SOUTH AFRICA

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SOUTH AFRICA

• Past and Present

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Early History

• 10,000 yrs. ago settled by hunters and
  gatherers
• 500 AD arrival of Bantu-speaking black Africans
• 1600 the Dutch, the first Europeans in the
  region, build settlements at the Cape of Good
  Hope
• 1700-1800s -French, German, and English arrive,
  especially after gold and diamonds are
  discovered -Hundreds of thousands of Indians and
  Malays are brought to work on sugar plantations
  in Natal -Locals are pushed off land and used as
  slave labor
• 1836- the Great Trek- migration of Afrikaners
  (the descendents of the Dutch) from newly
  British-controlled Cape Colony to the north where
  they establish independent republics of Transvaal
  and the Free Orange State

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Map of South Africa Old Divisions
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Colonial Rule Towards Apartheid

• Late 1800s -the British defeat the Zulu
  (1879)
• Early 1900s -almost all South African groups
  lost their independence to the British
• Colonial rulers destroy traditional African
  agricultural settlements and levy heavy taxes on
  the blacks because A. fear of competition with
  white farmers B. need for cheap labor in the
  mines C. force blacks to search for work on
  white farms
• Anglo-Boer Wars -over control over the Orange
  Free State Transvaal where gold diamonds were
  found -Black Africans are pressed into
  military service by both sidesBoer, also
  Afrikaners--descendents of Dutch settlers

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Colonial Rule Towards Apartheid

• Early 20th century -Mohandas Gandhi lives in
  South Africa and leads an active political life
  directed towards bringing equality and doing away
  with discrimination -1910 South Africa gains
  independence from Great Britain and forms a
  government that consists of Afrikaners and the
  English ? the black Africans are largely
  ignored -1912 African National Congress is
  founded to lobby for political rights of black
  Africans
• 1913, 1936 the Native Lands Acts- 85 of S.
  Africas territory is declared white areas
  black Africans are prohibited to permanently
  settle there and are forced to live separately
  (in black areas)

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A P A R T H E I D

• Definition separateness in Afrikaans, policy
  of strict separation of races in all areas of
  the society--cultural, economic, and
  political
• 1948 National Party (NP), consisting entirely of
  Afrikaners, comes to power. Apartheid begins.
• Apartheid Laws (examples) -The Population
  Registration Act all S. Africans are to be
  classified on the basis of race into one of four
  categories white, African, Asian or,
  colored. -The Group Areas Act divides S.
  Africa into areas according to race each race
  may live only it its own area

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A P A R T H E I D

• Apartheid Laws (more examples) -The Black
  (Urban Areas) Act requires blacks to live in
  segregated townships establishes control on the
  entrance of blacks into white area and their
  employment there -The Reservation of Separate
  Amenities Act requires separate facilities
  such as restaurants, trains, and toilets to be
  set up for each racial group -The Promotion of
  Bantu Self-Government Act creates separate
  national states, known as HOMELANDS, for ten
  designated African ethnic groups. -The Bantu
  Education Act set up separate education
  systems the one for the blacks was vastly
  inferior to the that provided for the whites.

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Opposition to Apartheid

• ANC In the 1950s, under new leaders (Nelson
  Mandela and Oliver Thambo) ANC adopts a program
  of mass protests--boycotts, strikes, large-scale
  acts of noncooperation defiance by non-violent
  acts RESULT mass arrests, government makes no
  changes to the Apartheid laws
• the Freedom Charter Issued in 1955 jointly by
  the ANC, the South African Indian Congress, the
  South African Congress of Democrats, and the
  Colored Peoples Congress it calls for a
  multiracial democracy where all racial groups
  will have equal rights

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Opposition to Apartheid

• Sharpeville Massacre. March 21, 1960.Causes
  the Pan African Congress (PAC) splits from the
  ANC and launches a national campaign against the
  Pass Laws, laws requiring all black Africans over
  16 to carry PASSES, or special identity papers,
  at all times.Events black Africans appear at
  police stations without their passes. Police
  breaks up the crowds relatively peacefully
  everywhere except the township of Sharpeville.
  The police opens fire and kills 69
  people.Results Nationwide wave of protest.
  State of emergency is declared, government makes
  numerous arrests, and bans the ANC and the PAC.
  The two groups go underground and begin armed
  resistance. In 1964, trials commenced where
  Nelson Mandela and others were sentenced to life
  in prison.

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Opposition to Apartheid

• Black Consciousness. Late 1960s.Definition a
  new political movement calling black Africans to
  develop a more positive self-image and establish
  their own institutions.Leader Steve Biko, a
  young black medical student. Arrested, beated,
  and killed by the police in jail in 1977.
• Soweto Incident. June 16, 1976.Events 20,000
  black African schoolchildren march to protest
  government requirement to teach certain subjects
  in Afrikaans. Police opens fire and kills 4
  students. 16 months of unrest follow, hundreds
  are arrested.Result The government cracks down
  on opposition, but is also forced to recognize
  the need for changes. The world has focused its
  attention on South Africa has well.

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Increasing Pressure

• 1978--Pieter W. Botha is elected Prime Minister.
  He calls for a series of reforms, but is not
  ready to grant the blacks their foremost
  demand--full political rights. Establishes
  three-chamber parliament white, coloreds,
  Asians blacks are still excluded. Bothas
  half-measures result in increasing resistance to
  his govern-ment.
• Reaction of the world to the Apartheid -United
  States ban on trade with South Africa. Law of
  divestiture -the United Nations condemns S.
  African government, imposition of sanctions

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Coming of a New Era

• 1989--Frederick de Klerk becomes the new Prime
  Minister of South Africa. He immediately begins
  to disassemble the Apartheid system in early
  1990 -legalizes the ANC -releases Mandela from
  jail -lifts the state of emergence -repeal of
  the Separate Amenities Act and other Apartheid
  laws
• Western countries begin to lift their economic
  sanctions
• 1994--First Free Elections in South Africa.
  Nelson Mandela becomes the first black president
  of the country.
• 1999--Second Free Elections. Thabo Mbeki is
  elected and remains South Africas president
  today.

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South Africa Today

• Dealing With the PastTruth and Reconciliation
  Commission (1995) led by Desmond Tutu, an
  Anglican bishop, a long time political activist,
  and a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, is set up to
  enable S. Africans to come to terms with their
  past on a morally accepted basis and advance the
  cause of reconciliation.
• Some Major Issues-divisions within various
  ethnic groups-big gap between the haves and
  have-nots-racism -AIDS HIV-high crime and
  rape rates-economic hardships

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Map of South Africa New Divisions