Why was it called a Dompas?

The resistance to the Pass Law led to many thousands of arrests and was the spark that ignited the Sharpeville Massacre on March 21, 1960, and led to the arrest of Robert Sobukwe that day. Colloquially, passes were often called the dompas, literally meaning the “dumb pass” or domestic passport.

When was the Dompas introduced?

The Pass Laws Act of 1952 required black South Africans over the age of 16 to carry a pass book, known as a dompas, everywhere and at all times.

What is Dompas English?

/ˈdɔːmpəs/ South African English [ˈdɔmpɐs] (South African English, informal, disapproving) ​(in South Africa in the past) the official document that black people had to carry with them to prove their identity and where they could live or work.

What were the Bantustans and where were they located?

A Bantustan (also known as Bantu homeland, black homeland, black state or simply homeland; Afrikaans: Bantoestan) was a territory that the National Party administration of South Africa set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia), as part of its policy of apartheid.

When did Separate Amenities Act end?

On 20 June 1990, the South African Parliament voted to repeal the Act, and on 15 October 1990, it was finally repealed by the Discriminatory Legislation regarding Public Amenities Repeal Act. A notable exception to the segregation that was implemented following the Act was the Johannesburg Zoo and Zoo Lake.

What is a passbook apartheid?

Passbooks were used in apartheid South Africa to classify anyone who wasn’t white. The people of South Africa designated as “black” or “coloured” were forced to carry them at all times or risk being jailed or fined. Police stations would often conduct raids in the middle of the night to enforce the pass laws.

Where was the Gleneagles Agreement signed?

Scotland
The agreement was unanimously approved by the Commonwealth of Nations at a meeting at Gleneagles, Perthshire, Scotland. The Gleneagles Agreement reinforced their commitment, embodied in the Singapore Declaration of Commonwealth Principles (1971), to oppose racism.

What was the purpose of Bantustans?

Bantustans were to become independent from South Africa. This was a strategy to push all Blacks out and have them isolated from South Africa. It meant that Blacks would have to support themselves in these areas. The local homeland economies were not developed.

What were Bantustans in South Africa?

The Bantustans were a major administrative device for the exclusion of Blacks from the South African political system under the policy of apartheid, or racial segregation. Bantustans were rooted in Land Acts promulgated in 1913 and 1936, which defined a number of scattered areas as “native reserves” for Blacks.