Was Apartheid anything more than a policy of separate
development? Explain your answer with reference to economic,
political and social issues.
The basic definition of Apartheid is ‘separateness’. As will be shown below
through a discussion on economic, political and social issues, separate
development was the principal aim of Apartheid. However underlying this aim
was a fear by the minority white population of black domination. This found
expression in the 1948 National Party election slogan, ‘the black fear’ or
‘swart gevaar’. This ‘fear’ will be seen to influence the policies and laws
implemented during the years 1948-1960 which impacted on the economic,
political and social aspects of South African life.
Although Apartheid as a policy came into existence in 1948 when the National
Party (NP) won the election, the white South African minority government had
been following a policy of separate development from the days of Cecil John
Rhodes, mining magnate and one-time Prime Minister (PM) of the Cape
Colony , who died in 1902. The original idea behind separate development
had been to assist the white mine owners increase their profits by housing
their black workers on the premises where they could control their social
activities more carefully. Jan Smuts, Deputy Prime Minister 1910-1919 and PM
1919-1924, 1939-1945, explained that he saw separate development as
necessary to allow each culture to develop at its own pace, but all would
come together to assist the economic development of the country as a whole
for all. This was obviously an ideal, but as the cultures had already started to
mix, it would be very difficult to implement and turn the clock back.
Nevertheless before 1948 Acts such as the Native Land Act 1913 and Native
(Urban Areas) Act 1923 were introduced by the Botha and Smuts
governments to separate the population by insisting that blacks move into
specially allocated areas or reserves. These areas were often too small for the
number of people they had to hold and were to later form the basis of
Verwoed’s ‘Homelands’. An underlying economic reason for moving blacks
into these areas had been to try and ease the life of the ‘bywoner’ or ‘poor
white farmer’ who often resided on a relative’s farm as farmhand or manager.
DF Malan became PM in 1948 and it was under his initial leadership and later
that of JG Strijdom and Hendrik Verwoed that the policy of separate
development reached its peak in all aspects of life – economic, political and
social. Malan’s early actions revolved around social segregation and in this
regard he included the Cape Coloureds who, until 1948, he had supported
because of their white blood. In 1949 Malan’s government passed the
Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act which made marriage between two people
of different races illegal. The reason behind this act was to preserve and
safeguard the white population which would allow them to form a national
identity. To ensure that this Act was upheld, other Acts had to be introduced
which categorised people into the various races. The Registration of
Population Act 1950 was just such an Act which allocated the population to
various races based on their appearance, assisted by amongst others the
‘pencil’ and ‘shoulder’ tests, and general acceptance. Another way to maintain
the social segregation and ‘safeguard’ the white population was the
introduction of the Education Act 1953. This Act was introduced by Verwoed
who was Minister of Native Affairs under Malan. Its purpose, as expressed in
the Eiselen Report 1951, was to remove the education of blacks from the
missionaries who were believed to be destroying black culture by westernising
them. The role of black education as seen by Verwoed, was to prepare the
black man for his role in society.
Other acts introduced to maintain this ‘social apartheid’ included the Separate
Amenities Act 1953 which gave each community its own facilities such as
beaches, train carriages, shop entrances and parks. This act followed on from
the Group Areas Act of 1950 which assigned each race to its own area within
urban areas. On its passing through Parliament, TE Donges, a Cabinet
Minister, noted ‘It is the price we have to pay in order to achieve certainty as
to the future environment of our homes and places of business.’ He later
continued that ‘it is the sacrifice we will have to make in order to bring about
conditions most favourable for inter-racial harmony.’ As seen by these two
statements the idea of preserving and safeguarding the white minority race
through segregation was again the main idea. However, the NP in
implementing these laws always found a way to express the reasons in such a
way as to show how it would benefit those who were not white.
The social apartheid Acts which had been introduced were also a means to
support the economic acts introduced. The purpose behind Acts such as the
Industrial Conciliation Act 1956 was to reserve or protect jobs for whites. It
was felt necessary to reserve certain jobs for whites only in an attempt to
resolve the poor white problem which had been steadily growing as more and
more whites failed as farmers. The Act mainly affected the mines where more
skilled jobs were kept for whites. Other implications of the Act were that all
black lift attendants in Johannesburg lost their jobs and blacks were no longer
allowed to hire themselves out as builders, plasterers or painters in white
areas. This Act was a step on from the Group Areas Act 1950 and various
other acts introduced before 1948 which limited businesses owned by people
of colour to specific areas. This had been done to prevent competition,
particularly between white and Indian businesses where Indian businessmen
were more successful than whites.
The final aspect of Apartheid or separateness were the political Acts which
were introduced. When the Union of South Africa had been formed in 1910,
blacks, Cape Coloureds and Indians were denied the vote in all the provinces
except for the Cape where there was a ‘qualified’ vote. This meant that
providing a person met certain qualifications they could vote regardless of
race. In 1936 when JBM Hertzog was PM, blacks were removed from the
Cape voters roll. Coloureds however, still had the vote. To remove them from
the Common voters roll a 2/3 Parliamentary majority had to be obtained. It
was in 1956 under JG Strijdom that the 2/3 majority was eventually obtained
to remove the Coloureds’ voting rights. The 1956 Act which was backdated to
1951 had been wrangled through Parliament as a result of Strijdom increasing
the Senate as well as the number of Supreme Court judges to ensure the bill
was passed. With the Separate Representation of Voters Act 1951 having
been passed in 1956, whites had been totally segregated from the other races
within South Africa by law; whites now had complete say in the running of
their country.
The above discussion shows that South Africa followed a policy of separate
development in the social, economic and political arenas. The underlying
reasons for this policy were to protect and safeguard the small white
population from the large black population which included Indians and
Coloureds. With all the above laws that were implemented, arguments and
reasons were put forward to show how the various races in South Africa
would benefit from being denied rights they previously had enjoyed.
By 1959 South Africa’s reputation internationally was suffering because of the
policy of Apartheid. To change this perception, Verwoed announced that
South Africa would now be following a policy of Self-determination and
freedom. The previous policy which he described as ‘baasskap’ or ‘white
supremacy’ was to be abandoned. To this end, Verwoed retained all previous
laws introduced under Apartheid, many of which he had personally
orchestrated and introduced the Bantustans. He justified its implementation
as follows: ‘This is not what we would have liked to see. It is a form of
fragmentation which we would not have liked if we were able to avoid it. In
the light of the pressure being exerted on South Africa, there is no doubt that
eventually this will have to be done, thereby buying for the white man his
freedom and the right to retain domination in what is his own country.’ What
Verwoed did here, was in effect lay the blame for separate development or
‘Grand Apartheid’ at the door of the international community by implying that
white South Africans had been happy to work together with the other races,
but now all races would have to have their own areas where they could be
free to do what they wanted. People of other races entering into the separate
areas would be subject to laws which protected the rights of those to whom
the territory belonged, for example whites were not allowed to own
businesses in Bantustan areas. Here again it can be seen that Apartheid or
separation was being continued which still protected and safeguarded the
white man.
In response to the question ‘Was Apartheid anything more than a policy of
separate development?’ one would have to answer ‘yes, Apartheid was more
than separate development.’ This is because the underlying reason for the
separate development was to protect the white, ensuring he had the best of
everything in terms of work, land and opportunities and that his race would
be preserved in southern-most tip of Africa.