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Encyclopedia of South Africa
This chapter is in the book Encyclopedia of South Africa
UDFSe eUNITEDDEMOC RATICFRONTUn ion of Sou th Afri ca (19 10–1 948)Pri or to 1910,the terri to ry no w kn ow n as Sout hAfri ca was dividedinto Bri tis h col on ies (t he CAPECOLON Yand NATA L), an d indepen den t AFR IK ANERrepublics(the Transvaaland the Oran ge FreeStat e). The independentco un try wit h th e territ o-ria l boundariesth at exi st tod ay was bo rn wit h theUni on of SouthAfricaat the en d of the ANGLO-BOERWAR. The Union of Sou th Africa was th eresul t of a politicalcomp rom is e betw een th e vic -tori ous Britishand the Afrik aners . Th e Afri kaner swere gran ted politicalpow er and con trol ove r thene w governmentand ov er th e nat iv e po pula tio n.The Britishguaranteed thei r con ti nu ed ec ono mi cdom inanceby maintaini ng co nt rol ove r the mi n-eral resources(GOLD AND DI AMONDMINING) of thecountry.Alth oughAP ARTH EIDwasn ’t est ab li sh edunt il 1948,racialdiscri mi nat io n and exp loit ati onbe gan to be nationallyin st it ut ion ali zed with th efoundingof the Un ion of Sou th Afri ca .One of the first law s pas sed by th e ne wUni on of South Afric a go vernment was th e 19 13NATIV ES’ LANDACT, a maj or pillar in the infr a-stru ctureof the num erous piec es of segreg at ionlegi slat io n in SouthAf rica .Al ong wit h ot her laws,as well as ec ono mic an d so cia l po licie s, it fo rm eda web of contro l tha t releg at ed Africa ns , INDIA NS,an dCOLO URED S(th e Sout h Af ri can la bel fo r peo-ple of mix ed et hni c des ce nt ), al so re ferr ed to col-lecti vely as “b lac ks ,” to subo rd inat ed and ex-plo ited li ves on the margins of Sout h Afr ica nsoci ety. The act itself de lim ite d abou t 7.1 perc en tof lan d for th e ma jority of the Afr ican pop ula tio nin th e fo rm of “n ative res er ves ” and all oca ted 80percentof the la nd for excl us ive wh ite own er shi p.Moreo ve r, it pre ve nte d Af rican s fro m bu yin g,leasi ng, or other wi se acq uiri ng land out sid e of thenati ve re se rv es.Al th ough, by 1910, a number of other sign if-icantstra nds of segreg ati on had al re ad y be enwo rked out , the con sol ida tio n of whi te su pre ma cyin th e new Uni on of Sout h Afr ic a go ver nm ent stil lre qui red some con sid era bl e wo rk . This wa s, inpart, bec ause a num ber of in ter na l co ntrad ict ion sre main ed in the fo rmulatio n of segr eg ation, an d inpart beca use of th e unev en ef fe ct s of th e burgeon-ing indu str ia l econ omy . Inde ed, duri ng much ofthe periodfrom 191 0 unt il th e fo rm al art iculat ion299U
© 2022, Lynne Rienner Publishers, Boulder, USA

UDFSe eUNITEDDEMOC RATICFRONTUn ion of Sou th Afri ca (19 10–1 948)Pri or to 1910,the terri to ry no w kn ow n as Sout hAfri ca was dividedinto Bri tis h col on ies (t he CAPECOLON Yand NATA L), an d indepen den t AFR IK ANERrepublics(the Transvaaland the Oran ge FreeStat e). The independentco un try wit h th e territ o-ria l boundariesth at exi st tod ay was bo rn wit h theUni on of SouthAfricaat the en d of the ANGLO-BOERWAR. The Union of Sou th Africa was th eresul t of a politicalcomp rom is e betw een th e vic -tori ous Britishand the Afrik aners . Th e Afri kaner swere gran ted politicalpow er and con trol ove r thene w governmentand ov er th e nat iv e po pula tio n.The Britishguaranteed thei r con ti nu ed ec ono mi cdom inanceby maintaini ng co nt rol ove r the mi n-eral resources(GOLD AND DI AMONDMINING) of thecountry.Alth oughAP ARTH EIDwasn ’t est ab li sh edunt il 1948,racialdiscri mi nat io n and exp loit ati onbe gan to be nationallyin st it ut ion ali zed with th efoundingof the Un ion of Sou th Afri ca .One of the first law s pas sed by th e ne wUni on of South Afric a go vernment was th e 19 13NATIV ES’ LANDACT, a maj or pillar in the infr a-stru ctureof the num erous piec es of segreg at ionlegi slat io n in SouthAf rica .Al ong wit h ot her laws,as well as ec ono mic an d so cia l po licie s, it fo rm eda web of contro l tha t releg at ed Africa ns , INDIA NS,an dCOLO URED S(th e Sout h Af ri can la bel fo r peo-ple of mix ed et hni c des ce nt ), al so re ferr ed to col-lecti vely as “b lac ks ,” to subo rd inat ed and ex-plo ited li ves on the margins of Sout h Afr ica nsoci ety. The act itself de lim ite d abou t 7.1 perc en tof lan d for th e ma jority of the Afr ican pop ula tio nin th e fo rm of “n ative res er ves ” and all oca ted 80percentof the la nd for excl us ive wh ite own er shi p.Moreo ve r, it pre ve nte d Af rican s fro m bu yin g,leasi ng, or other wi se acq uiri ng land out sid e of thenati ve re se rv es.Al th ough, by 1910, a number of other sign if-icantstra nds of segreg ati on had al re ad y be enwo rked out , the con sol ida tio n of whi te su pre ma cyin th e new Uni on of Sout h Afr ic a go ver nm ent stil lre qui red some con sid era bl e wo rk . This wa s, inpart, bec ause a num ber of in ter na l co ntrad ict ion sre main ed in the fo rmulatio n of segr eg ation, an d inpart beca use of th e unev en ef fe ct s of th e burgeon-ing indu str ia l econ omy . Inde ed, duri ng much ofthe periodfrom 191 0 unt il th e fo rm al art iculat ion299U
© 2022, Lynne Rienner Publishers, Boulder, USA
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