Nature of the Apartheid State (Grade 12 NSC Matric History): Revision Notes

Nature of the Apartheid State

Background to the 1970s and 1980s

The apartheid state in the 1970s and 1980s represented the height of institutionalised racial segregation in South Africa. By this period, the liberation movements faced severe restrictions that shaped the political landscape.

Key developments by the 1970s:

• The ANC and PAC liberation movements had faced prohibition for almost a decade, with their leaders either imprisoned or forced into exile
• Harsh security legislation made any activity supporting banned organisations illegal
• Millions of black South Africans were forcibly relocated from white-owned agricultural land into impoverished areas called Bantustans
• Black people endured continuous pass law raids, facing arrest and imprisonment for minor infratheid violations

Despite this oppression, South Africa's economy flourished during this period. Foreign investment from Britain, Europe and America poured into the country, generating high returns that primarily benefited the white population.

However, this economic success contained the seeds of apartheid's eventual downfall, as new forms of resistance began emerging in the early 1970s.

The theory of apartheid planning

Grand apartheid strategy

In the late 1960s, the National Party government launched its most ambitious segregation project known as Grand Apartheid. This comprehensive plan aimed to restructure South African society along strict racial lines.

The bantustans system:

• The government established 10 rural self-governing territories designated as 'tribal homelands' or bantustans
• These areas were intended to eventually become independent ethnic 'nations' for different African groups
• 87% of South African land would remain under white control and citizenship
• The remaining 13% would form 'independent' countries for various black ethnic groups including Zulu, Xhosa, Venda and others
• This arrangement would strip black people of South African citizenship rights entirely

Fatal flaws in the system

The grand apartheid vision proved fundamentally unworkable for several critical reasons:

Economic impossibility:

• The rural bantustans remained desperately impoverished with no viable economic foundation
• These territories could never function as genuine independent nations
• Apartheid policies contradicted the needs of South Africa's growing industrial economy, which required a stable, educated black workforce living in urban areas as consumers

Political resistance:

• Black South Africans would never voluntarily accept this system
• The policy could only be maintained through escalating repression as resistance movements re-emerged

Economic growth and its consequences

The economic boom period

During the late 1960s and early 1970s, South Africa experienced remarkable economic expansion that masked the underlying tensions within apartheid society.

Drivers of growth:

• International investment from British, European and American companies financed rapid development
• Commercial agriculture became increasingly mechanised and efficient
• Mining and manufacturing sectors expanded significantly

Migration and labour control:

• Massive black migration occurred as people sought work in expanding urban centres
• The government enforced pass law restrictions, arresting Africans and forcing them back to designated homelands
• Black families in homelands remained largely unemployed and dependent on migrant labour remittances

Unequal benefits:

• Very few black South Africans gained from this rapid economic growth
• White South Africans became one of the world's wealthiest communities per capita
• This growing inequality intensified social tensions and resistance

Independence of the homelands

Cooperation and resistance

The apartheid government's homeland policy created divisions within black communities, with some leaders choosing collaboration while others maintained resistance.

Black elite cooperation:

• Certain sections of the black elite in homelands agreed to work with apartheid authorities
• These leaders accepted high positions in homeland bureaucracies in exchange for implementing government policies
• This collaboration legitimised the bantustans system from the government's perspective

The TBVC countries:

• In 1976, Transkei became the first homeland to accept independence under its leader, the self-styled 'Paramount Chief of the Xhosa', Kaiser Matanzima
• The corrupt homeland administrations of Bophuthatswana, Ciskei and Venda also declared independence during the 1980s
• These became known as the TBVC countries - none received international recognition as legitimate states

Apartheid policies under the National Party

Divide and rule strategy

The National Party implemented systematic policies designed to fragment black unity and maintain white supremacy through cultural and political manipulation.

Ethnic division:

• The government deliberately sought to divide black people into separate ethnic and racial categories
• This strategy aimed to prevent unified resistance by emphasising tribal differences over common oppression

Language and cultural control:

• Bilingualism in Afrikaans and English was promoted as these became the official languages
• The state sponsored exclusively white national sports teams and cultural events
• All radio and television remained under government control to shape public opinion

Propaganda warfare:

• State-controlled media cultivated white fears about black majority rule
• Government propaganda depicted the ANC as a communist front organisation allied with the Soviet Union
• This messaging aimed to justify continued repression and international isolation