The Civil Rights Movement in South Africa

Apartheid was formally established as state policy when the National Party won the 1948 general election and began legislating a comprehensive system of racial classification and segregation. The laws classified all South Africans into racial categories and enforced strict segregation in housing, education, employment, and political rights.

Apartheid was dismantled through a negotiated transition between 1990 and 1994, following the unbanning of the African National Congress and Nelson Mandela's release from prison in February 1990. South Africa held its first democratic multiracial elections in April 1994, and Mandela was inaugurated as the country's first Black president on May 10, 1994.

On March 21, 1960, South African police opened fire on a crowd of Black protesters in the township of Sharpeville who had gathered to demonstrate against the pass laws, killing 69 people. The massacre drew global condemnation and marked a turning point in international opposition to Apartheid, leading the UN to call for sanctions against South Africa.

Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years, from 1962 until his release on February 11, 1990. He spent the majority of that time—18 years—held at Robben Island Prison before being transferred to Pollsmoor and then Victor Verster prisons.