Strategists in the National Party invented apartheid as a means to cement their control over the economic and social system. Initially, aim of the apartheid was to maintain white domination while extending racial separation. Starting in the 60's, a plan of ``Grand Apartheid'' was executed, emphasizing territorial separation and police repression.

With the enactment of apartheid laws in 1948, racial discrimination was institutionalized. Race laws touched every aspect of social life, including a prohibition of marriage between non-whites and whites, and the sanctioning of ``white-only'' jobs. In 1950, the Population Registration Act required that all South Africans be racially classified into one of three categories: white, black (African), or colored (of mixed decent). The coloured category included major subgroups of Indians and Asians. Classification into these categories was based on appearance, social acceptance, and descent. For example, a white person was defined as ``in appearance obviously a white person or generally accepted as a white person.'' A person could not be considered white if one of his or her parents were non-white. The determination that a person was ``obviously whit

to prohibit all sales of computer equipment that may be used by the South African army and police.[Slo90]

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The Use of Computers to Support Oppression

In September countries belonging to the European Community establish that they will

We are entirely dependent on the U.S. The economy would grind to a halt without access to the computer technology of the West. No bank could function; the government couldn't collect its money and couldn't account for it; business couldn't operate; payrolls could not be paid. Retail and wholesale marketing and related services would be disrupted. [NAR82]

The evidence in the two sections above leave little doubt that apartheid was immoral. It was a living vestige of the colonial racism that emanated from Europe in the early days of Imperialism. In modern times, power structures that sustain racism have come under close scrutiny. History has shown that systematically disempowered classes eventually rise to right the imbalance, frequently "by any means necessary." The historical development and natural wealth of South Africa had combined to support a political anomaly, a contemporary country caught in the morals of Imperial Europe.

The Department of Justice used imported computer equipment , which implicitly sanctioned police violence and torture against opponents of apartheid, both black and white. The Department of Prisons held political prisoners without trial, and used an IBM computer for "financial" purposes. The Department of Prisons used two Data General Nova computers. The Department of Labor controlled the terms and conditions of work under apartheid, i.e., no black worker could supervise a white worker, black trade unions were not recognized, and most strikes were illegal. Computer equipment was also used in the Department of the Prime Minister, the South African Reserve Bank, South Africa's electrical utility, and the Treasury Department. The South African police made active use of the population registry. In 1982, they examined 179,285 fingerprints stored in the population registry, making 13,024 positive identifications. Eight hundred and fifty thousand queries were made at display screens.

Some common words found in the essay are:
South African, South Africa, Control System, Corporations ARMSCOR, South Africa's, Air Force's, Amendment Act, National Party, Administration Board, Asians Classification, south africa, south african, computer equipment, population registry, computer technology, control system, embargo south africa, police military, embargo south, computers south, security council, south african police, black white department, influx control system, south africa ,
Approximate Word count = 4454
Approximate Pages = 18 (250 words per page double spaced)