The South African apartheid system was officially implemented in 1948 by the National Party government. The roots of apartheid, however, can be traced back to the early days of the European colonization of South Africa, when racial segregation and discrimination were already well-established practices. The apartheid system was built on a foundation of white supremacy and the belief in racial superiority, with laws and policies designed to maintain the economic, social, and political dominance of the white minority over the black majority. The system was also influenced by social Darwinism and segregationist policies from other countries, such as the Jim Crow laws in the United States.
