The Distribution of Racial Groups in Durban: The Background of Apartheid in a South African City

Abstract

IN THE past seven years the Nationalist government of South Africa has made considerable progress with its program of apartheid legislation, designed to solve the problems of racial pluralism by a policy of separate development of the several groups. Recently the pace of this legislation has quickened, and earlier enactments are being translated into action. The impact of all this is felt chiefly in the cities, to whose problems the bulk of the legislation is directed. This is not the first time in history that attempts at rigid segregation have been made in multiracial cities. All previous attempts have, in the long run, failed. There can be no doubt, however, that the present rulers of South Africa are single-minded in their aim and that the doctrine of apartheid is certain to be put into practice with full vigor. The experiment is of more than local interest; for the great cities are the key points in race relations in South Africa, and South Africa is a key area in race relations in the whole African continent, and to some extent in a still wider area. The outcome of present practice and policy in South African cities is therefore likely to be of no small interest to the world. The three leading South African cities, Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban, differ strikingly. Site, climate, history, and even the temper of the people play a part, but the essential contrast lies in ethnic compositionEuropean and Coloured in Cape Town, European and Native in Johannesburg, and European,Asiatic, and Native in Durban.' The racial composition