Apartheid is a system of segregation and discrimination on grounds of race. In South Africa, Apartheid (“apartness” in the language of Afrikaans) was a system of legislation that upheld segregationist policies against non-white citizens of South Africa. After the National Party gained power in South Africa in 1948, its all-white government immediately began enforcing existing policies of racial segregation.
Hendrik Verwoerd, also called the Architect of the Apartheid, was Prime Minister and leader of the National Party from 1958-66 and was main actor who shaped the implementation of apartheid policy and practices.
The three most important features of the legislation that sustained Apartheid were the Race Classification Act, Every citizen suspected of not being European was classified according to race, the Mixed Marriages Act, which prohibited marriage between people of different races, and the Group Areas Act.
Motive and justification Apartheid:
Strategists in the National Party invented apartheid system as a means to solidify their control over the economic and social systems. Initially, the aim of the apartheid was to maintain white domination while extending racial separation. With the enactment of apartheid laws in 1948, racial discrimination was institutionalized.
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