The Apartheid system in South Africa began in 1948 when the National Party came to power and codified the racial segregation and social injustice that had existed in the country since Dutch colonists settled in Cape Town in 1652 and it became a British colony. The aim of Apartheid was to maintain white domination and extend racial separation, which is the meaning of the Afrikaans word "Apartheid." In 1969, Steve Biko created the South African Students Organization and the Black Consciousness Movement to oppose Apartheid, but he was banned by the government in 1973 and died in police custody in 1977 while subjected to this ban seeking to silence opponents.