Overcoming Bantu Education in Post-Apartheid South Africa
The word “apartheid” means “the state of being apart” in Afrikaans, a
language mainly spoken by white South Africans that came to be known as the “language of the oppressor” during the fight against apartheid (Alexander 1). While the separatist policies of apartheid lead to over four decades of institutionalized racism toward black South Africans, one of the architects of the system argued that separating blacks and white would lead to a stronger and more peaceful society.
"There is no place for [a black man] in the European community above the level of certain forms of labor…Within his own community, however, all doors are open.”
-Dr. Hendrik Verwoerd, Minister of Native Affairs, 1950-1958 and Prime Minister from 1958-1966 and "The Architect of Apartheid" (qtd. in "The Rise of Apartheid").
Verwoerd's claim that black South African education should be limited to match their inferior stance in society stemmed from the discriminatory nature of apartheid policy. In 1948, the National Party won the general election after running on a platform of political and social segregation between blacks and whites. Because white-owned businesses such as mines, factories and farms depended on cheap black labor to produce large profit margins, they had strong economic incentive for supporting a government that denied blacks the vote and paid low wages ("The Rise of Apartheid").
Following its inception, the apartheid government divided South Africans into four racial groups: White, Coloured, Black and Indian. It then designated specific residential areas for these socially constructed racial groups and forced non-white South Africans out their homes. These areas were called "Bantustan territories" or "homelands" ("The Rise of Apartheid").
Encyclopedia Britannica's "Black Homelands of South Africa During the Apartheid Era."
The Separatist Vision of Apartheid
A Unified Vision of Democracy
Dr. Hendrik Verwoerd defines apartheid as a policy of "good neighborliness" (Youtube, "Hendrik Verwoerd Defines Apartheid").
Along with representing the geographic segregation of blacks and whites,
"the creation of homelands or reserves [was] a necessary condition for the ideological functioning of Apartheid" (Hlatshwayo 67). It worked in tandem with several foundational policies to perpetuate black discrimination and bolster the ideals of white supremacy. The Nationalist Party and the Afrikaner people it represented thought of themselves as a dominant race that needed to maintain its power through racial segregation - a belief reflected in the pillars of apartheid.
Pillars of the system:
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Spatial segregation
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Racial classification
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Institutional segregation
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Cultural censorship
These pillars manifested in two laws that took effect in 1950: the Population Registration Act and the Group Areas Act. The Population Registration Act defined the racial categories while the Group Areas Act forcibly removed Blacks, Coloureds and Indians to the outer edges of major cities ("The Rise of Apartheid"). The Group Areas Act was enforced through the Abolition of Passes and Documents Act of 1952, which required non-whites to carry proof of residency and employment history or face arrest (Ross 119). These policies came together to form the basis of apartheid in South Africa.
Fast forward to the election of Nelson Mandela in 1994, and you will find a very different rhetoric regarding society’s unification. During his inauguration on May 10, 1994, Mandela spoke of a new South Africa:
"Our daily deeds as ordinary South Africans must produce an actual South African reality that will reinforce humanity’s belief in justice, strengthen its confidence in the nobility of the human soul and sustain all our hopes for a glorious life for all” (qtd. in Friske and Ladd 1).
So how did South Africa go from a racially stratified nation to a democratized one? Does the legacy of apartheid still live on in South Africa today? In order to answer that question, this exhibition will ground apartheid’s effect in the South African education system – one of the most discriminatory institutions of apartheid. Through implementing Bantu education, a system that perpetuated white supremacy by limiting black South African’s access to high quality education, the architects of apartheid ensured that blacks would remain second-class citizens. But through decades of resistance toward apartheid and its education system, a new era of democracy could be ushered in. And although South Africa has made significant leaps in equalizing black and white education, the nation continues to grapple with effective reform.
Principles Behind Apartheid Policy
Trevor Samson. AP/Getty Images