South Africa: Apartheid 1.0

Apartheid in South Africa

Since the establishment of South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC) in 1912, their demand has been an end to all forms of racial discrimination. During that time, South Africa was under the control of a loose affiliation between ‘white’ South Africans and the British (they colonized South Africa in the late 18^th century).

In 1948, the right-wing Afrikaner National Party formalized ‘apartheid’ with the creation of the ‘Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act’, the ‘Immorality Act’, the ‘Population Registration Act’, the ‘Group Areas Act’, the ‘Residential Segregation Act’, and even the socializing between ‘whites’ and ‘blacks’ was outlawed, laws that were enforced by the Security Branch, government’s secret police.

During the Congress of the People at Kliptown, Johannesburg, in 1955, the Freedom Charter was presented by the ANC, a document that outlined the objectives of a ‘free’ South Africa, free of the draconian laws of apartheid – and equality for all.

However, the National Party’s reaction to that Charter was accusing the people involved of ‘treason’, hence the Treason Trial from 1956-1961, followed by the Rivonia Trial in 1964 where the ANC’s senior executives were imprisoned for lengthy terms – Nelson Mandela being the most famous of those.

What followed was decades of a ‘liberation struggle’ where the ‘black’ majority pushed for an end to all racist and discriminatory apartheid laws – not forgetting that there were many ‘white’ anti-apartheid activists and organizations too – and the right to vote (they had never been allowed). This manifested in many acts of sabotage and murder against civilians, and the ‘Border Wars’ – primarily funded by Cuba and Russia in support of the ANC’s objectives (1966-1989).

However, the international Anti-Apartheid Movement’s trade, investment and sports boycott against South Africa from the 1970s began to push the National Party (NP) into re-evaluating their apartheid policies, and after a number of clandestine meetings between the ANC, NP, and international mediators, a Referendum was held in 1992 where a public vote was called to determine their opinions on apartheid, and the overwhelming majority voted against it (only ‘whites’ were allowed to vote).

The first ‘democratic’ election, that included South Africans of all races, was held in 1994 and the ANC won by an overwhelming majority.

Soon thereafter, the African National Congress (ANC) began to institute apartheid in another form, under the objective of ‘righting the wrongs of the past’; this included the laws of black economic empowerment (BEE), affirmative action (AA) and employment equity (EE), where companies were obligated by law to have ‘black’ ownership, directors, management, staff and suppliers.

This resulted in ‘white’ staff being retrenched and retired to make way for ‘black’ people – and this was particularly noticeable in all government, provinces, municipalities, public services and state-owned enterprises (SOEs).

In Phase two, these laws became increasingly draconian where companies were fined a percentage of their income if they did not conform.

Phase three of those laws are soon to be legislated, and here it will be a requirement by law that each company (even national sports teams – a provincial cricket team has recently been refused permission to compete nationally as it had too many ‘colored’ members), and its supplier network, meets the ‘quota act’, where the racial demographics of the country are represented in each company; 81.4% ‘black’, 8.2% ‘colored’ (mixed race), 7.3% ‘white’ and 2.7% Asian/Indian – 0.4% aren’t sure of their race group. Should a company not meet these percentages, their business licenses will be revoked, and they’ll be fined a percentage of the gross income.

These laws are clearly contrary to the country’s (supposed) ‘world class Constitution’, and the UN’s Human Rights Charter.

When similar laws were instituted under the National Party, there was an international investment, trade and sports boycott against the country from the 1970s to 1990s.

Strangely, since the Durban Conference in 2001 (against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance) the ANC government has repeatedly accused Israel of being an ‘apartheid state’, while the opposite is true; every Israeli citizen, regardless of nationality, race, religion or gender, has equal rights before the law – while in South Africa, they don’t.

The Author

Mark Wade is a documentary film maker and anti-apartheid activist, and was forced into exile during the 1970s due to his opposition to compulsory military conscription – designed to defend government’s apartheid policies. He was offered the ‘right to return’ to the country during the Indemnity Hearings in the early 1990s, prior to the Truth and Reconciliation Committee (TRC) hearings of 1994 – where the objective was to uncover the human rights abuses under apartheid, grant amnesty to the perpetrators, and offer reparation and rehabilitation to the victims.

As an Orthodox Jew, he’s particularly concerned about the ANC government’s overt anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism, and their support of Iran’s ‘axis of evil’. South Africa’s Jewish community is now under constant threat from government and the Muslim lobby, requiring the permanent presence of armed guards at their institutions, communal organizations and schools. Out of desperation, the Jewish community has created its own security services, ambulances, and rapid response emergency teams.

His 8-part documentary series titled ‘Legends and Legacies’, on the history and contribution of South African Jews, is streaming on Amazon Prime Video and IZZY TV. Mark is also a researcher for the NGO IsraelFAQs.