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Apartheid
Apartheid was a system of legally enforced racial segregation and political exclusion in South Africa (1948–1994) that denied the Black majority equal rights and participation in democracy.
Bantu Education Act
A law passed in 1953 that placed all Black education under government control and implemented a deliberately inferior curriculum designed to prepare Black students only for manual labour. Spending per White student was approximately ten times higher than per Black student.
Bantustan
Also known as homelands, these were territories designated by the apartheid government for specific Black ethnic groups. Ten Bantustans were created, occupying only 13% of South Africa's land area. Four were granted nominal "independence" that was not recognised by any other country.
Group Areas Act
A South African law passed in 1950 that divided the country into racially designated residential zones. It made it illegal for people to live outside the area assigned to their racial group, leading to the forced removal of an estimated 3.5 million people between 1960 and 1983.
Petty Apartheid
The everyday racial segregation of public facilities such as park benches, beaches, buses, hospitals, and post offices under the Reservation of Separate Amenities Act (1953). Distinguished from "grand apartheid" (the Bantustan system and political exclusion), petty apartheid enforced constant daily humiliation on non-White South Africans.
Population Registration Act
A South African law passed in 1950 that required every citizen to be classified by race as White, Coloured, Indian, or Native (Bantu). It formed the legal foundation of the entire apartheid system by determining each person's rights and opportunities based on their assigned racial category.