So you thought apartheid was dead? Take a look closer to home

WHEN apartheid was introduced in South Africa in 1948, racial discrimination became official government policy. Apartheid was often referred to in government pronouncements as ‘separate development’.

In fact, as we all know, it was a policy designed exclusively to ensure the permanent inferiority of a race of people, and its management was based entirely on skin colour.

Under the apartheid system, all black people were forced to carry ‘pass books’. These contained their fingerprints and photos, together with information on what areas they were allowed into. Failure to carry the pass book was a crime, just as it was also a crime to be found in any area not specified in the book. Under apartheid, black people were forbidden, under very harsh penalties, from marrying non-blacks.