Racial Privilege in Apartheid South Africa

Abstract

White dominance in South Africa has a long history, and its roots are found in the process of colonisation that began with the arrival of Jan van Riebeeck and a small group of Dutch settlers at the Cape in 1652. From that early period of settlement up to the first democratic elections in April 1994, the history of South Africa is characterised by processes in which whites entrenched their dominance over the other race groups living in the country. These processes culminated in the apartheid ‘paradise’, in which white privilege was evident in virtually all aspects of society. This chapter traces the evolution of privilege for the white race group of South Africa - and relative privilege for some other race groups - during the apartheid era. The chapter draws on key secondary literature on the evolution of apartheid during three historical phases - the period between the electoral victory of the Nationalist Party (NP) in 1948 to the establishment of a Republic in 1961, the period thereafter until the 1976 Soweto Uprising, and the period thereafter until the first democratic elections in 1994 - to foreground an analysis of the unequal distribution of the benefits of the society among the different race groups during these phases. The focus is on the disproportionate enjoyment of the country’s political, economic and social benefits by white South Africans, as well as on the entrenchment of the racial hierarchy. This chapter provides a background to the conditions that provide for the perpetuation of a racialised power structure and give rise to various manifestations of racism as well as issues around race and identity in post-apartheid South Africa.