The racial policy of the government of South Africa, under which whtie, African, Asiatic, and Colored communities live seperately, in principle, so that each group may develop to the full its own society and culture. It is largely resisted by the segregated non-white communities and by many liberal white South Africans. In 1990 the South African government took major steps toward the abolition of apartheid, including lifting the ban on black political parties.