have stated that anti-apartheid music within South Africa, although it received less attention worldwide, played an equally important role in putting pressure on the South African government. Background and origins Racial segregation in South Africa had begun with the arrival of Dutch colonists in South Africa in 1652, and continued through centuries of British rule thereafter. Racial separation increased greatly after the British took complete control over South Africa in the late 19th century, and passed a number of laws early in the 1900s to separate racial groups. The 1923 Natives (Urban Areas) Act forced black South Africans to leave cities unless they were there to work for white people, and excluded them from any role in the government. The system of apartheid was implemented by the Afrikaner National Party (NP) after they were voted into power in 1948, and remained in place for 46 years. The white minority held all political power during this time. "Apartheid" meant "separateness" in the Afrikaans language, and involved a brutal system of racial segregation. Black South Africans were compelled to live in poor townships, and were denied basic human rights, based on the idea that South Africa belonged to white people. A prominent figure in the implementation of the apartheid laws was Hendrik Verwoerd, who was first Minister for Native Affairs and later Prime Minister in the NP government. There was significant resistance to this system, both within and outside South Africa. Opposition outside the country often took the form of boycotts of South Africa. Within the country, resistance ranged from loosely organised groups to tightly knit ones, and from non-violent protests to armed opposition from the African National Congress. Through this entire process, music played a large role in the resistance. Music had been used in South Africa to protest racial segregation before apartheid began in 1948. The ANC had been founded in 1912, and would begin and end its meetings with its anthem "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika", an early example of music in the resistance to racial segregation. Another such example was "iLand Act" by R. T. Caluza, which protested the Native Land Act, and was also adopted as an anthem by the ANC. Commentator Michela Vershbow has written that the music of the movement against apartheid and racial segregation "reflected [the] widening gap" between different racial groups and was also an attempt "to communicate across it". Music in South Africa had