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Similarly, the South African education is divided by class. According to Soudien (2004), the deracialisation of the post-apartheid era forced South Africa’s elite to maintain their dominant positions in society in ways other than race, but through class distinctions. Apartheid (South African English: / ə ˈ p ɑːr t eɪ d /; Afrikaans: aˈpartɦɛit, segregation; lit. 'aparthood') was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 until the early 1990s. Apartheid (Afrikaans: “apartness”) is the name of the policy that governed relations between the white minority and the nonwhite majority of South Africa during the 20th century. Although racial segregation had long been in practice there, the apartheid name was first used about 1948 to describe the racial segregation policies embraced by the white minority government.
An Afrikaans word for “apartness,” apartheid is the name that South Africa’s white government applied to its policy of discrimination—racial, political, and economic—against the country’s nonwhite majority in the second half of the 20th century. From the 1960s the government often referred to apartheid as “separate development.”
Racial segregation, sanctioned by law, was widely practiced in South Africa before the National Party won control of the government in 1948. Once in power, the Nationalists extended the scope of the policies and gave them the name apartheid. Under the Population Registration Act of 1950, all South Africans were to be classified as either white, “native” (black), or “Coloured” (those of mixed descent) and issued an identity card stating their racial designation. The “native” group was later renamed Bantu, though it included all black South Africans, who formed the majority of the country’s population. In 1959 the government created a fourth category, “Asian,” which included mainly Indians.
Other laws, collectively known as “petty apartheid,” prohibited most interracial social contacts, authorized segregated public facilities, established separate educational standards, restricted each race to certain types of jobs, and denied nonwhite participation, even indirectly, in the national government. Racial inequality was built into the system along with racial separateness; the government established by law that the separate facilities did not need to be equivalent.
The policies known as “grand apartheid” geographically separated the racial groups. The Group Areas Act of 1950 created separate residential and business sections in urban areas for each race. Only the members of a section’s designated race could live in that area or own property there. The great majority of the country’s land was allocated for whites, who made up a minority of the population. Many thousands of nonwhites were forcibly removed from their homes in what became the white-only areas.
Apartheid treated the blacks of South Africa as “tribal” people. The Bantu Authorities Act of 1951 established tribal systems in the black areas that were run by chiefs chosen by the government. The Promotion of Bantu Self-Government Act of 1959 created 10 reserves called “homelands” (or Bantustans), each designated for a separate black ethnic community. The relocation of blacks to the “homelands” was especially brutal from the 1960s to the early ’80s, when more than 3.5 million people were taken from the white areas and dumped far from their homes into the overcrowded, desolate reserves, sometimes in the winter and without any facilities. The Bantu Homelands Citizenship Act of 1970 made every black African, regardless of actual residence, a citizen of one of the homelands, thus excluding blacks from the South African political system. The government made four of the homelands—Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda, and Ciskei—“independent” and granted the remaining homelands some self-government. However, none of the homelands was developed enough to become truly economically independent from South Africa, and none was ever recognized internationally as an independent country.
To help enforce racial segregation, the government strengthened the existing “pass” laws, which required nonwhites to carry passes, or identification documents authorizing their presence in restricted areas. In addition, the government expanded the powers of the police to allow them to detain anyone suspected of opposing government policies. The Indemnity Act of 1961 made it legal for the police to torture and kill in the course of performing their duties. Later laws allowed the police to arrest and detain people without trial and to deny them access to lawyers and to their families.
The Antiapartheid Movement
One of the main groups to oppose apartheid was a black nationalist organization in South Africa called the African National Congress (ANC). Under the leadership of Albert Luthuli, Walter Sisulu, Oliver Tambo, and Nelson Mandela, the ANC and its Youth League sponsored nonviolent demonstrations, strikes, and boycotts in the 1940s and ’50s. In 1952 the ANC worked with the South African Indian Congress to mount the Defiance Campaign, in which protesters burned their pass books and peacefully defied apartheid laws. Some 8,500 were arrested. In 1955 the ANC and other groups held a mass meeting called the Congress of the People, which included blacks, Indians, and people of mixed race, as well as some sympathetic whites. The following year, the government charged more than 150 of the attendees with treason. After lengthy trial proceedings, they were acquitted in 1961.
In 1956 Trevor Huddleston of the Anglican church published in England Naught for Your Comfort, a condemnation of apartheid. He had served in South Africa and had firsthand knowledge of segregation and white supremacy. Huddleston became one of the first to raise awareness of the situation internationally. However, it took several more years before the United Nations stepped in with trade sanctions against South Africa.
Meanwhile, a group of blacks in South Africa led by Robert Sobukwe broke away from the ANC and formed the Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC) in 1959. The PAC believed that blacks could better achieve liberation without working with groups from other races. In 1960 the PAC mounted a new nonviolent campaign against the pass laws. At one such demonstration in the black township Sharpeville, the police opened fire on the crowd, killing more than 60 people and wounding more than 180. In response, massive nonviolent black protests erupted in several locations. The government outlawed both the PAC and the ANC and used the army to crush resistance.
The Sharpeville violence attracted international attention to South Africa’s system of discrimination. The United Nations condemned apartheid by a 96–1 vote as “reprehensible and repugnant to human dignity,” and South Africa was forced to withdraw from the Commonwealth in 1961. Many countries imposed economic sanctions against South Africa during the early 1960s. In 1962–63 the United Nations asked its member countries to end economic and diplomatic relations with South Africa and to refrain from supplying the country with arms and petroleum.
After the Sharpeville shootings and their aftermath, many antiapartheid leaders came to believe that the movement would never be successful without the use of violence. The ANC and the PAC each created a military unit to carry out acts of sabotage. By 1964, however, the government had captured and imprisoned most of the resistance leaders, including Mandela and Sobukwe. Tambo, Thabo Mbeki, and other ANC leaders fled the country and led the struggle in exile. Winnie Mandela, Nelson Mandela’s wife, continued to fight apartheid from within South Africa but was harassed and jailed.
On the international front, several East and Central African countries issued in 1969 the Manifesto on Southern Africa (now known as the Lusaka Manifesto). In the manifesto the signatory countries reinforced human rights and rejected racial discrimination. They also urged a peaceful end to the white minority controlling the black majority in South Africa. The United Nations subsequently adopted the resolutions.
A new wave of resistance within South Africa began in the 1970s. Stephen Biko led a black consciousness movement that encouraged blacks to embrace black culture and to recognize their own self-worth. In 1972 Biko and other black students formed the Black Peoples Convention (BPC), a nonviolent activist group. In addition, black labor unions demanded better working conditions and wages in a series of strikes.
Black high school students protested against having to be taught in the Afrikaans language on June 16, 1976, in the township of Soweto (now part of Johannesburg). After the police opened fire on the students, massive protests erupted and then rapidly spread from the township to other urban black areas. The government’s brutal suppression of the uprisings killed hundreds of people and wounded more than a thousand. The following year Biko was killed while in police custody, resulting in renewed riots. In the wake of the violence, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution imposing an arms embargo against South Africa (making what had been voluntary sanctions mandatory for member countries).
The South African government faced mounting international pressure to reform its policies during the 1980s. The British Anti-Apartheid Movement had been using various boycotts, demonstrations, and campaigns for some 20 years to bring international awareness to the situation. By the 1980s the group had enough influence to weaken South Africa economically through mass boycotts. In addition, the international community awarded South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu with the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his efforts to bring a peaceful end to apartheid. The movement to free Mandela gained wide international support. With the endorsement of the United Nations Security Council, the United States and the United Kingdom imposed selective economic sanctions on South Africa in 1985.
The economic sanctions, in conjunction with continued resistance from within the country, led the South African government to end pass laws, legalize interracial marriage, and end segregation in some public facilities. In an attempt to divide the resistance movement, the government also granted some political rights to Indians and people of mixed race. In response, hundreds of community groups formed the multiracial United Democratic Front. The uprisings continued, and the government declared a state of emergency and martial law in many parts of the country from 1985 to 1989.
The South African government began to hold secret discussions with Mandela, who was still serving a life sentence in prison. After F.W. de Klerk of the National P became the country’s president in 1989, he accelerated the reform process and oversaw the dismantling of the apartheid laws. In February 1990 he released Mandela and many other political prisoners and lifted the ban on the ANC and the PAC. Limited school integration began in early 1991, and by mid-year the Population Registration Act of 1950 was repealed. White voters approved a referendum supporting reform in 1992. Later that year, the ANC and the National P agreed to a landmark Record of Understanding that allowed for a peaceful transition to a democratic republic. For these achievements Mandela and de Klerk shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.
An interim constitution of 1993 enfranchised all adult citizens of South Africa. In April 1994, the country’s first all-race national elections produced a coalition government with a black majority. Mandela became president and de Klerk deputy president. On May 8, 1996, South Africa adopted a majority-rule constitution that featured a broad bill of rights, barring discrimination based on race, gender, age, sexual orientation, or marital status.
Introduction
One of the bleak outcomes of European settlement in South Africa was the adoption of the apartheid. This system which was adopted by the minority white government was characterized by unequal rights and opportunities for the various races living in South Africa1.
Apartheid had various far reaching social, economic and political implications for the black, white, Asian and colored peoples of South Africa. The policy of Apartheid was based on segregation of people depending on their race. An aspect of society that was significantly affected by this policy was education.
This paper will aim to discuss the impact of apartheid on education in South Africa so as to demonstrate that apartheid negatively affected the educational development of non-whites in South Africa. To reinforce this assertion, a critical look at the ways in which apartheid impact educational development for the various races shall be provided.
A Brief History of Apartheid
South Africa is a society in which “Africans, Asians and Europeans co-exist in the same territory” as a result of a long history of interaction between these three groups.
The first European settlement took place in 1652 and since then, there has been prolonged contact characterized by cooperation as well as conflicts over resources between these groups of people2.
Apartheid as a political system was proposed by the National Party which took power in 1948 as a system to safeguard “White supremacy”. Walshe states that the original concept of Apartheid which was developed by Afrikaner intellectuals and idealists who sought to create complete territorial separation of the races3.
However, this original ideal of Apartheid was not practical to implement since the Europeans required the surplus labor that could only be provided by Africans.
Successive Nationalist governments therefore modified the ideal so as to maintain white privilege and bolster Afrikaner power while at the same time exploiting the other races so as to maintain their high standard of living.
Effects on Education
The government of South Africa recognized the importance of education for the country. Even so, education was greatly influenced by the official policy of Apartheid with dire consequences being felt by the Africans and the Colored and Asian minority.
So as to conform to the ideal of “separateness”, Africans, Asians, Coloureds and Whites were educated in independent spheres. Separateness was emphasized from the method of finance to the type of syllabus stipulated for each group by the administration.
For the white children, education was provided free of charge and was compulsory up to a certain age. On the other hand, almost all black schools required substantial fees even at the primary level which means that the economic resources available to black families had a bearing on their ability to ensure that their children received an education.
Traditionally, all educational efforts are designed to increase the productivity of the student so as to benefit the society. The apartheid system deviated from this standard and Brookes described apartheid education as “the only education system in the world designed to restrict the productivity of its pupils in the national economy to lowly and subservient tasks”4.
The South African government endeavored to give the “natives” an education that would make them manual laborers. Apartheid education rendered non-whites non-competitive in the South African economy as their education did not given them a chance to compete on the same grounding with whites.
The high paying jobs were therefore reserved for the whites since the other races could not attain the education level required to fill this capacities. UNESCO recorded that in 1960, South Africa faced a chronic shortage of top-level manpower in science and technology since the racial discrimination in education ensured that only a small number of people received higher training5.
This was because of the policy of “separate development” in the field of education which was encouraged by the government. This policy was in fact synonymous with inequality of access since non-White schools suffered from inadequate facilities.
UNESCO reported that as a result of low standard of equipment in African schools, Africans who wished to continue to higher education especially in sciences were handicapped.
Treiman asserts that a central feature of apartheid in South Africa was unequal access to education by race with the white population being given preference6. In particular, black children were subjected to limited educational opportunities and their education system was of an inferior quality.
For example, the training of teachers for the various races was also significantly different. The South African Government in 1949 appointed a committee which was tasked with modifying the training of teachers for the respective races7. The training was to be adjusted in respect to content and the form of syllabuses so as to conform to the government policy of preparing the non-Whites for their future occupations.
Teachers in African schools also suffered from poor salaries as a result of the shortage of finances. Due to these, African schools suffered from a lack of adequate number of trained teachers since not many people felt motivated to train for this profession.
The type of schools that could be built was also greatly affected by available finances and for this reason, non-white school facilities were poor. The ability to expand the school systems was also greatly deterred by financial constraints.
Education also served as a potent tool for domination and assertion of White Supremacy to the other races in South Africa. Apartheid education was designed to benefit the Europeans by enhancing their omnipresence. Abdi asserts that the peoples of South Africa were “culturally dominated with colonial and apartheid education”8.
After the 1948 ascendancy into power of the National party which championed apartheid, a separate and unequal education program was implemented. The African population was given the Bantu Education program9. This education program not only vastly inferior to the white education program but it also elevated the use of Afrikaners as the language of choice.
The fact that education was a key to domination is confirmed by the statement by apartheid Prime Minister and Minister of Native Affairs, F. Verwoerd, who asserted that “when I have control over native education, I will reform it so natives will be taught from childhood that equality with Europeans is not for them”10.
This approach to education by the Apartheid regime was contrary to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which stated that “education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms”11.
Universally, education efforts are geared at preparing the individual for their future occupation. In apartheid South Africa, the Blacks and other minority groups were a source of cheap labor for the White South Africans. A major objective of Bantu Education was therefore to provide mass labor for the country’s rapidly growing economy.
The levels of achievements in non-white schools were therefore deliberately imposed to fit in with the different expectations in employments and for the non-whites, this meant being prepared for a future occupation as an unskilled laborer12.
The primary priority in African education was to create mass literacy and to increase education at the lowest (primary) level. The government therefore encouraged lower primary school enrolments which were to concentrate on “the tool subjects (three R’s)”.
There were major financial discrepancies between the expenditure made on white pupils and the average African pupil. Before the implementation of apartheid, the South African government provided grants to private schools for all the races.
However, starting from 1957, the government withdrew grants to private schools for Africans which made it impossible for Africans to afford private education. As of 1990, the educational expenditure incurred by the government on behalf of the white pupil was as high as four times that of the average African pupil.
The relative cost of schooling for blacks was much higher than for whites despite the fact that whites were more economically empowered and had a much higher standard of living.
As a result of this, there was a higher drop out rate and lower education attainment for blacks compared to white South Africans. Treiman cites the lack cost of education as the primary reason for dropping out or not enrolling in school13.
Discussion
The apartheid education system was racially divided and highly discriminatory and Nelson Mandela described the system as “a crime against humanity”14.
The fact that education was free for all white children until the end of secondary school while the rest of the population were forced to pay for the education of their children through direct and indirect taxation points to the discriminatory nature of apartheid.
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The education provided to non-whites in the Apartheid era was aimed at sustaining their subservient role in relation to the white population. Bantu education was structured in such a manner that Black South Africans could contribute as much as possible to the maintenance of the apartheid system.
The education provided in the apartheid era was not what the Africans desired. According to UNESCO, Africans desired to get from education; an integration into the democratic structures and institutes of the country15.
As such, they wanted an education which was equal to and not inferior to that provided to other races in the country. The Apartheid system was officially abolished in 1994 when The African National Congress let government of national unity took power16.
Since then, positive changes have been made to redress the inequalities that apartheid brought about. Even so, the negative impacts of Apartheid education system in South Africa continue to be felt today.
Conclusion
Education is critical to the development of the nation and the well being of individual members of the society. This paper set out to highlight the manner in which this important aspect of society was affected by apartheid in South Africa.
From this paper, it is clear that the provision of education to by the white government was not aimed at empowering the Black South Africans and the other minority groups. Instead, education was used as a means to provide cheap labor for South Africa’s budding industries as well as enhance white domination.
Bibliography
Abdi, Ali. “Apartheid and Education in South Africa: Select Historical Analyses.” The Western Journal of Black Studies 27, no.2 (2003): 89-97.
Brookes, Edgar. Apartheid: a Documentary Study of Modern South Africa. London: Routledge 1968.
Lemon, Anthony. “Redressing School Inequalities in the Eastern Cape, South Africa”. Journal of Southern African Studies 30, no.2 (2004): 269-290.
Shillington, Kevin. History of Africa, Revised Edition. Boston: Palgrave Macmillan, 1995.
Treiman, Donald. “Migration, Remittances and Educational Stratification among Blacks in Apartheid and Post-Apartheid South Africa”. Social Forces 89, no. 14 (2011): 1119-1144.
UNESCO. Apartheid: Its effects on education, science, culture and information. United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 1967.
Walshe, Peter. “Review: Aspects of Apartheid.” The Review of Politics 25, no.1 (1963): 140-142.
Footnotes
1 Kevin Shillington, History of Africa, Revised Edition (Boston: Palgrave Macmillan, 1995), 23.
2 UNESCO, Apartheid: Its effects on education, science, culture and information (United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 1967), 13.
3 Peter Walshe, “Review: Aspects of Apartheid,” The Review of Politics 25, No. 1, (1963): 140.
4 Edgar Brookes, Apartheid: a Documentary Study of Modern South Africa, (London: Routledge 1968), 57.
5 UNESCO, 22.
6 Donald Treiman, “Migration, Remittances and Educational Stratification among Blacks in Apartheid and Post-Apartheid South Africa”, Social Forces 89, no. 14 (2011): 1124.
7 UNESCO, 31.
8 Ali Abdi, “Apartheid and Education in South Africa: Select Historical Analyses,” The Western Journal of Black Studies 27, no.2 (2003): 90.
9 Abdi, 91.
10 Abdi, 93.
11 UNESCO, 25.
12 Ibid, 22.
13 Donald, 1125.
14 Anthony Lemon, “Redressing School Inequalities in the Eastern Cape, South Africa”. Journal of Southern African Studies 30, no.2 (2004): 270.
15 UNESCO, 29.
16 Anthony, 270.
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Life In Africa After Independence
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Bibliography
Apartheid Essays: Examples, Topics, Titles, & Outlines
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Apartheid In South Africa - Weebly
References
Apartheid Backgroundms. Scrolls Ela Classes Online
IvyPanda. (2019) 'Impact of Apartheid on Education in South Africa'. 20 September.
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