The primary purpose of Apartheid in South Africa was to maintain racial segregation and control over the country's majority black population. Instituted in 1948 by the National Party government, Apartheid was a system of institutionalized racial discrimination that aimed to preserve white dominance in social, political, and economic spheres. Under this policy, laws were enacted to segregate education, healthcare, and living areas based on race. The resistance against Apartheid, led by figures like Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress, ultimately contributed to the system's dismantling in the early 1990s, fostering a new era of democracy for all South Africans.