When was apartheid first enacted?

Apartheid was first enacted in South Africa in 1950. While there had been a history of racial segregation in South Africa in the early 1900s, it wasn’t until after World War II ended that the policy became official in South Africa.

The Great Depression and World War II helped push the government closer to the policy of apartheid. In 1948, the Afrikaner National Party won the election with separation of the races being a key part of its party platform. In 1950, they passed laws keeping blacks and whites apart. There could be no marriages between whites and non-whites. There also couldn’t be sexual relations between blacks and whites. South Africans were categorized into four groups by the Population Registration Act. These were Bantu, Coloured, White, and Asian. Most of the land was reserved for the whites. The other groups needed to have passes to be in the white areas. There were separate facilities for the whites and for the other races.

Beginning in 1950, the system of apartheid became firmly established in South Africa and then further developed over the years. It eventually ended in 1994.