Professor Colin Bundy
The Heyday of Apartheid, 1948-1972
Summary
Apartheid (literally ‘separateness’) was the electoral slogan which brought the Afrikaner National Party to power in 1948. Colin Bundy maps the barrage of legislation passed during the 1950s, creating the most extensive and far-reaching system of racial discrimination anywhere, and its impact on society. It identifies the 1960s as a period of economic growth, political dominance and ruthless social engineering.
Professor Colin Bundy
Historian Colin Bundy retired after a career as an academic and university administrator. He served as vice-chancellor of the University of the Witwatersrand, principal of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and principal of Green Templeton College, Oxford. As a scholar he was best known for his Rise and Fall of a South African Peasantry and was co-author (with William Beinart) of Hidden Struggles in Rural South Africa. He has published widely on South African history and politics, and this lecture draws upon two of his books in the Jacana Pocket series: Short-changed? South Africa since apartheid, and Poverty in South Africa: Past and Present.
No, during this period, the United Party, which is the minority party, mainly represented English-speaking voters. So did the Progressive Party for its brief duration, while the National Party generally represented Afrikaans-speaking voters.
And yes, certainly. District six, a little bit like Sophia Town, was an area of mixed residential race where black people had been able over the years to buy and own land freehold, same as in Sophiatown. It was also very close to the central business district in Cape Town. And so, District Six was completely demolished, and its inhabitants removed to the grim and distant so-called coloured location of Mitchell’s Plain. Please note today that countries I mentioned are not democratic at all. I wouldn’t argue with that.
But it certainly wasn’t taught in this way. And, you know, for reasons of racism or white supremacy, yes.