-
apartheid put into action by national party
Although many of the segregationist policies dated back to the early decades of the twentieth century, it was the election of the Nationalist Party in 1948 that marked the beginning of legalized racism's harshest features called Apartheid. The Cold War then was in its early stages. -
mixed marriages act
The Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act, Act No. 55 of 1949, was an apartheid-era law in South Africa that prohibited marriages between "whites" and "non-whites". -
population registration
required that each inhabitant of South Africa be classified and registered in accordance with their racial characteristics as part of the system of apartheid. -
sharpeville massacre
The Sharpeville massacre occurred on 21 March 1960 at the police station in the township of Sharpeville in the then Transvaal Province of the then Union of South Africa (today part of Gauteng). -
prime minister hendink verwood is assassinated
On 6 September 1966, Verwoerd was stabbed several times by parliamentary aide Dimitri Tsafendas. -
rivonnia trial
The Rivonia Trial was a trial that took place in apartheid-era South Africa between 9 October 1963 and 12 June 1964, after a group of anti-apartheid activists were arrested on Liliesleaf Farm in Rivonia. -
bantu homelend citizensship act
ruled that all Blacks would assume the nationality of one of the homelands, even if they had never set foot in it. -
township uprising
On 3 September the Tricameral Parliament opened in Cape Town while protest demonstrations began in the Transvaal, marking the start of the longest and most widespread period of black resistance to white rule. The Lekoa and Evaton Town Councils' idea to raise tariffs for municipal services caused the demonstrations and stayaways in the Vaal Triangle. -
neloson mandela released from prison
n an exclusive clip from the BBC Archive, watch Nelson Mandela speak about his historic release from prison, which was a watershed moment for South Africa in its transition to democracy. -
nelson mandela becomes president
The presidency of Nelson Mandela began on 10 May 1994, when Nelson Mandela, an anti-apartheid activist, leader of uMkhonto we Sizwe, lawyer, and former political prisoner, was inaugurated as President of South Africa, and ended