apartheid

What was the ‘’apartheid’’?

Between 1948 and 1994 appeared a system of racial segregation enforced by the National Party governments of South Africa. It was developed after the Second World War (in colonial times) by the Afrikaner-dominated National Party.

Apartheid as an official policy was introduced following the general election of 1948. New legislation classified people into four racial groups ("native", "white", "coloured", and "Asian“).

Non-white political representation was completely abolished in 1970, and starting in that year black people were deprived of their citizenship, legally becoming citizens of one of ten tribally based self-governing homelands called bantustans, four of which became nominally independent states.

The government segregated education, medical care, beaches, and other public services, and provided black people with services inferior to those of white people.

Well, we can say that it was a case of total discrimination between people who were ‘’black’’ and those who were ‘’white’’. It means violence. As unrest spread and became more violent, state organisations responded with increasing repression and state-sponsored violence.

Reforms to apartheid in the 1980’s failed to quell the mounting opposition, and in 1990 President Frederik Willem de Klerk began negotiations to end apartheid, culminating in multi-racial democratic elections in 1994, which were won by the African National Congress under Nelson Mandela. The vestiges of apartheid still shape South African politics and society.

Who was Nelson Mandela?

Nelson Mandela was born July 18, 1918. served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we, the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC). In 1962 he was arrested and convicted of sabotage and other charges, and sentenced to life in prison. Mandela served 27 years in prison, spending many of these years on Robben Island. Following his release from prison on 11 February 1990, Mandela led his party in the negotiations that led to multi-racial democracy in 1994. As president, he frequently gave priority to reconciliation, while introducing policies aimed at combating poverty and inequality in South Africa. Mandela has received more than 250 awards over four decades, including the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize.

Nelson Mandela

What did they do?

-Black people could not be member of the government and they couldn’t vote.

- There were different trains and buses for white and black people

-There were also different zones for each group of people

-Education was better for white people, for black, it was poor.

What do you think about APARTHEID?