The National Party wins the election and enforces race based laws.
Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act.
Population Registration Act authorises racial classification.
uppression of Communism Act bans anti-apartheid activities.
Communist Party of South Africa disbands (reemerges in 1953 as South African Commnunist Party).
International Court of Justice supports League of Nations oversight in South-West Africa.
Group Areas Act authorizes residential segregation.
December South Africa rejects UN criticism of apartheid. reasserts claim to South-West Africa. Black political organizations unite to oppose apartheid.
Separate Representation of Voters Act separates voting lists for whites, coloureds.
ANC leaders petition for direct parliamentary representation, end to apartheid. UN calls for South-West African independence. South Africa suspends participation in UN General Assembly.
South African Supreme Court invalidates removal of coloureds from voting lists.
Passive resistance campaign by ANC and South African Indian Congress; 8,000 arrested.
Interracial violence flares. Black Defiance Campaign leaders convicted of "statutory communism."
Reservation of Separate Amenities Act strengthens apartheid in public places. Bantu Education Act limits black education. Communist Party of South Africa reactivated as South African Communist Party (SACP).
International condemnation of forcible resettlement of Sophiatown (most residents moved to area later named Soweto).
South Africa quits United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) after protests over apartheid.
Congress of the People adopts Freedom Charter based on UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights; signers later charged with high treason.
Tomlinson Commission recommends formation of Bantustans in reserved areas.
Industrial Conciliation Act reserves most skilled jobs for whites.
Police arrest 156 for signing Freedom Charter.
Pan-Africanist Congress established.
Sharpeville protests over pass laws; at least sixty-seven deaths, several thousand arrested.
UN Secretary General Dag Hammerskjöld visits South Africa, expresses racial concerns.
Pretoria court acquits twenty-eight activists, including ANC leaders Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu.
Republic of South Africa established on May 31, quits Commonwealth. Month-long police raids, 8,000 arrested.
ANC establishes military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation); PAC establishes armed wing Poqo (blacks only).
UN General Assembly refuses to recognize South Africa.
ANC leader Albert Luthuli receives Nobel Peace Prize. Nelson Mandela announces campaign of sabotage against government buildings.
UN General Assembly calls for sanctions against South Africa. Nelson Mandela sentenced to five years in prison for inciting unrest, travelling abroad without a passport.
Military wings of ANC, PAC banned. Newly established Organization of African Unity (OAU) charter condemns apartheid.
UN voluntary embargo on arms shipments to South Africa. Libya joins Algeria and Egypt, prohibits South African overflights.
Rivonia trial of ANC activists begins.
Eight ANC activists, including Nelson Mandela, sentenced to life in prison in Rivonia trial.
May Pan-Africanist Congress founder Robert Sobukwe released after nine years in prison.
Herstigte (Reconstituted) National Party established by white extremist wing of NP.
Black Homelands Citizenship Bill authorizes withdrawal of South African citizenship from blacks.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) refuses recognition of South Africa (participation suspended since 1964).
Black People's Convention founded to coordinate black consciousness movement role in politics. Afrikaner intellectuals protest against apartheid.
Sixteen Arab countries implement OAU embargo against oil to South Africa.
Reports of white South Africans killed in fighting in Angola.
June Worst racial violence in history in Soweto; 575 reported dead.
Black Consciousness leader Steve Biko dies in police detention; thousands attend funeral.
UN mandatory embargo against arms shipments to South Africa. Pretoria adopts Total Strategy to counter internal and external threats.