Apartheid in South Africa
The Apartheid was the political policy of systematic racial segregation enforced by the
government in South Africa, beginning in 1948 and lasting until 1994. The party in power, the
South African National Party, created this system was targeted the majority black population.
The Afrikaners, the white south africans, were the minority but were dominating over the black
inhabitants. The word apartheid is an afrikaans word, which literally means 'apartness'. Under
this policy, the inhabitants were divided into racial groups who got different rights and treatment
from the government. As a result, the only group who benefitted were the white Afrikaners . The
blacks were deprived of their basic rights and were separated from the Afrikaners residentially,
being forced to live in poor, slum neighbourhoods or townships, even if they were doctors,
lawyers or businessmen.They were only allowed local leaders of these townships. They could
not take part in the government, vote or have access to medical care or education like the whites.
The services the blacks were given were always substandard to that of the Afrikaners, even
things like public benches and toilets. Inter-race marriages were also banned. Equality was
Under such a cruel and discriminating social system, uprising and revolt was certain. An
anti-apartheid movement emerged, during which many blacks were wrongfully arrested,
sentenced and killed. One significant uprising, followed by horrible aftermath, was the Soweto
uprising, in 1976, when the students of the Soweto township protested against the decision of the
government to make Afrikaans the language in schools rather than english. The police fired on
the thousands of students marching in protest, killing hundreds and wounding thousands. The
apartheid rule under the power of P.W. Botha is considered to be the most brutal years. He
allowed thousands of...