Establishing Apartheid: Part II

POLITICAL AIMS OF THE NATIONALIST PARTY:

CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM:

STRATEGIES:

Legislation: population registration - categorised every individual by race

Black Africans had to live in the Bantustans

Forceful segregation and it was mandatory to carry around passes

POLITICAL SUPPRESSION: process of changing a political structure with the aim of supporting a specific group of people

SUPPRESSION OF COMMUNISM ACT 1950:

Government believed that the people behind the majority of protests against apartheid were communist agitators
White south africa was seen as an ally by the USA
Formally banned the communist party
Able to be used to imprison anybody for anything
Ability to ban organisations

FURTHER ACTS OF REPRESSION:

PUBLIC SAFETY ACT 1953: allowed government to call a state of emergency for twelve months

CRIMINAL LAW AMENDMENT ACT 1953: anyone accompanying a person found guilty of a crime would be assumed guilty as well

CENSORSHIP ACTS 1995 + 1956: censored any critic of reports and literature that were imported into SA

RIOTOUS ASSEMBLIES ACT 1956: outlawed any meetings which could cause hostility between the races

TREASON TRIAL 1956:

SA remained a democracy for white voters and white opposition parties were tolerated
Any opposition from non-white groups were often brutally supressed
Trial in Johannesburg involving 156 people, such as Nelson Mandela, were arrested in a raid and accused of treason
Main trial lasted in 1961 when all defendants were found not guilty
Almost entire leadership of the Congress Alliance were put on trial
ANC, Congress of Democrats, SAIC, Coloured People’s Congress, SACOTU involved

POLITICAL TRANSFORMATION

BY END OF 1958:

Constitutional changes that skewed the political system in favour of the NP (new seats in Namibia and enlarged senate)
Separate representation of…

Get Revising