'48 Election

• '48 Election

  • United Party (Smuts, English descent, total segregation impossible + African labour should be stabilised)
  • National Party (Malan, Afrikaner descent, for total separation)

  NP want…

  • Africans
  • Temporary city dwellers
  • Force periodic rural return; meet (Afrikaner) farming needs
  • No parliamentary representation
  • Prohibit mixed marriages
  • Ban black trade unions
  • Stricter job reservation
  • First use of Apartheid
  • Due to rural electorate weight, UP defeated, NP won majority contended seats but minority votes
  • NP won 70/153 seats + formed gov w/ Afrikaner Party support
• NP appeal

  Afrikaner Unity

  • NP want all A support
  • Church:
  • Biblical support for racist
  • Schools; teach kids in Afrikaans
  • Secret Society:
  • Broederbond ('18)
  • Influential
  • 500 members by '30
  • Secret handshake
  • Cover Brit flag w/ SA one in ceremony

  Nationalist Promise

  • W SA
  • B remove from church
  • End 'b threat' to jobs + housing
  • Flexible apartheid; temp city work

  W Fears '40s

  • Economic struggle
  • W anger
  • B in 'their' jobs
  • B wages rose: 1/5th to 25% of white wages
  • B worker migration to city + protests
  • B resistance fear
  • Distrust Smut
• Smuts

  • SA PM ('19–24, '39–48)
  • '42:
  • UN Declaration drawn up
  • Smuts play key role
  • Continued segregation in SA, despite global values
  • Led coalition government w/ majority seats
  • Commit racial segregation; not fully
  • This + link to UN boosted civil rights hope
  • Power waned '40s due to commitment to white superiority
  • No exclusively Afrikaner-led gov 'til '48
  • Values:
  • Liberty
  • B man must carry pass
  • W/ many personal details
  • Demand shown anytime
  • Equality
  • Force B move to less desirable towns
  • Job restrictions + trade unions W only
  • Democracy
  • No B voting right ('10 Act of Union)
• Segregation '48

  Housing:

  • Africans viewed rural + unfit for urban life
  • W housing priority; got more desirable areas
  • B forced move

  Pass System:

  • Every b male had to carry pass
  • Had address, employer, wages, etc
  • Could be demanded to show it any time

  Land:

  • Couldn’t own/buy land out designated b areas
  • Only rent
  • Could only work in white areas if for white farmer

  Mining:

  • Migrant labor system
  • Yearly 'hut tax' (had to send people to mines to get money)
  • '26 Miners + Works Act: Certain jobs were ‘white only’
  • Harsh treatment + low wage
  • Lived in cold, crowded + unhealthy compounds