South Africa's Historical Complexity

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South Africa's Historical Complexity

After having studied Cape Town, South Africa for the past months, I have had the opportunity to come face to face with a place whose culture and history outdoes most other places in the world. Their respect for their historical past and their want to preserve it is remarkable. In 1948, the South African government began to limit the freedom of black Africans. In fact, it was at this point in history that the government officially launched a system of apartheid. Given the fact that Cape Town is at the tip of continent of Africa, not only is the climate is very mild, similar to that of San Diego in the United States but it is actually bordered by two Oceans. On the left side of the city the Atlantic Ocean rests, and on the left hand side, the Indian Ocean. The temperatures between the two differ noticeable and this is even more shocking to believe because the distance between both coasts is within 5 driving minutes.

As a result of this new system, under the leadership of Albert Lutuli and Johannesburg law partners Oliver Tambo and Nelson Mandela, the African National Congress organized a passive resistance campaign against the apartheid and issued the Freedom Charter. The government suppressed the movement and began to arrest the ANC leaders. In 1959 the parliament passed new laws extending racial segregation by creating separate homelands for South Africa ’s major black groups. With that being said, as a consequence, the two different Ocean coast catered to two different crowds. The Atlantic Ocean coast, with its perfect weather, beautifully white sandy beaches and sky blue water was available only to the white people. On the Indian Ocean side, even though the water was warmer, the bea...

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...ica as a whole, we have been able to see the effects of change. The country has seen its share of troubles and yet they have come back on track and have improved as a country. What was once a racist divide within beaches has now become a safe haven for all people. And so in this case, climate and society work hand in hand. There was a time where the temperature of the air dictated who attended which beach. It is nice to see how time has the power to change all things and that despite the plateau of the weather in Cape Town, things change around it and set new perimeters with it.

Websites

The Weather Underground

The Official Cape Town Website

References

http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~cale/cs201/apartheid.hist.html

http://vlib.iue.it/history/africa/south_africa.html

http://www.fyvie.net/photos/Travel/South%20Africa%20July%202004/content.html

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