Book

Review:

Fragments

of

Fietas

by

David

Goldblatt

South Africa’s history is sadly notorious for its past regime of Apartheid (which means “separation” in Afrikaans, one of the most widely spoken languages ​​in South Africa). This system of racial segregation, formalized into law by the National Party in 1948, was not just discrimination, but a veritable state architecture aimed at forcibly dividing the different ethnic groups (whites, blacks, Coloureds, and Indians) and ensuring the dominance of the white minority. Apartheid didn’t just ban mixed marriages or impose special documents for the non-white population, it physically reshaped the country. The goal was spatial segregation, where each group was assigned to live and work in specific areas, often remote and lacking in services.