The History of Nationality Law in South Africa Impact of Imperialism Colonial powers established political borders that cut through communities which in the past had formed single social-political units. Impact of system of migrant labour Impact of Apartheid Systematically organised and coerced labour migration within Southern Africa caused mass migration without long-term consideration of legal status or nationality. The policy implimented by the National Party governemnt under the doctrine of Apartheid was that black South Africans should lose their South African citizenship and should instead be allocated to one of the ten homelands.