Year 11 ESL History - Case Study 2: South Africa

Part 1. What is South Africa like?

Write down two things you know about South Africa.

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Geography

Located on the southern tip of the continent of Africa. It stretches from Cape of Good Hope up to 2000 kilometres north and is up to 1500 km wide east-west.

Look at the physical map of Southern Africa and complete the following

The main mountain range is called the ………………………………………………. This mountain range is in the eastern/ western part of the country. The Caledon, Tugela and ……………………….. rivers all begin in this mountain range. To the east of the mountains the ………………….. belt is found. The name of this vegetation type tells us that this is a wet/ dry area. The Orange

River flows eastward/ westward across the country and enters the ………………………….. Ocean. Much of the Orange river passes through a dry area or …………………………. The northern part of this dry area is known as the …………………………………………………

Along the south coast the main vegetation is evergreen ………………………………….

The vegetation in the largest area of South Africa is dry ……………………………………

Many of the large cities are located on the coast, these include Cape Town, Durban and ………………………………………………. There are also large cities inland. These are mainly associated with rich mineral deposits. The largest is Johannesburg. The capital city is Pretoria. South Africa is rich in wildlife, minerals and farmland, especially animal farming.

There are many similarities between the geography of Australia and South Africa. Name two similarities.

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There are also many differences especially in the population, the distribution of wealth and the history of the indigenous peoples before European settlement.

Graph on page 4

Which group makes up most of the population of South Africa?

How do you think the Indians came to be in South Africa?

What does coloured mean?

Official Languages and Migrations in South Africa

In 1995 South Africa declared 11 official languages. Two of these languages ……………………………. and …………………………….. have a European origin. The largest African language is ……………………………….. The first people to live in this area of Southern Africa were the ……………………. The San were nomadic hunters and gatherers with an unusual language with many clicking sounds. Their skin colour is a yellow brown rather than dark brown or black. The black Africans that now dominate the population arrived in South Africa about ……………………………….AD. One group, the ………………… expanded their empire in the early 1800’s and forced other black African tribes to move to other parts of the country. The Europeans arrived in 1642 to set up a trading post at Cape Town. They later spread inland from here. The first were from Holland and became known as the Boers, later the English arrived. The Dutch bring slaves from the ……………………………….. and the English workers from India after …………………….. Both groups were to provide cheap labour for the farms and the mines. The Indians mainly came to the area around …………………… where they worked on the sugar farms. After WW1 and WW2 many Europeans from Eastern and Southern Europe migrated to South Africa. Most people live in the wetter areas of South Africa along the east and south coastal areas. The drier east has fewer people and the large towns are mining centres, for example Kimberley, the centre of diamond mining.

Part 2. Why did the Europeans settle in South Africa?

The Dutch (Boers)

6th April 1642 Jan van Riebeeck arrived in the Cape to build a refreshment station to supply ships trading for the Dutch East India Company. (Afrikaners celebrate this day but black Africans see it as invasion day) The first settlers only wanted to use a small area of land to grow food and raise animals to supply the ships. They brought slaves from their colony in the East Indies (Indonesia) to work on the farms. Later Dutch soldiers were given land here and became independent farmers. More retired soldiers and families joined them over the next years (most were Dutch but also Germans, Scandinavians and French Huguenots) They were Protestant, farmers and over time developed a new language called Afrikaans and became known as Boers. These very independent farmers resented the rule of the East India Company and from the moved inland away from the coast to make their own communities. They pushed out or enslaved the San and Khoikhoi who lived in the areas they moved into. Many children were born to Boer men and indigenous women. This was the origin of the “Cape Coloureds”

The English

In 1795 the English took the settlement at the Cape from the Dutch. There was some fighting but by 1806 the British were in control. The British wanted to control their important trade route to India. From the 1820’s the British encouraged settlers and towns were built at Grahamstown and Port Elizabeth. British law was imposed in the new territories. Many Boers objected, especially to the abolition of slavery, and many left their farms to move inland and create a new Boer state. As well as the British the Boers had to fight the Zulus and Xhosa who did not want them in their territory. Eventually the Boers succeeded in forming independent states in the Transvaal in 1852 (where slavery was again practiced) and the Orange Free State in 1854.

From 1851 British farmers grew sugar cane in Natal but they needed a cheap and reliable workforce. The local Africans did not want to work here and the British Government helped the plantation owners recruit over 150,000 Indian workers from British India, between 1860 and 1911. 52% of them remained in South Africa when their contracts ended. The map above (Language and migrations) shows the location of the different groups.

Gold and Diamonds

Diamonds were discovered in the Orange Free State in 1867 and gold in the eastern Transvaal in 1871. This increased British, Portuguese and German interest in South Africa and conflict continued all over southern Africa between the British and Boers, British and Zulus and Boers and Zulus. Cecil Rhodes, a Cape Town businessman and politician, led the pressure on the British Government for more complete control over the area. It took the

British two wars to defeat the Boers, firstly in 1881 and finally in what became known as the Boer War in 1899-1902. The Boers fought a guerrilla war against the British and the British held large number of Boer women and children in appalling camps as hostages. Eventually the larger British numbers won but this war also brought the different Boer groups together as “Afrikaners” who saw themselves as the “white tribe of Africa” chosen by God to rule South Africa and although they had lost the war they did not lose their belief that they should rule South Africa or their hatred of the British. This hatred stemmed from the terrible treatment of their women and children during the war and from the British attempt to destroy the language and culture of the Boers after the war.

Many blacks and coloured fought with the British during the Boer war with the expectation that a British win would end slavery and give more equal rights to non-white people, as already existed in Cape Colony. The British carried out the first but not the second as they knew they would never be able to make a lasting settlement with the Afrikaans, and gain access to the mineral wealth, if they extended rights to non-whites. There were many small and large conflicts with black groups over the breaking of this promise but the Indians, led by M.K. Gandhi (a lawyer who had come to South Africa in 1893) mainly supported the government although Gandhi later led many protests against unequal treatment of Indians in the new Union of South Africa, when the four colonies joined together to form a country in 1910. The more equal treatment of Blacks in Cape Colony (now Cape Province) did not become law for the new country although this was originally promised and Black Africans appealed to London to try to force the new country to keep its promise but the British P.M. Herbert Asquith said the it was best to leave the problem to the politicians in South Africa.

What problems do you think this new country will face because of its history?

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Union of South Africa

The first Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa was Louis Botha, leader of the Afrikaners during the Boer War. One of the first laws passed restricted black mine workers to labourer tasks and fixed their pay at a rate much lower than white workers, treating Black Africans as second class citizens.

The poor whites (almost all Boers) were concerned about being seen as second class citizens, especially if they had to accept work with a black employer. They believed that blacks and whites needed to be separated for them to improve their situation and lobbied their political leaders to achieve this aim. The sacking of black workers from mines to be replaced by poor whites in 1924 was a step in this process. The demand for better housing in the towns for poor whites led to 30 000 blacks being evicted and their houses given to the whites. Dr Malan, an Afrikaans leader, blamed the blacks for the whites poverty and

pursued a policy that would completely separate blacks and whites in South Africa, the policy of Apartheid.

Politicians Policies and Reactions 1910 to 1948 towards Apartheid

Date White Politics Racial Policies Action of Non-white groups1910 -13

Election won by South African Party (Afrikaans dominated)

Mines Act – controls jobs and pay of non-white mine workersNative Lands Act – banned all buying and selling of land between Africans and whites, Africans evicted from leased land, restricted to “Reserves”

African leaders meet to form South African Native National Convention (later the African National Congress or ANC)

1914 National Party formed (only for Afrikaaners)PM Botha supports British in WW1 against massive Afrikaaner opposition

ANC supports British war effort and 5635 Africans die.Delegation to King George V about land seizures but says cannot interfere in South African affairs.

1918 White mine workers wages rise by 35%, no increase for non-whites. Widespread strikes and violence from white workers when mine owners try to reduce white wages in 1922.

Petition to King George V to give Africans right to vote, refused

1923

1924

1927

1929

National Party wins election with slogan “put whites first and foremost”

Nationals win election with slogan “vote for a white man’s country

Native Urban Areas Act separate towns and locations for AfricansThousands of Africans sacked and replaced by poor whites

First non-European national conference condemns racial discrimination

1930

1933 National Party and

During the 1930’s the ANC continued its non-violent campaign against racial discrimination

1934

1936

1939

1940-45

1944

South African Party merge to become the United PartyDr Malan formed the Purified National Party which aimed at complete separation of blacks and whites

Dr Malan organises a celebration of the Great Trek.

Some Afrikaners sabotage war effort

Vote taken away from Africans in Cape Province

ANC supports Britain in WW2

Lembede, Mandela, Tambo and Sisulu form the ANC youth league determined to change the approach to gaining African freedom

1946 50,000 African miners strike, police kill 9, wound 1200

1948 Dr Malan’s National party wins election, with the slogan “black peril”. No English background politicians in his Cabinet, only spoke Afrikaans.Also head of the secretive and extremist “Broederbond”

The process of separating the races in all spheres of life “Apartheid” begins. The first step is to introduce separate train carriages for “whites only” and internal passes that specify racial category

Write a paragraph explaining how the politics of the first 40 years of the Union of South Africa moved the nation towards Apartheid. Consider the ideas of the Governments at this time and policies that they carry out.

The institution and operation of Apartheid

Date White Politics Racial Policies Action of Non-white groups1950 1952

1953

1955

1956

1958

1959

Dr Hendrik Verwoerd becomes PM determined to complete the move to Apartheid

Women must carry passesBantu Education Act. All non- government schools closed and only government approved curriculum to be taught.Forced removal of Africans from Johannesburg suburbs to SOWETO

Separate universities created for blacks

Bantu Self Governing Act set up homelands that would eventually become self -governing and meant that all Bantu were “visitors’ in South Africa not citizens or residents

ANC with Indian Congress organises national strikes and protests (defiance days) against the new laws. Huge number of arrests and 18 deaths by the end of the first campaign.

The Freedom Charter adopted by the ANC and other non-white groups (non-racial SA, equal political rights, fairer distribution of wealth, right to education)Mass demonstrations by 26,000 women against the pass laws. Boycotts campaigns continue.Protests by women in Durban on restrictions on their ability to make a living brewing beer

1960

1961 South Africa leaves the Commonwealth to become a RepublicTreason trial which

State of Emergency, Increased police powers; could detain without charge for increasingly long periodsCensorship increased, not able to report any banned individual or organisation;Petty apartheid continued to affect every aspect of life.

Sharpeville shooting, part of anti- pass campaign (69 young people killed, international attention)ANC and PAC (Pan African Congress) banned;Banning orders on individuals (could not leave home without police permission);384,497 pass law convictions in 1962

First acts of sabotage against electricity system and government offices

1963

1966

began in 1956 against 65 leaders (black and white) of Freedom charter ends with release of those charged

Verwoerd assassinated by a European but probably not because of his politics. B.J. Vorster becomes PM

Nelson Mandela sent to Robben Island, life sentence for treason

1971

1972

1973-75

1976

1977

State Security Council

Education Minister announces half of school subjects must be taught in Afrikaans.Steve Biko dies in police custody

Steve Biko forms Black People’s ConventionYoung ANC members leave SA to train as guerrillas in AngolaWidespread strikes for better wages and conditionsMass demonstrations, riots and boycotts by school students throughout the year, 576 killed, 2389 wounded.

From the notes and the film “Cry the Beloved Country” write about what it was like to live in South Africa under Apartheid if you are black and if you are white.

What pressures led to the downfall of Apartheid 1978 to 1989?

Changes in the economy.

Most businesses were owned by whites Changes in technology and global markets Increased need for more skilled workers; less need for cheap (unskilled) workers Shortage of permanent black labour (Bantustan or Homeland laws) not enough white workers for business needs. Many businesses start to look for ways around the apartheid laws. Labour shortages give black workers more bargaining power trade unions develop (illegal) to negotiate with employers costs of huge army and police force; rising taxes need black soldiers and police to meet targets

International Pressure and isolation

Some nations boycotted trade, especially in oil and other essentials. Transnational countries operating in South Africa criticised New left wing governments in Angola, Mozambique and Zimbabwe support and train

guerrillas easier to attack targets inside South Africa (eg 1980 oil refinery attack, 1982

nuclear power station attack Sporting boycotts

Political scandal

The government sets up a secret fund of 64 million rand for propaganda (by buying shares in newspapers and magazines overseas) and bribes (both money and goods) to politicians and business people to improve the image of South Africa and business links. This becoming public led to B.J. Vorsters resignation in 1978.

Using the dot points to give you the information write 3 complete sentences about the economic changes that are putting pressure on the system of apartheid OR three complete sentences about the international pressures that make it harder to maintain apartheid.

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New Leader P.W.Botha has a plan to save the apartheid state

Strengthen the alliance between the National Party , big business and the security forces in South Africa – 1979 businesses could employ blacks in some jobs previously reserved for whites; relaxed the pass laws so workers could be more permanent; legalise Black trade unions to improve industrial relations (Outcomes – lot of white working class upset and form new party; more blacks move to towns and cities; strikes increase but so do wages and conditions)

Reduce those causes of discontent that could be used to stir up a revolution – recognised Black Africans as permanent residents of South Africa; more resources to education; remove many “petty apartheid” restrictions; 1982 local residents in black townships could elect council to make decisions and spend taxes in local areas; reduced restrictions on blacks owing or operating businesses; 1983 new constitution that elected white (178); Indian (45) and coloured (85) to separate houses of the parliament ( outcomes - increase in numbers of non-whites in schools and universities with growth in youth protest organisations; many blacks saw black councillors as collaborators with apartheid; blacks united in opposition to new constitution)

Protect the apartheid state from enemies inside and outside South Africa – State Security Council created in 1972 was given more power; (outcome - increase in number of young black people leaving SA to train as guerrillas mainly in other African countries)

He was prepared to release Nelson Mandela (who is the symbol of black freedom) from prison as long as he agrees to not participate in any political activity.

What did P.W. Botha hope his reforms would achieve?

Read the extract below and highlight the sentence that explains what PW Botha hoped to achieve.

Read the extract below and write in your own words why PW Botha thought his program of reform might succeed.

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Give two reason why PW Botha’s plan was unlikely to succeed.

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The Collapse of Apartheid 1989 to 1994

In 1989 F.W. de Klerk replaced P.W. Botha as Prime Minister. He was yet another Afrikaner Prime Minister and few thought he would do anything different to Botha, but on 2 February 1990 he opened Parliament with a 35 minute speech which began the process of demolishing the Apartheid State. He unbanned the ANC, PAC and other non-white political organisations, freed political prisoners and suspended the death penalty and 9 days later released Nelson Mandela without conditions. Over the next four years the Apartheid state was dismantled. Some people called it a miracle.

Why do you think people writing about the end of apartheid would use the word “miracle”?

Key Developments in the Collapse of Apartheid

In the space on the other side of the page re-write what these changes mean in plain English.

Why did this “miracle” happen?

There are many ideas about why de Klerk changed the policy of the National Party so dramatically. They include:

Enormous economic and social problems – 4000 people killed in protests since 1985; 50 000 in prison without trial; troops stationed in the townships; economic depression; loss of skilled labour and capital as an increasing number of whites migrate; government debt. De Klerk hoped the end of Apartheid would help solve some of these problems but still leave the white minority with significant economic and political power.

The message from the voters – in the 1989 elections the National Party had the worst result since 1948. They lost votes both from white voters who thought they should maintain strict apartheid and voters who were concerned that the reforms were too slow and did not go far enough. De Klerk had to decide which way to go and he decided reform would appeal to more voters.

Secret Talks – by 1990 the Government had held many secret talks with Nelson Mandela and the ANC and had decided that they could trust them, they could “do business” and the ANC felt the same about this government – that they could come to some arrangement that would introduce majority rule without civil war or destroying the wealth of the nation (both white, black and coloured).

The collapse of Russia and communism in Eastern Europe in 1990 removed the Soviet Union as a supporter of the ANC. The South African government and the National Party were violently anti –communist

A sudden conversion – at a religious service held to mark the beginning of de Klerk’s presidency in September 1989, de Klerk was in tears and some friends reported that he had “a calling from God” to save all the people of South Africa.

When de Klerk started this process it was not his intention to give up white political power, he wanted a limiting constitution that allowed a free vote in the lower house but a Senate still dominated by white voters. He also hoped that Nelson Mandela might lose his popularity or prove not to be a very effective leader once he was out of prison. He thought there might be a leadership struggle in the ANC. De Klerk also encouraged the tension between the ANC and Inkatha Freedom Party led by Chief Buthelezi and he would be able to play one off against the other. Others organised violent opposition to any changes to the separation of blacks and whites or loss of white supremacy, these included both groups outside the Government and some in the Government, especially the police, who disagreed with the new policy. There was also fighting between different tribes, rural and city and different politics amongst the black populations. Between 1990 and 1994, 60,000 people died violently, most of them in the townships.

Suggest three reasons why things did not work out the way de Klerk hoped. (Consider the kind of man Mandela was, how long the ANC and Mandela had fought for this, the patience and skill of negotiations.)

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On April 27 1994, the first multi-racial election is held. There are 19 political parties to choose from. Millions of South Africans stood in line for hours for their first opportunity to vote. The ANC won 62.65% of the votes, the National Party won 20.4% and Inkatha10.5%. Nelson Mandela replaces F W de Klerk as President. Black majority rule is a reality. Nelson Mandela not only wanted to bury the past but to begin building a new South Africa in partnership with old enemies.

List three reasons why this would be a very difficult thing to do.

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The Republic of South Africa after Apartheid

Look at the two maps and answer the following questions

How many states or provinces were there in the old South Africa?

How many states or provinces are there in the new South Africa?

What happens to the homelands in the new South Africa? Why aren’t they needed any more?

Describe how the flag changes in shape.

The old flag is Orange, Blue and White (equal amount for each). The new flag is Orange, Blue, Green, Yellow, Black and White (yellow and white are narrow strips).

What new colours are added? What do you think these colours might mean?

Nelson Mandela became President of South Africa on 10 May 1994. His government of National Unity included FW de Klerk, as one of two deputy Presidents, and Chief Buthelezi, the Zulu leader of the Inkatha party who became Minister for Home Affairs.

What does a Government of National Unity mean?

Why would Mandela include his political rivals in his Government?

Mandela made huge symbolic efforts to make whites feel valued and safe in South Africa. He wore the Springbok jersey at the Rugby World Cup final in June 1995; he visited Betsie Verwoerd, the widow of the man who had jailed him for life. A Commission of Truth and Reconciliation chaired by Archbishop Desmond Tutu called upon victims of apartheid to forgive those guilty of crimes against them and their loved ones. This was too much for some people to do. Desmond Tutu used the phrase “rainbow people” to describe the people of South Africa.

From the film Invictus write a paragraph about what Mandela was hoping to achieve through the sport of Rugby Union. (homework task – find out about rugby union in South Africa today)

Apartheid is over and the government is changed but people’s attitudes don’t change overnight. Social and economic inequality may take decades to reverse if it is ever achieved.

It is difficult to imagine whether anyone other than Nelson Mandela could have brought off the (relatively) peaceful transition from white minority rule to black majority rule. Rarely in history has there been a politician who has held such worldwide respect.

From the film about Mandela ( and other sources if you wish) write half a page about the kind of man Nelson Mandela was that allowed him to achieve such change in South Africa and such international respect as an “Elder Statesman”

What does the future hold for South Africa after Mandela?

Nelson Mandela is now a very old man and has been in and out of hospital this year. Many commentators have been writing about South Africa after Mandela. Find one article on the internet on this topic. Read it and highlight the main points that the article makes about problems and/or possibilities for South Africa after the death of Nelson Mandela.