For nearly 50 years, South Africa was governed by one of the most oppressive racial systems in modern history: apartheid. Implemented in 1948 by the National Party, apartheid was not just a system of segregation; it was a deliberate and systematic policy designed to control, exploit, and dehumanize the country’s Black majority.
Under apartheid, South African society was structured to benefit the white minority, while stripping non-white citizens of their basic rights and freedoms, as well as economic opportunities. This abhorrent form of segregation was not only enforced through violent policing, but also through legislation that made racial inequality permanent.
How did such a heinous part of South Africa’s history come to pass? How did it finally come to an end? And what lessons can be learned to prevent similar systems of injustice in the future? Click through this gallery to find out.