South Africa - Apartheid to Democracy -

“No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or

his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if

they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more

naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”

~ Nelson Mandela

Essential Questions:

1. How did colonialism contribute to conflict in South Africa?

 2. What is apartheid and how was it used to govern South

Africa? 3. What impact did apartheid policies have on White

South-Africans and non-White South Africans?  4. How was the system of apartheid resisted? 5. a) How were the official laws of apartheid eventually

overcome? b) Has apartheid been overcome?

History:1652:

-Jan van Riebeeck, of the Dutch East India Co. est. the Cape Colony at Cape Town- issues land grants for the interior- Slaves from West Africa, Malaysia, and India are imported into the colony, establishing political dominance of whites over non-whites in this region.

1700s & 1800s– Dutch Farmers (Boers) migrate across South Africa and seize land use by indigenous people for cattle and sheep grazing (basis of their economy)

- Battles and smallpox push back the indigenous populations of the San and Khoikhoi

- Boers meet up and clash with another colonizing force: “Bantu” peoples

How to pronounce words in Xhosa

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-25356772

Clickshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31zzMb3U0iY

British Colonialism:• We must find new lands from which we can

easily obtain raw materials and at the same time exploit the cheap slave labor that is available from the natives of the colonies. The colonies would also provide a dumping ground for the surplus goods produced in our factories.Cecil John Rhodes

- The British seize Cape Colony and establish control over parts of South Africa

- The Afrikaaners (as South Africans of Dutch decent became known) move to new areas - the "Great Trek"

1902: The discovery of diamonds and gold fuel conflict over the region - after nearly 20 years of fighting, the British capture the Boer provinces.

1934: South Africa gains independence from

Britain

1948: The all-white National Party wins the South African election (blacks could not vote).

(National Party to dominate South African Politics until 1994.)

Hendrik Verwoerd:

>Minister of Native Affairs

>Prime Minister 1958-1966

Apartheid:• means “separate” or “apart”

• National Party’s platform/agenda - a doctrine of white supremacy, promoted as a program of separate development.

• White minority government of Dutch or “Afrikaners” passed laws controlling every aspect of life:

–Non whites were restricted/controlled in many ways:

• Could not marry outside of their race• Could not choose where to live• Could not travel where they liked• Could not vote

Umlazi Township, a "Toyota House"

A resettlement camp in a homeland

An African man shows his passbook

March against the Pass Laws in Cape Town

Police presence during pass laws protest in Church Square

• Whites made up 15% of pop, controlled 87% of land

• While Whites lived prosperous lives, Blacks had no public services and were forced to live away from cities in homelands called “Bantustans” – reserves

• Whites enforced their will by the use of a huge army and police force

Opposition to Apartheid:• Several resistance movements formed – largest > the

African National Congress (ANC) • Leaders of ANC were frequently jailed, and the National

Party portrayed the ANC as a communist organization (diverted world’s attention – encouraged foreign support of the apartheid regime).

• ANC promoted a campaign of passive resistance

• Starting in 1952, the apartheid system was condemned yearly by the UN– 1962: UN imposed economic sanctions, but many prominent

countries refused to participate

Crisis Points:1960: Sharpeville Massacre

• South African police kill 67 black demonstrators outside a police station in Sharpeville

• Lead to violence and protests throughout the country.

• An underground ANC organization began to engage in terrorist attacks against police/military.

• ANC was banned. • Government passes laws that give police even

greater powers

• 1964: Nelson Mandela, leader of the ANC was sentenced to life in prison.

1976: Soweto Massacre• Thousands of black high school students

demonstrated against a government ruling that required high school subjects to be taught in Afrikaans

•Revolts resulted in the deaths of at least 575 blacks by the police

• Prominent youth leader Steven Biko beaten to death

• Result: ANC adopted even more radical resistance methods – including acts of terrorism.

1978: P.W. Botha elected Prime Minister – promised changes

• Minor changes made: Non-whites could join unions, marry who they wanted, and take certain skilled jobs

• Not enough for most who wanted serious reform

What really ended apartheid?

Public Opinion and Economics• By the early 1980s, the South African economy

was failing. • Skilled work force was too small• Frequent disturbances caused economic recession –

international banks began to call in their loans.• Massive emigration of white citizens/businesses from

South Africa• Many countries had imposed economic sanctions on

South Africa for their human rights violations.

• By mid 1980s the Dutch Reformed Church, which had earlier supported apartheid, now condemned it.

• In 1990, SA President F.W. de Klerk released Nelson Mandela from prison.

• 1994: Free elections held, Mandela elected new president. Mandela appoints de Klerk as his deputy president.

Nelson Mandela death: A life in pictures - BBC

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-10651690

Will South Africa ever recover from apartheid? – Journeyman pictures

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtJjdjdDaOs

• Summary• Pass laws were designed to control the movement of Africans under apartheid. These laws evolved

from regulations imposed by the Dutch and British in the 18th and 19th-century slave economy of the Cape Colony. In the 19th century, new pass laws were enacted for the purpose of ensuring a reliable supply of cheap, docile African labor for the gold and diamond mines. In 1952, the government enacted an even more rigid law that required all African males over the age of 16 to carry a "reference book" (replacing the previous passbook) containing personal information and employment history.

Africans often were compelled to violate the pass laws to find work to support their families, so harassment, fines, and arrests under the pass laws were a constant threat to many urban Africans. Protest against these humiliating laws fueled the anti-apartheid struggle - from the Defiance Campaign (1952-54), the massive women's protest in Pretoria (1956), to burning of passes at the police station in Sharpeville where 69 protesters were massacred (1960). In the 1970s and 1980s, many Africans found in violation of pass laws were stripped of citizenship and deported to poverty-stricken rural "homelands." By the time the increasingly expensive and ineffective pass laws were repealed in 1986, they had led to more than 17 million arrests.

• http://overcomingapartheid.msu.edu/video.php?id=65-24F-5C

• Summary• The Sharpeville massacre was a turning point in South African history. On March 21,

1960, without warning, South African police at Sharpeville, an African township of Vereeninging, south of Johannesburg, shot into a crowd of about 5,000 unarmed anti-pass protesters, killing at least 69 people – many of them shot in the back – and wounding more than 200.

This massacre created a crisis for the apartheid government, both inside the country and internationally. The government immediately declared a State of Emergency and banned political meetings. Within less than a month, it banned both the Pan Africanist Congress, which had organized the action in Sharpeville, and the African National Congress. After lengthy internal discussions, the ANC and PAC turned to armed struggle and went underground.

News of the massacre drew immediate international condemnation. The South African stock exchange sank, saved only by loans from a consortium of U.S. banks.