Characteristics of the apartheid system (II): The attempt at racial classification: Registration according to race

In 1950 legislation was passed for the registration of the population, "Population Registration Act". All South Africans were to be classified in a so-called race register. An 'Office for Race Classification' was set up, which was charged with monitoring the process. Classification of groups was carried out using criteria such as outer appearance, general acceptance and social standing. Since some of these criteria were of a social nature, reclassifications were also possible. Classification into one ethnic group or another had an impact on political rights, social relationships, education chances and economic status.

Many of the classifications were indeed very opportunistic such as those for Japan or Israel. Because South Africa enjoyed good relationships with Israel and Japan, people belonging to these groups were given the same status as whites. It is easy to imagine how a system such as this degenerated, especially when considering the multi-cultural composition of South Africa, a country in which people of all shades and colors live. To overcome this difficulty, an enforced passport system was introduced. By law, each and every South African was required to carry their passports with them at all times, which included classification according to race.

The three examples below highlight the absurdity of attempting to classify a society:

Carol - good looking, blond, long legs - was photographed together with Percy Sledge, a black American pop star, at one of Cape Town's uptown mixed-race parties. The picture printed in the newspapers the following day was enough to make the blood of career Boers boil: Pictured kneeling in front of the blond-haired miniskirt-wearing Carol was the exotic figure from the US - and he was autographing her thigh. A shame to the entire race. The Boer press was absolutely outraged "A clear example of how bad things have become under the present government", shouted a nationalistic MP in parliament at his nationalistic premier. "The blacks are even using our women as writing paper in white hotels now!"   

But before blood was spilled, officials from the race office were able to let the steam out of this potential scandal. In a press release, the office responsible made it clear that the events on the said night had been in accordance with national law. Miss Busch was a colored. For the Afrikaans newspapers the incident was over. Only the English-language newspapers continued to make a few snide comments about the incident.

[Taken and translated from: Erich Wiedemann, "Wir reiten, bis wir im Blut versinken", Rassenstaat Südafrika, Hamburg 1981, 27]

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From 1950, every South African had to be classified into a particular ethnic group according to the "Population Registration Act". This was because the introduction of racial segregation had made it necessary to know to which race each person belonged. After all, everyone was to carry an identification card which made it clear to which race they belonged.

Right from the word go attempts at defining individual ethnic groups in a population as varied as South Africa's proved extremely difficult. As every visitor to South Africa will testify, South Africa's population is one of many skin colors, from white to black and with many shades in between. The criteria for determining race were as follows: Outer appearance, general acceptance and social standing. Yet many of the earlier classification procedures were extremely coarse. According to 'victims', white officials often used the 'pencil-in-the-hair technique'. If a pencil was slid into the hair of an applicant and it did not fall out because the hair was curly, the applicant was classified as African. If the pencil fell out because it was less curly, the applicant was classified as colored...

Of the many stories recalling hidden fears and worry, brought about by South Africa's racist laws, surely none is more typical than that experienced by the Belgian-born South African, Raymond Du Proft

"In 1950, shortly after the introduction of South Africa's Immorality and Registration Acts, (...) he met a waitress by the name of Diane Bassick working in a Cape Town restaurant. They soon fell in love, yet because she was classified as being colored - her mother was white, her father unknown - they were able to meet in secret only. Du Proft recalls how frightened they were of being discovered (...), but after a while they decided to run the risk and moved in together. As their first son was born six years later, they moved into a house in an Afrikaans residential area posing as a white married couple. They had a total of 5 children, who were all classified as coloreds. According to the law, their children should have received their schooling in another area in a school for coloreds. However, in order to keep up the appearance of being white, the Du Profs themselves educated their children as best they could at home. They regularly applied for Diana and the children to be reclassified as whites, yet all their applications were refused. Marriage (under the law as it then stood) was impossible. At the age of 19, their eldest son, Graham, started dating a Boer girl. She became pregnant. Once again marriage was impossible, since according to their classification they belonged to different races. Graham's response to his desperate situation was to throw himself in front of a train. He was killed instantly.

A few weeks later the Du Prof's remaining 4 children were reclassified as white (...)."

Diane Bassick had to wait until the end of 1980 before she was regarded as being worthy of reclassification. Indeed, she had to ask her white friends to put down in writing that they regarded her as being an acceptable white, for presentation before the courts

[Taken and translated from: D. Harrison, The White Tribe of Africa. South Africa in Perspective, Berkeley 1982, 173f.]

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Even as late as 1986 there was still a large number of reclassifications:

[Taken an translated from: André E.A.M. Thomashausen, Abbau der Apartheid. Bilanz der Reformen 1978-1986, Deutsch-Südafrikanische Gesellschaft e.V., o.O., o.J., 3]

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[Other characteristics of the apartheid system: Homelands, society, economy, politics]

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