Apartheid officially started in South Africa in May 1948, when the National Party came to power and implemented a system of institutionalized racial segregation known as apartheid, which means "apartness" in Afrikaans. This system legally enforced racial discrimination and segregation until it began to be dismantled in the early 1990s and officially ended in 1994 with the country's first multiracial elections.

Background and Start of Apartheid

• Although racial segregation existed before, apartheid was formally introduced and systematized by the National Party government elected in 1948.
• The apartheid laws classified South Africans into racial groups and regulated where they could live, work, and socialize, severely restricting the rights of the non-white majority.

Legal Framework

• Key legislation including the Population Registration Act (1950) classified people by race, which was the foundation for further segregation laws.
• Other laws such as the Group Areas Act (1950) and various pass laws enforced residential segregation and restricted movement.

Thus, apartheid started in 1948 as a formal political and legal system of racial segregation under the National Party's government in South Africa.