Apartheid was a system in South Africa, that separated people based on their race and skin color. The word 'Apartheid' is an Afrikaan word meaning apartness. Apartheid was intended to protect the power of white Afrikaans over black. There were 148 laws and they consisted of rules that forced white people and black people to work apart from each other. Apartheid became a law after the national party won the vote in 1948. They saidset certain areas as white only and other areas as black only, you. You could not enter the opposite racerace's area without papers or you willwould be punished by gettingbeing put in jail. Many Asians were made to leave their houses. Many people were opposed to Apartheid and protested; andthey were called the defiance campaign. Apartheid finally ended when Nelson Mandela becomebecame president and stopped the law in 1994.