Apartheid South Africa — Protests, Action, and Key Actors, 1948-1964

South African resistance to apartheid between 1948 and 1964 evolved from petitions and peaceful defiance toward mass mobilization and, finally, armed struggle, as the government closed off every avenue of peaceful protest. Understanding this trajectory, and the people who drove it, is essential.

The apartheid state tightens its grip

After 1948 the National Party built the legal machinery of apartheid described in Lesson 1. To enforce it, the government armed itself with sweeping security powers. The Suppression of Communism Act of 1950 was broadly written to allow the banning of almost any opponent, and later laws permitted detention without trial. The state controlled the police, the courts, and parliament, meaning that opponents of apartheid could not vote the government out or expect fa