45. Apartheid- An introduction

The term "$apartheid$," which means "separateness," refers to an institutionalised system of racial segregation that lasted from $1948\ $until the early $1990s$ in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia). Apartheid was marked by an authoritarian political culture built on baasskap (boss-hood or boss-ship), which ensured that the country's majority white population ruled politics, society, and the economy. White inhabitants had the highest position in this structure of society, followed by Indians and Coloureds, then black Africans. Apartheid has left an economic and social legacy that is still felt today.