How Did Apartheid Affect the Status of Women in South Africa?
South Africa under apartheid---a system of legal racial segregation the National Party government implemented from 1948 to 1994---adversely affected the black majority. However, it most particularly affected black women.
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Employment
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In industries throughout South Africa, women were not guaranteed equal pay by law. Indeed, such a concept violated government policy in the apartheid-era.
Health
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White women shared the highest level of health care with their white-male counterparts, while black women shared the lowest level of health care with their black-male contemporaries. Malnutrition was particularly bad among the black population. The health of pregnant women were adversely affected.
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Education
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Statements made in 1954 by Dr. H.F. Verwoerd (1901 to 1966), who was prime minister of South Africa from 1958 to 1966, reflected the belief of the age: Africans were not entitled to education afforded to the whites in South Africa. However, that did not seem to affect the education of women, regardless of race, as they provided most of those in educational institutions in the country.
Rural vs. Urban Areas
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Black women in particular were kept out of urban areas, which were only frequented by African men working there. Often they had to endure their husbands' absence for long stretches of time and bring up the children alone.
Double Oppression
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Women in South Africa already had to deal with the perception that they should be dependent on---and were inferior---to men. For black women, there was an added burden: that of their skin color.
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