How many years did the system of apartheid last in South Africa?

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46 years. Apartheid was official government policy in South Africa for 46 years, from 1948 until it was formally dismantled in 1994 with the country's first fully democratic election, which brought Nelson Mandela to power. Racial segregation in South Africa predated formal apartheid, but 1948 marks when it became codified, systematic law. Subtract the dates. The system was formalised in 1948 and dismantled in 1994, which is a straightforward difference. Historical duration questions are almost always easier as date arithmetic than as remembered spans, and both endpoints here are well known. The caveat in the explanation matters for what the number means: racial segregation predated the formal system by generations. What 1948 marks is codification — the point at which existing practice became systematic law with an administrative apparatus behind it. A start date for a policy is rarely a start date for the thing it enforces. The endpoint is unusually clean, which is rare in political history. A specific election in a specific year replaced the system entirely, which is why the duration can be stated precisely at all. Most political eras end gradually; this one has a date because a single event closed it.

Source	South African History Online
Figure refers to	2023
Last checked	September 2, 2026
Unit	years

How many years did the system of apartheid last in South Africa?

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