Timeline of Apartheid in South Africa: A History of Segregation and Resistance

Nov 06, 2025 0

Apartheid, derived from the Afrikaans word meaning 'apartness', was an ideology implemented by the National Party (NP) government in South Africa in 1948. It advocated for the separate development of different racial groups, enforcing segregation and unequal treatment.

Sign marking an area designated for whites only during apartheid.

Background and Policy of Apartheid

Before delving into the timeline of apartheid, it's crucial to understand its core principles and impact. Apartheid aimed to separate racial groups, restrict social integration, and maintain the dominance of the white minority. This system had deep roots in ideas of racial superiority and fear.

In basic principles, apartheid did not differ that much from the policy of segregation of the South African governments existing before the Afrikaner Nationalist Party came to power in 1948. The main difference is that apartheid made segregation part of the law. Apartheid cruelly and forcibly separated people, and had a fearsome state apparatus to punish those who disagreed.

Another reason why apartheid was seen as much worse than segregation, was that apartheid was introduced in a period when other countries were moving away from racist policies. Before World War Two the Western world was not as critical of racial discrimination, and Africa was colonized in this period. The Second World War highlighted the problems of racism, making the world turn away from such policies and encouraging demands for decolonization. It was during this period that South Africa introduced the more rigid racial policy of apartheid.

People often wonder why such a policy was introduced and why it had so much support. Various reasons can be given for apartheid, although they are all closely linked. The main reasons lie in ideas of racial superiority and fear. Across the world, racism is influenced by the idea that one race must be superior to another. Such ideas are found in all population groups. The other main reason for apartheid was fear, as in South Africa the white people are in the minority, and many were worried they would lose their jobs, culture and language. This is obviously not a justification for apartheid, but explains how people were thinking.

Apartheid Laws: Pillars of Segregation

Numerous laws were enacted to establish the apartheid state. Some of the key legislations included:

Population Registration Act, 1950: Classified people by race, laying the foundation for discriminatory treatment.
Group Areas Act, 1950: Enforced physical separation between races, particularly in urban areas.
Promotion of Bantu Self-Government Act, 1959: Allocated a small percentage of South Africa for black people to form 'homelands', leading to forced removals and displacement.
Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act, 1949
Immorality Amendment Act, 1950
Separate Representation of Voters Act, 1951

Map illustrating the impact of the Group Areas Act on racial segregation.

Resistance Before 1960

Resistance to apartheid came from various groups, including those directly affected by discrimination and international allies. Key organizations in the struggle for liberation included the African National Congress (ANC), the Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC), the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM), and the United Democratic Front (UDF). There were also Indian and Coloured organized resistance movements (e.g. the Natal Indian Congress (NIC), the Coloured People's Organisation), white organized groups (e.g. the radical Armed Resistance Movement (ARM), and Black Sash) and church based groups (the Christian Institute).

The African National Congress (ANC)

The ANC, initially named the South African Native National Congress (SANNC), was founded in Bloemfontein in 1912. It advocated for dialogue and petition in its early years, later adopting direct opposition and, eventually, armed struggle. In 1949, just after apartheid was introduced, the ANC started on a more militant path, with the Youth League playing a more important role. The ANC introduced their Programme of Action in 1949, supporting strike action, protests and other forms of non-violent resistance. Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo and Walter Sisulu started to play an important role in the ANC in this period.

In 1952 the ANC started the Defiance Campaign. This campaign called on people to purposefully break apartheid laws and offer themselves for arrest. It was hoped that the increase in prisoners would cause the system to collapse and get international support for the ANC. Black people got onto 'white buses', used 'white toilets', entered into 'white areas' and refused to use passes. Despite 8 000 people ending up in jail, the ANC caused no threat to the apartheid regime.

The ANC continued along the same path during the rest of the 1950s, until in 1959 some members broke away and formed the PAC.

Key Events in the Timeline of Apartheid

The timeline below highlights critical moments in the history of apartheid, from its inception to its eventual dismantling:

How did South African Apartheid happen, and how did it finally end? - Thula Simpson

Year	Event
4th Century	Migrants from the north settle, joining the indigenous San and Khoikhoi people.
1480s	Portuguese navigator Bartholomeu Dias is the first European to travel round the southern tip of Africa.
1497	Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama lands on Natal coast.
1652	Jan van Riebeeck, representing the Dutch East India Company, founds the Cape Colony at Table Bay.
1795	British forces seize Cape Colony from the Netherlands. Territory is returned to the Dutch in 1803; ceded to the British in 1806.
1816-1826	Shaka Zulu founds and expands the Zulu empire, creates a formidable fighting force.
1835-1840	Boers leave Cape Colony in the 'Great Trek' and found the Orange Free State and the Transvaal.
1852	British grant limited self-government to the Transvaal.
1856	Natal separates from the Cape Colony.
Late 1850s	Boers proclaim the Transvaal a republic.
1860-1911	Arrival of thousands of labourers and traders from India, forebears of the majority of South Africa's current Indian population.
1867	Diamonds discovered at Kimberley.
1877	Britain annexes the Transvaal.
1879	British defeat the Zulus in Natal.
1880-81	Boers rebel against the British, sparking the first Anglo-Boer War. Conflict ends with a negotiated peace. Transvaal is restored as a republic.
1880s	Gold is discovered in the Transvaal, triggering the gold rush.
1899	British troops gather on the Transvaal border and ignore an ultimatum to disperse. The second Anglo-Boer War begins.
1902	Treaty of Vereeniging ends the second Anglo-Boer War. The Transvaal and Orange Free State are made self-governing colonies of the British Empire.
1910	Formation of Union of South Africa by former British colonies of the Cape and Natal, and the Boer republics of Transvaal, and Orange Free State.
1912	Native National Congress founded, later renamed the African National Congress (ANC).
1913	Land Act introduced to prevent blacks, except those living in Cape Province, from buying land outside reserves.
1914	National Party founded.
1918	Secret Broederbond (brotherhood) established to advance the Afrikaner cause.
1919	South West Africa (Namibia) comes under South African administration.
1934	The Union of South Africa parliament enacts the Status of the Union Act, which declares the country to be "a sovereign independent state". The move followed on from Britain's passing of the Statute of Westminster in 1931, which removed the last vestiges of British legal authority over South Africa.
1948	Policy of apartheid (separateness) adopted when National Party (NP) takes power.
1949	Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act passed.
1950	Population classified by race. Group Areas Act passed to segregate blacks and whites. Communist Party banned. ANC responds with campaign of civil disobedience, led by Nelson Mandela.
1960	Seventy black demonstrators killed at Sharpeville. ANC banned.
1961	South Africa declared a republic, leaves the Commonwealth. Mandela heads ANC's new military wing, which launches sabotage campaign.
1960s	International pressure against government begins, South Africa excluded from Olympic Games.
1964	ANC leader Nelson Mandela sentenced to life imprisonment.
1966 September	Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd assassinated.
1970s	More than 3 million people forcibly resettled in black 'homelands'.
1976	More than 600 killed in clashes between black protesters and security forces during uprising which starts in Soweto.
1984-89	Township revolt, state of emergency.
1989	FW de Klerk replaces PW Botha as president, meets Mandela. Public facilities desegregated. Many ANC activists freed.
1990	ANC unbanned, Mandela released after 27 years in prison. Namibia becomes independent.
1991	Start of multi-party talks. De Klerk repeals remaining apartheid laws, international sanctions lifted. Major fighting between ANC and Zulu Inkatha movement.
1993	Agreement on interim constitution.
1994 April	ANC wins first non-racial elections. Mandela becomes president, Government of National Unity formed, Commonwealth membership restored, remaining sanctions lifted. South Africa takes seat in UN General Assembly after 20-year absence.
1996	Truth and Reconciliation Commission chaired by Archbishop Desmond Tutu begins hearings on human rights crimes committed by former government and liberation movements during apartheid era. Parliament adopts new constitution. National Party withdraws from coalition, saying it is being ignored.
1998	Truth and Reconciliation Commission report brands apartheid a crime against humanity and finds the ANC accountable for human rights abuses.
1999	ANC wins general elections, Thabo Mbeki takes over as president.
2000 December	ANC prevails in local elections.
2001 April	39 multi-national pharmaceutical companies halt a legal battle to stop South Africa importing generic Aids drugs.
2001 May	An official panel considers allegations of corruption surrounding a 1999 arms deal.
2001 September	Durban hosts UN race conference.
2001 December	High Court rules that pregnant women must be given Aids drugs to help prevent transmission of the virus to their babies.
2002 April	Court acquits Dr Wouter Basson - dubbed "Dr Death" - who ran apartheid-era germ warfare programme.
2002 July	Constitutional court orders government to provide key anti-Aids drug at all public hospitals.
2002 October	Bomb explosions in Soweto and a blast near Pretoria are thought to be the work of right-wing extremists.
2003 May	Walter Sisulu, a key figure in the anti-apartheid struggle, dies aged 91.
2003 November	Government approves major programme to treat and tackle HIV/Aids.
2004 April	Ruling ANC wins landslide election victory, gaining nearly 70% of votes. Thabo Mbeki begins a second term as president.
2005 March	Investigators exhume the first bodies in a Truth and Reconciliation Commission investigation into the fates of hundreds of people who disappeared in the apartheid era.
2005 May	Geographical names committee recommends that the culture minister should approve a name change for the capital from Pretoria to Tshwane. Zuma sacked
2005 June	President Mbeki sacks his deputy, Jacob Zuma, in the aftermath of a corruption case.
2005 August	Around 100,000 gold miners strike over pay, bringing the industry to a standstill.
2006 May	Former deputy president Jacob Zuma is acquitted of rape charges by the High Court in Johannesburg. He is reinstated as deputy leader of the governing African National Congress.
2006 June	Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visits and promises to limit clothing exports to help South Africa's ailing textile industry.
2006 September	Corruption charges against former deputy president Zuma are dismissed, boosting his bid for the presidency.
2006 December	South Africa becomes the first African country, and the fifth in the world, to allow same-sex unions.
2007 April	President Mbeki, often accused of turning a blind eye to crime, urges South Africans to join forces to bring rapists, drug dealers and corrupt officials to justice.
2007 May	Cape Town mayor Helen Zille is elected as new leader of the main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA).
2007 June	Hundreds of thousands of public-sector workers take part in the biggest strike since the end of apartheid. The strike lasts for four weeks and causes widespread disruption to schools, hospitals and public transport.
2007 December	Zuma is elected chairman of the ANC, placing him in a strong position to become the next president. Prosecutors bring new corruption charges against him.
2008 May	Wave of violence directed at foreigners hits townships across the country. Dozens of people die and thousands of Zimbabweans, Malawians and Mozambicans return home.
2008 September	A judge throws out a corruption case against ruling ANC party chief Jacob Zuma, opening the way for him to stand as the country's president in 2009. President Mbeki resigns over allegations that he interfered in the corruption case against Mr Zuma. ANC deputy leader Kgalema Motlanthe is chosen by parliament as president.
2008 December	A new political party is launched in Bloemfontein, in the first real challenge to the governing ANC. The Congress of the People - or Cope - is made up largely of defectors from the ANC and is headed by former defence minister Mosiuoa Lekota.
2009 January	Appeals court rules that state prosecutors can resurrect their corruption case against ANC leader Jacob Zuma, opening the way for Mr Zuma's trial to be resumed, just months before general election.
2009 April	Public prosecutors drop corruption case against Jacob Zuma. ANC wins general election.
2009 May	Parliament elects Jacob Zuma as president. Economy goes into recession for first time in 17 years.
2009 July	Township residents complaining about poor living conditions mount violent protests.
2010 June	South Africa hosts the World Cup football tournament.
2010 August	Civil servants stage nation-wide strike.
2011 May	Local elections, with opposition Democratic Alliance nearly doubling its share of the vote since the last poll. President Zuma mediates in Libyan conflict.
2011 October	President Zuma sacks two ministers accused of corruption. Opposition Democratic Alliance picks a black woman - Lindiwe Mazibuko - as its leader in parliament.
2011 November	The ANC suspends its controversial and influential youth leader, Julius Malema, for five years for bringing the party into disrepute. National Assembly overwhelmingly approves information bill accused by critics of posing a threat to freedom of speech.
2012 July	Member of white extremist group found guilty of plotting to kill Mandela and trying to overthrow government.
2012 August-October	Police open fire on workers at a platinum mine in Marikana, killing at least 34 people, and leaving at least 78 injured and arresting more than 200 others.
2012 September	Former ANC youth leader Julius Malema is charged with money laundering over a government tender awarded to a company partly owned by his family trust.
2012 October	Platinum mine owner Amplats fires 12,000 striking miners as wave of wildcat strikes shows little sign of abating.
2013 December	Nelson Mandela dies, aged 95. Tributes to "the father of the nation" flood in from throughout the world.
2013 March	The anti-corruption ombudsman heavily criticises President Zuma for a twenty million dollar upgrade to his private home.
2014 May	Ruling ANC party wins a majority in general elections.
2014 October	Paralympics athlete Oscar Pistorius - nicknamed the ''Blade Runner'' because of his prosthetic limbs - is sentenced to five years in jail for killing his girlfriend.
2015 February	President Zuma announces plans to limit farm sizes and ban foreign farmland-ownership in an attempt to redistribute land to black farmers - a longstanding ANC pledge.
2015 March-April	A spate of anti-immigrant attacks leaves several people dead.
2015 June	Government receives unwelcome international attention over allegations of bribery to disgraced international footballing body Fifa to secure 2010 World Cup, and allowing Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to visit despite International Criminal Court arrest warrant over genocide and war-crimes charges.
2016 March	Supreme Court rules President Zuma violated the constitution for not repaying public money used to improve his private residence.
2017 April	President Zuma dismisses widely-respected Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, leading to the country's credit rating being cut to junk status.

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