In South Africa, what were the dirt-poor districts with no infrastruc…

In South Africa, what were the dirt-poor districts with no infrastructure, industry or jobs, to which millions of Blacks were forcibly relocated, called?

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 1

The correct answer is Option (1) → Bantustans

Option (1) Bantustans — Correct. Bantustans, also called homelands, were the dirt-poor districts with no infrastructure, industry or jobs. In the latter half of the twentieth century, millions of Blacks were forcibly moved there.

Option (2) Ghettos — Incorrect. A ghetto is a part of a city where members of one community live crowded together, apart from others. The South African districts for relocated Blacks had their own name, Bantustans.

Option (3) Enclaves — Incorrect. An enclave is a small area of one group or country surrounded by the land of another. It is a general word and not the name of these districts.

Option (4) Colonies — Incorrect. A colony is a land ruled by a foreign power, as South Africa was under British rule. The poor districts set aside for Blacks inside the country were not called colonies.

NCERT (2026-27): “Untouchability …
Just like caste in India, race in South Africa stratifies society into a hierarchy. About one South African in seven is of European ancestry, yet South Africa’s White minority holds the dominant share of power and wealth. Dutch traders settled in South Africa in the mid-seventeenth century; early in the nineteenth century, their descendants were pushed inland by British colonisation. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the British gained control of what became the Union and then the Republic of South Africa. To ensure their political control, the White European minority developed the policy of apartheid, or separation of the races. An informal practice for many years, apartheid became law in 1948 and was used to deny the Black majority South African citizenship, ownership of land, and a formal voice in government. Every individual was classified by race and mixed marriages were prohibited. As a racial caste, Blacks held low-paying jobs; on average, they earned only onefourth of what whites did. In the latter half of the twentieth century, millions of Blacks were forcibly relocated to ‘Bantustans’ or ‘homelands’ – dirt-poor districts with no infrastructure or industry or jobs. …”

In South Africa, what were the dirt-poor districts with no infrastructure, industry or jobs, to which millions of Blacks were forcibly relocated, called?

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 1

The correct answer is Option (1) → Bantustans

Option (3) Enclaves — Incorrect. An enclave is a small area of one group or country surrounded by the land of another. It is a general word and not the name of these districts.