” education in Native schools, which would be most undesirable.

      [Second extract]

      BANTU EDUCATION ACT

      6. The decision of the Bishops of Johannesburg and Pretoria to close all 100 Anglican Mission Schools in the Transvaal because of their reluctance to co-operate with the Government in the administration of the Bantu Education Act, has aroused considerable interest and sympathy in Natal. The excellent training college for African teachers at Adam’s College, Natal, is also to be closed at the end of 1955, because the Minister for Native Affairs has decided to take the training of African teachers out of the hands of the college authorities. The 40 Anglican Mission schools in Natal will however not be closed down although the Episcopal Synod [bishops’ council] has made it very clear that it deplores the Bantu Education Act. The highly respected Roman Catholic Bishop of Durban, Denis Hurley, has also weighed in against the Government over this issue most outspokenly, to the intense annoyance of the Minister of Native Affairs.

   2. 

      MISSION SCHOOL CLOSED

      “THREAT TO WHITE DOMINATION”

      Christian Action made public in London last night a statement received from the Bishop of Johannesburg. The Bishop said: –

      Today, by order of the Minister of Native Affairs in South Africa Dr Verwoerd), the School of Christ the King in Sophiatown, Johannesburg, is to close down. Formerly the School of Christ the King was St Cyprian’s School, which was closed down on 31 March 1955. St Cyprian’s centred upon the Priory of Christ the King, was part of the mission of the Community of Resurrection, under the care of Father Huddleston.

      Under the now notorious Bantu Education Act of 1953, mission schools are taken out of the control of the missions. Supposing Dr Verwoerd to be sincere when he said that missions could continue to give African’s education in private schools without any State subsidy, the bishop decided to operate a private primary school as a pilot scheme, to see whether the African parents would be able and willing to pay a school fee. So, St. Cyprian’s became the private school of Christ the King and opened on April 10, 1955.

      On February 6, 1956, the mission received a letter from the Secretary for Native Affairs ordering the school to close forthwith. The school was allowed to reopen on February 9, and all the 550 pupils returned. Today sees the school liquidated. The Minister of Native Affairs has refused all requests for reconsideration- he is determined to remove this threat to white domination.

      Canon L.J. Collins, the chairman of Christian action said last night-

      This vicious and spiteful action of the Minister of Native Affairs speaks clearly of the real intentions behind the Bantu education Act- white domination over black at all costs, and senseless oppression. This closing of the school looks like a vindictive and obstinate attack on Father Huddleston and the Bishop of Johannesburg because of their courageous, Christian stand for justice and freedom for the Africans.

   3. 

      THE DOORS OF LEARNING AND OF CULTURE SHALL BE OPENED!

      The government shall discover, develop and encourage national talent for the enhancement of our cultural life;

      All the cultural treasures of mankind shall be open to all, by free exchange of books, ideas and contact with other lands;

      The aim of education shall be to teach the youth to love their people and their culture, to honour human brotherhood, liberty and peace;

      Education shall be free, compulsory, universal and equal for all children;

      Higher education and technical training shall be opened to all by means of state allowances and scholarships awarded on the basis of merit;

      Adult illiteracy shall be ended by a mass state education plan;

      Teachers shall have all the rights of other citizens;

      The colour bar in cultural life, in sport and in education shall be abolished.

   4. 

      In Meadowlands there are well built schools, but in Sophiatown, a few miles away, children will make do with education in a cluttered backyard.

   Examine Source 7a

   Using Source 7a (i), consider:

   • What are the main criticisms of the Bantu Education Bill according to this document extract?
   • How can this bill be regarded as an attempt to reinforce apartheid in education?
   • Find out the terms of Extension of Universities Act 1959. How did this impact higher education for Black Africans?
   • This extract comments on a ‘Bill’. How does a ‘Bill’ differ from an ‘Act’?

   Using Source 7a (ii), consider:

   • What are the effects of the Bantu Education Act expressed in this extract?
   • What does it reveal about the reception of this law?
   • Find out more about the origin and position of mission schools in South Africa.
   • Why do you think this report was produced by the High Commissioner in 1954?

   Examine Source 7b

   • Why has ‘Christ the King’ primary school been forced to close?
   • What does this newspaper article reveal about religious involvement in African schools?
   • What is the view of Canon Collins on the closure of the school?
   • Why do you think this newspaper clipping is in The National Archives' Dominions Office collections?
   • What are the advantages and disadvantages of newspapers as sources for historians?

   Examine Source 7c

   • Why do you think these aspirations concerning education are highlighted in the Freedom Charter?
   • Choose any three points from the Charter. Explain what each means and why it is significant. Discuss with a partner.
   • Find out more about the launch of the Freedom Charter in June 1955.

   Examine source 7d

   • What does this photograph imply about the state of education in 1958 in Sophiatown for Black Africans? Explain your answer.
   • How does this source relate to the Freedom Charter in Source 7c?
   • What can you find out about Meadowlands mentioned in the caption?
   • Why do you think this photograph was taken?

8. Source 8: Separate Development and the Tomlinson Report

   The South African government's Tomlinson Commission investigated the economic development of the native reserves, later formed as Bantustans or homelands. The Tomlinson Report was published in 1954.

   The South African Bureau for Racial Affairs (SABRA) was set up in 1948 to provide an alternative to the South African Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR). The organisation provided academic justification for the apartheid policy.

   1. 

      The S.A.B.R.A. Plan

      No completely formulated scheme for Separate Development has been promulgated by the Government or the Nationalist Party. But in 1950, two years after the Nationalists came to power, the Government appointed a Commission for the Socio-Economic Development of the Bantu areas under the chairmanship of Professor F. R. Tomlinson, “to conduct an exhaustive inquiry into a comprehensive scheme for the rehabilitation of the Native Areas, with a view to developing with them a social structure in keeping with the culture of the Native and based on effective socio-economic planning”.

      Over a period of six years the Tomlinson Commission produced an eighteen-volume report, and although the Government has not accepted its recommendations in detail it has endorsed its advocacy of Separate Development, as the only alternative to the progressive integration of Europeans and Bantu into a single homogenous society.

      In its plan for “complete separation” the commission proposed sixteen major Bantu areas, or Native Reserves which, with a number of smaller pockets, should be capable of carrying a population of 15 million by the year A.D. 2000.  A still more interesting figure is the forecast for the “European Areas” in that year- an estimated population of 4.5 to six million Europeans, plus 6.5 million Bantu and 5.3 million other non-Europeans.

   2. 

      Native Areas

      In any case, it is sheer fantasy to suppose that the Bantu peoples can be persuaded, except by the uncompromising use of force, to accept any plan of Separate Development which would concentrate them in areas, not of their choosing, deliberately designed to emphasis the “ethnic grouping”, the tribal divisions, which virtually every intelligent Bantu considers outworn and inimical [harmful] to African development.

      Native Reserves are no new thing. As long ago as 1913 the Bantu were given the sole right of occupation of certain areas which had remained in their possession after the White conquest of Southern Africa, and provision for the additional land for Native occupation was made by the Native Trust and Land Act of 1936 making up the Reserves to a total of about 57,000 square miles, or about 13 per cent. of the area of the Union.

      Although much of the Reserves is fair farming land, they are under-developed and eroded, and production remains on a traditional primitive subsistence level. Poverty in the Reserves has benefited mining, manufacturing and large-scale agriculture, for it has driven Africans from their homes to seek work in the cities and on the European farms. Thus, at the last census, out of a total Bantu population of 8.5 million little more than 3.6 million were in the Reserves, as against 2.6 million on European farms and 2.3 million in urban areas.

   3. 

      With No Wings

      Less than half the Bantu population lives in the human equivalent of the game sanctuary, the Native Reserves; the working lives of the rest, about five million of them are inextricably interwoven with the lives of the three million Europeans, 1,200,000 “Coloureds” and 400,000 Asiatics, who make up the population of South Africa today.

      Perhaps everybody, including the Bantu, would be happier – as the propagandist of “Separate Development” maintain – if the Natives were withdrawn to enclaves of their own, to lead lives as colourful as they chose or could afford. One snag is that, in present conditions, a withdrawal would bring industry and agriculture to an abrupt halt.

      Another snag is that relatively few Africans would withdraw to “Bantu Areas” unless they were driven there by force. A significant number have become urbanised – there are 700,000 in the Johannesburg area alone, besides the Native populations of Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth, East London and other cities – and they are determined not to revert to the tribal society and “ethnic grouping” that Separate Development envisages.

      “I don’t know who my chief is,” a young African in Johannesburg said to me, “and why should I care? The time for chiefs is past.”

   Examine Source 8a

   • What was the purpose of the Tomlinson Commission?
   • What does the term Separate Development mean? What would the alternative be?
   • What is the main recommendation of the Tomlinson Commission according to this article?
   • What are the implications of this plan for Black Africans?

   Examine Source 8b

   • Why according to this article, would Bantu peoples object to Separate Development?
   • Why have many Africans left the reserves over time?
   • What proportion of the Bantu population remain in the reserves at the time of this article?

   Examine Source 8c

   • What does a policy of Separate Development assume in this article?
   • Why is Separate Development unacceptable to most Africans?
   • How would this policy fail in economic terms?
   • Which of Sources 8a-8c provides the most evidence concerning the impact of Separate Development?
   • What other sources would be important to consult?

Extension activities

Discussion questions

• What do these sources imply about the legislation implementing apartheid?
• What do they show about the impact of the system on all racial groups in South African society?
• What do the documents reveal about strategies of grand and petty apartheid?
• Do any of the sources imply criticism or resistance to these laws?
• What does the legislation reveal about the ambitions of the National Party?
• What were the international pressures to challenge apartheid in South Africa 1948-59?

Activities

• Write profiles of:
  • Jan Christiaan Smuts
  • Dr Malan
  • Hendrik Verwoerd
  • Nelson Mandela
  • Robert Sobukwe
• Research:
  • Meadowlands township (Soweto)
  • The Treason Trial and its significance
  • The African National Congress (ANC)
  • The Youth League and the Defiance Campaign
  • The Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC)

Background information

South African independence from the British Empire

South Africa became a Union with independence from the British Empire in 1910. It consisted of two Afrikaner (Dutch dominated) republics the Transvaal and Orange Free State and the British dominated Cape Colony and the Natal Province. The Afrikaners and the English speakers (roughly 60% and 40% respectively) controlled the country. It meant that the aspirations of the vast Black majority together with other races, including an Indian population, were completely ignored in the new Union.

Lack of Black rights and the pass laws

With the Union, the South Africa Act removed Black people’s right to vote in Parliament and the Pass Regulations Act denied them the right to vote. Only the Cape Colony insisted on retaining voting rights for Black people and others on a basis of a property qualifying franchise. The Afrikaner republics granted no political rights for Black people and Natal was scarcely less conservative.

After 1910 what little rights remained for Black South African peoples began to be chipped away. The 1913 Natives Land Act severely restricted Black South Africans from owning or renting land outside of designated 'native reserves', laying the groundwork for racial segregation and apartheid (separateness). The Native (Urban Areas) Act 1923 created an internal passport system restricting movement of Black South Africans.

Successive onslaughts on Black rights increased with the growth of Afrikaner Nationalism under the Nationalist party of J.B.M. Hertzog, who realised that Afrikaners formed 60% of the White community and could exploit White conservatism to control the country. Afrikaner nationalism developed confidence in the interwar period emboldened by their Dutch Reform Church faith and Broederbond (brotherhood), emphasising the alleged racial superiority of Europeans over Black South Africans. Many Afrikaners also opposed South Africa’s entry on the Allied side during the Second World War.

The National Party 1948

In law, apartheid began long before 1948 and the election of the National Party.  Although clauses of the 1910 Constitution regarding voting rights for ‘Coloureds’ (people with a Mixed race background) were not amended until the 1950s, the 1936 Native Trust and Land Act expanded existing restrictions on Black land ownership by establishing the South African Native Trust to manage land for Black people, limiting where they could live and own land. Moreover, the Asiatic Land Tenure Act 1946 sought to confine Asian ownership and occupation of land to certain clearly defined areas of towns. 

By the late 1940s such legislation led to the growth of shantytowns on the outskirts of White cities occupied by poor Black people dependent upon jobs in the cities. The National Party campaigned to protect White Afrikaans ‘purity’ and eliminate the already meagre rights of Black South Africans through legislative separation, so what happened automatically before, became law.

Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act 1949

To preserve racial 'purity', the apartheid government passed the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act 1949 preventing marriage between people of different races. The Population Registration Act (1950) created a national system of racial classification: ‘White’, ‘Native’, ‘Coloured’ and later ‘Indian’ that determined which rights an individual would be able to enjoy. This included where a person could live, if they had to carry a passbook to travel and the education available to them.

Group Areas Act 1950

The Group Areas Act 1950 was the nationalist government’s first attempt to increase the separation between White and Black urban residential areas. The law was both a continuation of earlier laws of segregation but also a realisation of an apartheid ideal that cultures should be allowed to develop separately. 

The new law declared many historically Black urban areas officially White, forcing people to move out of a specific area. The act also controlled the transfer of land and property and only allowed people to buy land from people of the same race. The act also restricted trading licences prohibiting Asians from trading in White areas. Later legislation (the Native Resettlement Act 1954) authorised the government to force out residents and demolish buildings to make room for White-owned residences and businesses. However, White South Africans relied upon cheap Black labour, and the removal of millions of Black workers would be expensive according to the government-sponsored Tomlinson Report of 1954.

Separate Amenities Act 1953

The Separate Amenities Act 1953 legalised the racial segregation of public premises, vehicles and services. Part of the act stated that facilities for the different races did not need to be equal and that some services could be completely excluded based on their race. Public toilets, buses, railway carriages and Post Office entrances, as well as parks and beaches, were typically segregated.

Passbook system

The passbook system regulating where White South Africans could travel from and to already existed before 1948, and it was now expanded and formalised. An act of 1952 repealed regional passes and instituted one nationwide pass law, making it compulsory for all Black South Africans males over the age of 16 to carry the passbook whilst within White areas. This internal passport (containing a photograph and details of employment) stipulated where, when and for how long a person could remain. The passbook provided the authorities with the excuse to detain Black people at will.

Bantu Authorities Act (1951) and Bantu Self Government Act (1959)

Other pieces of apartheid legislation were enacted to enforce separation of the races, such as the Bantu Authorities Act (1951) and the Bantu Self Government Act (1959). This act created 'homelands' for Black South Africans, known as Bantustans, giving the appearance of self-government but stripping them of their national citizenship.

By 1959 the system of apartheid was consolidated. In response to such oppression the Black South African population of South Africa began to resist. They agreed a Freedom Charter for all South Africans embracing equality, which would lead to a 'Treason Trial' of those opposing apartheid doctrine.

Useful links

The story of

The Treason Trial in South Africa, 1956–1961

In June 1955, a multi-racial group came together to write the Freedom Charter, demanding racial equality and democracy in South Africa. They were put on trial.

sahistory.org.za

South African History Online

Comprehensive online resource including documents and timelines.