The Pros And Cons Of Imperialism In South Africa

Racism, discrimination and degradation faced by Blacks and other ethnic minorities under the apartheid system was not unlike the segregation and intimidation faced by African-Americans in the Jim Crow south. Jim Crow system of segregation that kept Blacks from fully participating in public and civic activities and relegated African-Americans to substandard conditions at work, school and even in the home. Blacks in South Africa were under the clutches of an overt, national policy of racism and segregation implemented by the country’s highest level of government. Civil and human rights abuses of Blacks in South Africa at the hand of the country’s white minority occurred long before apartheid officially began, but the system’s official start brought strict, sweeping laws such as the rule that all persons in South Africa to be categorized as white, Black, colored and Indian, without exception. Like in the U.S. during Jim Crow, Blacks and whites were not allowed to marry and sexual relations between members of different races was a criminal offense.

     There were many reasons for the European countries to be competing against each other to gain colonies in Africa. One of the main reasons may be that Europeans believed that the

Imperialism is the domination of a weaker country by a stronger country. For instance Britain dominated India and China in the mid 1880s to the beginning of the 20th century. Imperialism has had both a positive and negative effects on the countries involved. Britain was imperialistic for many reasons, it could dominate because it had the technology and power to do so. They also needed land to acquire raw materials for growing markets.

Khoikhoi- The very first native pastoralists in South Africa were the Khoikhoi, and they were traditionally herdsmen. They raised livestock and settled down. The Khoikhoi were also the first people the Dutch settlers made contact with in 1600s. Their encounters together were violent. Warfare broke out, and soon the Khoikhoi were inflicted with disease, killed, enslaved, and displaced. The population of the Khoikhoi quickly diminished, but their culture and history can still be recognized in South Africa today.

Once the National Party had all South Africans placed into categories based on their race, they preceded to enact one policy that was particularly devastating to blacks. The name of this policy was the Group Areas Act of 1950. Before discussing the impact of this act, it is important to understand the extent of the majority the blacks had over the whites. Black

There is no greater humiliation for a Nation in this world than to lose its native social customs and structures and be forced to be subject to alien customs from foreign lands. This breeds an inferiority disorder in the natives that mandates that they do not deserve even half as much rights as their white counterparts. In South Africa before and during the Apartheid, there were many laws

In 1948, apartheid was introduced to South Africa. Apartheid means apartness and is the political policy of racial segregation. Each racial group was segregated from other races within South Africa. These groups consisted of whites, blacks and coloreds (Asians and Indians). The minority white population had the rule over the whole country. Apartheid did not only detach whites from non-whites, but it also set apart the Blacks from the Coloreds. When apartheid ended in 1994 a legacy was left behind. Crime and violence became replacements for the road to wealth. Segregation never completely disappeared and black children/teens were also not receiving enough education. Families became split due to apartheid and the loss of parents

Apartheid was a reaction by these Afrikaners to this rapid change. This insistence on racial apartness became the political and legal doctrine of apartheid. “It was an accepted Government policy that the Bantu (native) are only temporarily residents in the European (white) areas of the Republic for as long as they offer their labour there.”- (The Department of Bantu Administration and Administration 1957)

On 31 May of 1902, a treaty named The Treaty of Vereeing was signed to end the Boer War (Droogleever, R. 2015). This treaty provided an end to the war and ultimately in 1910 a self-government to the Transvaal (South African Republic). In 1926, this government gained a complete independence and became republic in 1961. Thus, it can be said that this gave the white Africans power over the black South African. In 1910 itself, there are about 1.3 million white South African citizen, the majority are Afrikaners and the rest are British (refer to figure1). Due to an enormous antipathy between these two communities, there have always been a disagreement on the level of rights that the four million black South African should get. However, the two communities have one mind in seeing the Black South African as a supply of significantly cheap manual labour (Gascoigne. B, 2015). Therefore, it can be said that this is the main origin of discrimination and segregation of black South African.

Apartheid laws were created to ensure a white supremacy in the governemnt. In 1948, the apartheid laws first began, and “racial discrimination was institutionalized.” Among the first apartheid laws were a prohibition of marriage between whites and blacks, and the distinction of ``white-only ' ' jobs. Then, these laws became even more serious. “In 1950, the Population Registration Act required that all South Africans be racially classified into one of three categories: white, black (African), or colored (of mixed decent)”. This specific law enabled a myriad of racist legislature to be enacted. For example, one law required that those classified as blacks carry a pass book containing their fingerprints to step foot in a non-black area. Also, in 1951, the Bantu Authorities Act divided African reserves into “homelands.” Each African was designated a homeland, and their political rights, including voting, were confined to its borders. The goal of this was to eradicate any sort of African power in the South African Parliament; whites desired “hegemony” over the people. Essentially, between 1976 to 1981, four homelands were formed and “nine million South Africans were denationalized.” Notwithstanding, the homelands “refused the nominal independence…and [maintained] pressure for political rights within the country”. Outrageously, Africans from these homelands were required

In 1997, South Africa entered the post-Apartheid, a system which not only the colored but other nationalities were severely restricted under the power of the white minority. Blacks were not permitted to pay taxes so they couldn’t benefit from them, they were not even considered citizens and were not allowed to register in the white schools. Segregation took place by having people attend their own hospitals and restaurants. The post-apartheid South Africa is described as a depressing period that rulings was based on nationality, race, and gender (Gradin).

The National Party’s all-white government gained power in 1948 and immediately started to enforce racial segregation policies under a legislation system called ‘Apartheid’. Under apartheid, a majority of South Africa’s population (non-whites) would be forced to live in separate areas from the whites. A lot of basic

One of the fist strategies employed was the Bantu Authorities Act, the idea of this was to effectively exclude Black people from the country’s politics. These policies were laid down in 1951 and were the basis for creating what were known as  ‘Homelands’. These were areas where black workers would have to live, yet they were considered as being outside the country, which meant that those who lived in the Homelands were required to carry passports when in South Africa. The term that was used consistently was “White South Africa” as the Government intended to move every Black person to his or her separate ethnic homeland in order to have South Africa completely in the hands of the White population. Blacks were given homelands, and that meant that whatever their culture was, they had to go to the given homeland and were allowed to govern themselves independently without white intervention. Between 1976 and 1981, four of these Homelands were created, denationalizing nearly half of the black South African population. This was an attempt to place black peoples even lower on the social scale and further strengthen the white dominated state. Rights such as voting were restricted to the Homeland in question, therefore there could be no chance of Black interaction in South African politics. This was combined with the Bantu Administration Board who kept

terms of the population registration act, “all residents of South Africa were to be classified as white, colored, or native (later called Bantu)

According to Evans, Marissa K. “Apartheid is the name of the racial institution that was established in 1948 by the National Party that governed South Africa until 1994. The term, which literally means “apartness,” reflected a violently repressive policy designed to ensure that whites, who comprised 20% of the nation’s population, would continue to dominate the country. Although the policy began officially in 1948, the practice of racial discrimination has deep roots in South African society. As early as 1788, Dutch colonizers began establishing laws and regulations that separated white’s settlers and native Africans. These laws and regulations continued after the British occupation in 1795, and soon led to the channeling of Africans into specific areas that would later constitute their s0- called homelands. By 1910 the year that all of the formerly separate Boer Republics united with the British colony to become the Union of South Africa, there were nearly 300 reserves for natives throughout the country.”