South Africa:the times leading to apartheid(1910-1948)

Even before South Africa became an independent nation, there were issues between the Black and White peoples of the Southern part of Africa. A brief history: The original settlers were the Khoisan people, a hunter-gatherer people. Next, several Bantu peoples slowly made their way to what is now the KwaZulu-Natal Province. In the mid 1600's, the Dutch settled the area around the Cape. There were also people brought in from Madagascar and Indonesia as slaves. Some of these people intermarried with Dutch settlers. Their descendants are known as Cape Coloureds and Cape Malays. Many Dutch settlers went further into the interior to lead an isolated existance of pastoral living, not unlike what many Blacks were doing in the interior. These settlers would be called Boers(meaning farmer). Fighting would take placed between the Boers and the Xhosa. In 1815, the British occupied the the region then known as the Cape Colony. British settlers went to South Africa as farmers and were set up by Britain as a buffer zone between the Boers and the Xhosa. What happened next? Many British settlers went to the towns and more kept coming from Britain. The Boers were not happy with British rule and went on "The Great Trek" to what they thought was empty land. Actually, loose bands of Black people were there, who had fled from Zulu expansion. Many Boers already believed that European expansion would bring civilisation and felt this way even more so after hearing of Zulu expansion. Boer Republic of Natalia was formed on what many thought was essentially unpopulated territory. The British annexed the territory in 1839 and the Colony of Natal was formed. The Zulu Kingdom was annexed to the Colony of Natal in 1897, 18 years after the Zulu people lost the Anglo-Zulu War.

Now, onto the events of 1910 to 1948. Before South Africa became The Union of South Africa, there were racially motivated laws on the books under British colonial rule. One of them was the Pass Laws. These laws were started before the official apartheid policy came into fruition. The Pass Laws restricted Black people to Black areas. In what was then the Cape Colony and Natal, Blacks were prohibited from being on the streets after the sun went down. Blacks were also prohibited from going from one district to another without a pass, hence, Pass Laws.

More laws were passed limiting what Black people could do.

List of restrictions included:

The Franchise and Ballot Act of 1892.This limited which native persons could vote based on financial and educational qualifications.
Natal Legislative Assembly Bill of 1894: Denied Indians the right to vote.
General Pass Regulations Bill 1905: Blacks were outright denied the right to vote, limited them to certain areas, and the Pass System was started.
Asiatic Registration Act 1906: Indians were required to carry passes.

In 1910, The Union of South Africa was formed. The South Africa Act was also passed that year. Whites were given full voting rights and control over other racial groups.

In 1913, the Native Land Act was passed. Blacks could not buy land outside of "reserves" unless they lived in the Cape.

In 1918, the Natives in Urban Areas Bill was passed. Blacks were forced to live in designated areas
In 1923, the Urban Areas Act was passed, which instituted residential segregation and provided cheap labor for industries run by Whites.
The Colour Bar Act of 1926 prohibited Blacks from practicing skilled trades.
Native Administration Act of 1927 made the British Crown the head of all African affairs.

When Jan Smuts was the head of the United Party, the Asiatic Land Tenure Bill was passed in 1946, which basically prohibited the sale of land to Indians.

In 1948, Daniel François Malan was the head of the Reunited National Party. Malan beat Smuts and became Prime Minister of South Africa. His party merged with the Afrikaner Party to form the National Party. Malan brought about the official apartheid policy.

There were apartheid policies going on before the official policy got started.

Sources: http://www.britannica.com/facts/5/137759/Franchise-and-Ballot-Act-as-discussed-in-Cecil-Rhodes-prime-minister-of-Cape-Colony
http://courses.wcupa.edu/jones/his311/lectures/22sa-boe.htm
http://countrystudies.us/south-africa/15.htm