Segregation of people has been around for thousands of years, and yet humans are only now coming to solve this enormous problem. Most or all countries around the world have been subject to segregation at one point or another and some more than others. In South Africa, segregation took form in what some might call the extreme, as South African law justified it. In 1948, racial segregation, known as apartheid, took control of South Africa, substantially limiting the rights of colored peoples. Black Africans suffered the most discrimination and the wrath of the ruling white elite, barely having any political rights and kept from the same privileges as the white citizens. During the period of apartheid in South Africa, many changes and movements started amongst the majority of the black population led to the end of apartheid. With the end of apartheid in 1994, racial discrimination, although still present, was in decline and frowned upon by the majority. Today, problems still exist with racial segregation, but mainly can only be found in some of the rural areas of South Africa. However, in the major centers of South Africa, apartheid is essentially non-existent, with an increase of the colored people's rights. In 1948, the system of apartheid emerged in South Africa with colossal effects, which were dealt with by the emergence of anti-apartheid movements, organizations, and foreign help, where time has led to today with the end of apartheid and vast changes throughout South Africa.
The general election of 1948 in South Africa changed the history of the country forever. In the year of 1948, the National Party of South Africa, a white supremacist party, was elected to lead South Africa. During the years following the vote, the party and their leaders instituted several series of laws throughout South Africa that imposed apartheid on the people. The first major law that was forged was the Population Registration Acts of 1950, which divided the citizens of South Africa into "white" and "non-white" categories.