Promoting unequal access in South Africa? Contemporary assertions of community-based mental services and the legacy of community psychiatry from the 1940s to the 1960s

Abstract

1 United Nations Centre Against Apartheid, 'Report by WHO', Geneva, 22 March, 1977 in Notes and Documents 11/77 (April, 1977), 25; International Committee of the Red Cross, 'Annual Report 1976' (Geneva, 1977), 18; and 'Annual Report 1977' (Geneva, 1978), 17; and C. Pinderhughes, J. Spurlock, J. Weinberg, A. Stone, 'Report of the Committee to Visit South Africa', American Psychiatric Association, 1978, 16. 2 In this article, I use terms such as 'non-European', 'European', 'Bantu', 'Native', 'White', 'nonWhite', 'Black', 'Coloured', 'Asian" and 'Indian" that psychiatrists, politicians, journalists and individuals used themselves. These terms are somewhat problematic because racial categories and labels consistently changed during apartheid. While the apartheid regime had attempted to classify all individuals in the categories of black, white, coloured or Indian, these categories are still used today, although they are no longer imposed on individuals. Instead, individuals are expected to classify themselves. It is important to note that in some government documents, the term 'black" often includes those individuals who classify themselves as coloured and Indian. Nevertheless, I have chosen to use the original terms as they offer insight into the existing perceptions during each period. For example, during the early years of apartheid, the terms 'European', 'non-European', 'Bantu' and 'Native' were popular. By the 1970s, however the terms 'Black', 'White', 'Coloured', 'Indian' and 'non-White' had superseded these terms. This movement away from designations that described individuals in terms of their cultural origins (or in the case of 'non-Europeans', the lack thereof) towards more set racial classifications is indicative of the increased concern over racial segregation. 3 See Trath and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa, Truth and Reconciliation Commission q f South Africa Report (Basingstoke and Oxford, Macmillan Reference Limited, 1998), vol. 4.