Although apartheid in South Africa was not legally enacted until 1948, to fully understand the circumstances that enabled such racism and segregation, we must first understand key events beginning with the colonization of South Africa by the Dutch in 1948. 1652. Jan van Riebeeck arrived in what is today known as South Africa in April 1652. He claimed land already inhabited by the Khoikhoi and founded the Fort of Good Hope in the name of the Dutch East India Company. This port was to serve as a refueling station for Dutch ships along the trade route to India. Although it is believed that the Dutch East India Company did not initially intend to colonize the region, it was the first of what would become a permanent European presence in South Africa. As more ships used this port to resupply, it became clear that a workforce would need to be built to maintain them. In Indonesia, the Dutch and English had long used the model of slavery to force indigenous people to farm and grow spices that could not be grown in Europe. But here in South Africa, the Khoikhoi owned their own land and were not easily forced to work. . “The indigenous peoples with whom the Dutch first came into contact, the Khoikhoi, had been settled in the region for at least a thousand years before the arrival of the Dutch and were a reluctant labor force. This is because the Khoikhoi were a pastoral people and, as long as they owned their land, their flocks of sheep and cattle, they could not be put into the service of the Dutch settlers” (History nd). For this reason, Dutch settlers had to look elsewhere for their forced labor. They had already released many members of the East India Company from their contracts to work the land...... middle of paper ...... Colonization began in South Africa. South African History Online. os you have to bury before you can call yourself African]. Available at www.anthonyturton.com [Accessed 1 April 2014] Turton, AR (2009). Our History, Part D: 1886-1909” from How Many Bones Do You Have to Bury Before You Can Call Yourself African [Online]. 'Union of South Africa 1910'. South African History Online, nd Web.. 2014. .