South africa- the laws and their effects essays

South africa- the laws and their effects essays In 1948, the National Party was elected with Dr. Daniel Malan as their leader in South Africa. Their policies were based on the Saur Report (1947) which ultimately worked towards full apartheid (apartness) and segregation of the different races. During 1948-1960, many apartheid laws were introduced and these confiscated the rights of all non-whites socially, residentially, politically and educationally. These legislations did not achieve grand apartheid, but with Africans making up 73% of the South African people along with 9% being Coloured and 2.8% being Asians, they had significant negative effects on the vast majority of the population. Naturally, the non-whites decided to take action against the unjust and unfair rules after many years of patience. The resistance took form in many ways, most being peaceful and non-violent, at least until the beginning of 1960s. Once in power, one of the first issues the National Party took to consideration was social segregation. They decided to deal with the closest links of all between the races- sex and marriage. The Afrikaners truly believed in racial purity and that they were God-blessed superior race. The thought of mixing the superior race and the inferior non-whites seemed disgraceful for Malan and Party. Firstly, in 1949, the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act was passed through the government; this made marriages between whites and non-whites illegal. But the effects of this act were not the results the government had in mind, so in 1950 a second, Immorality Act had to be passed reinforcing that all sexual relations outside marriage illegal between Whites and non-Whites. However, loopholes were found again by those who wanted to be together, but were of different race. In 1953, a 25 year old married White man was convicted to a month in jail for kissing an African girl in a parked car withou t lights, in a dark street. The girls...