History of South Africa (1948–1994)

The state passed laws that paved the way for "grand apartheid", which was centred on separating races on a large scale, by compelling people to live in separate places defined by race. This strategy was in part adopted from "left-over" British rule that separated different racial groups after they took control of the [[Boer republics]] in the [[Anglo-Boer war]]. This created the black-only "[[Township (South Africa)|township]]s" or "locations", where blacks were relocated to their own towns. As the HNP government's [[Minister of Bantu Administration and Development, and Bantu Education|minister of native affairs]] from 1950, Hendrik Verwoerd had a significant role in crafting such laws, which led to him being regarded as the 'Architect of Apartheid'.{{cite book |last1=Kenney |first1=Henry |title=Verwoerd: Architect of Apartheid |date=2016 |publisher=Jonathan Ball Publishers |isbn=9781868427161 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HmIcDQEACAAJ |access-date=20 June 2021 |archive-date=2 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602233332/https://books.google.com/books?id=HmIcDQEACAAJ |url-status=live}}{{cite magazine |last=Gross |first=D. |date=14 September 2016 |title=How Should South Africa Remember the Architect of Apartheid? |magazine=[[Smithsonian Magazine]] |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-should-south-africa-remember-architect-apartheid-180960449/ |access-date=20 June 2021 |archive-date=16 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210216080313/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-should-south-africa-remember-architect-apartheid-180960449/ |url-status=live}} In addition, many "petty apartheid" laws were passed.{{cn|date=April 2026}}

The state passed laws that paved the way for "grand apartheid", which was centred on separating races on a large scale, by compelling people to live in separate places defined by race. This strategy was in part adopted from "left-over" British rule that separated different racial groups after they took control of the [[Boer republics]] in the [[Anglo-Boer war]]. This created the black-only "[[Township (South Africa)|township]]s" or "locations", where blacks were relocated to their own towns. As the HNP government's [[Minister of Bantu Administration and Development, and Bantu Education|minister of native affairs]] from 1950, Hendrik Verwoerd had a significant role in crafting such laws, which led to him being regarded as the 'Architect of Apartheid'.{{cite book |last1=Kenney |first1=Henry |title=Verwoerd: Architect of Apartheid |date=2016 |publisher=Jonathan Ball Publishers |isbn=9781868427161 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HmIcDQEACAAJ |access-date=20 June 2021 |archive-date=2 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602233332/https://books.google.com/books?id=HmIcDQEACAAJ |url-status=live}}{{cite magazine |last=Gross |first=D. |date=14 September 2016 |title=How Should South Africa Remember the Architect of Apartheid? |magazine=[[Smithsonian Magazine]] |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-should-south-africa-remember-architect-apartheid-180960449/ |access-date=20 June 2021 |archive-date=16 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210216080313/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-should-south-africa-remember-architect-apartheid-180960449/ |url-status=live}} In addition, many "petty apartheid" laws were passed.{{cn|date=April 2026}}

The first two grand apartheid laws were the [[Population Registration Act, 1950]], and the [[Group Areas Act|Group Areas Act, 1950]], which divided urban areas into "group areas" in which ownership and residence was restricted to certain population groups.{{cite web |year=1998 |title=South African Demographic Health Survey |url=http://www.doh.gov.za/facts/1998/sadhs98/chapter1.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726195853/http://www.doh.gov.za/facts/1998/sadhs98/chapter1.pdf |archive-date=26 July 2011 |access-date=27 October 2025 |publisher=Department of Health}}{{cite web |last=Posel |first=Deborah |year=2001 |title=What's in a name? Racial categorisations under apartheid and their afterlife |url=http://pdfproc.lib.msu.edu/?file=/DMC/African%20Journals/pdfs/transformation/tran047/tran047005.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305235727/http://pdfproc.lib.msu.edu/?file=/DMC/African%20Journals/pdfs/transformation/tran047/tran047005.pdf |archive-date=5 March 2016 |access-date=27 October 2025 |publisher=[[Michigan State University]]}}{{cite news |year=1991 |title=South African activist teacher gets education doctorate |url=http://www.stanford.edu/dept/news/pr/91/910610Arc1324.html |access-date=27 October 2025 |newspaper=Stanford News Service}} Under the Population Registration Act, racial classification was formalised and required every person over 18 had to carry an identity card detailing their racial classification. Official teams or boards were established to come to a conclusion on those people whose race was unclear.{{cite book last=Ungar |first=Sanford |date=1989 |title=Africa: the people and politics of an emerging continent |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |page=224}} This caused difficulty, especially for [[Coloureds|Coloured people]], separating families when members were assigned to different races.{{cite book |last=Goldin |first=Ian |date=1987 |title=Making race: the politics and economics of Coloured identity in South Africa |publisher=Longman |page=xxvi}}

The first two grand apartheid laws were the [[Population Registration Act, 1950]], and the [[Group Areas Act|Group Areas Act, 1950]], which divided urban areas into "group areas" in which ownership and residence was restricted to certain population groups.{{cite web |year=1998 |title=South African Demographic Health Survey |url=http://www.doh.gov.za/facts/1998/sadhs98/chapter1.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726195853/http://www.doh.gov.za/facts/1998/sadhs98/chapter1.pdf |archive-date=26 July 2011 |access-date=27 October 2025 |publisher=Department of Health}}{{cite web |last=Posel |first=Deborah |year=2001 |title=What's in a name? Racial categorisations under apartheid and their afterlife |url=http://pdfproc.lib.msu.edu/?file=/DMC/African%20Journals/pdfs/transformation/tran047/tran047005.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305235727/http://pdfproc.lib.msu.edu/?file=/DMC/African%20Journals/pdfs/transformation/tran047/tran047005.pdf |archive-date=5 March 2016 |access-date=27 October 2025 |publisher=[[Michigan State University]]}}{{cite news |year=1991 |title=South African activist teacher gets education doctorate |url=http://www.stanford.edu/dept/news/pr/91/910610Arc1324.html |access-date=27 October 2025 |newspaper=Stanford News Service}} Under the Population Registration Act, racial classification was formalised and required every person over 18 had to carry an identity card detailing their racial classification. Official teams or boards were established to come to a conclusion on those people whose race was unclear.{{cite book |last=Ungar |first=Sanford |date=1989 |title=Africa: the people and politics of an emerging continent |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |page=224}} This caused difficulty, especially for [[Coloureds|Coloured people]], separating families when members were assigned to different races.{{cite book |last=Goldin |first=Ian |date=1987 |title=Making race: the politics and economics of Coloured identity in South Africa |publisher=Longman |page=xxvi}}

==Early internal resistance==

==Early internal resistance==