Modern World Study: South Africa
The transition to majority rule in 1994 began with the election in
which the ANC won with 62.5%. Nelson Mandela had an important role in
the ending of apartheid. As the leader of the MK, he concentrated on
sabotage and aimed to avoid loss of life. His release from prison in
1990 did not cease violent riots but the CODESA talks, which resulted
in a constitutional agreement for a one-person-one-vote election, gave
the ANC a fair chance to change South Africa back to a multi-racial
democracy. However, there were also many other reasons besides Nelson
Mandela that had helped to end apartheid.
Black opposition against apartheid started to increase rapidly and
became very violent, weakening much control of South Africa. The
Defiance Campaign, 1952, invited arrest by ignoring "European Only"
signs at post offices and railway stations. Although more than 8,000
were arrested during peaceful protests during the summer, these were
emphasized when, in October, violent riots caused chaos in South
Africa. At Sharpeville, after peaceful protests from the ANC and PAC,
police shot 69 demonstrators and 180 were wounded. Many were shot in
the back. There was a shocked international reaction which demanded
apartheid should end.
A major part of the opposition was the Black Consciousness movement
led by Steve Biko. His theory was that "as a result of living for
generations in a white-dominated society, black people had lost
confidence in themselves. They came to assume that the whites were
superior so they accepted too easily, if unhappily, the bad ways in
which they were treated". The aim of the movement was to end the
dependence blacks had on white society. The movement caused riots in
Soweto where more than 700 blacks died and 970 buildings were
destroyed. The death of Steve Biko in 1977 made him appear as a martyr
of apartheid which encouraged many young people to defy the government
at almost any costs. This weakened the government and the strength of
apartheid.
Industrial unrest also resulted in a lot of black opposition.
Firstly, the dominant societal issue that disrupted the political order of the National Party was racial segregation and the termination of apartheid. Secondly, while the National Party promoted the apartheid system, the African National Congress (though at the time the party was illegitimate) advocated for the termination of racial segregation (Encyclopaedia Britannica). Although there was not shift in party coalitions there was a major shift in voter support from the National Party to the African National Congress (ANC) with the ANC winning a popular vote of 62.65% (Encyclopaedia Britannica). This realigning election removed the National Party from power and in its place positioned the African National Congress. The ANC has been in power since 1994 with little competition from opposing parties. However, economic, social and cultural changes have slowly lead to an increase in votes for the opposing party, the Democratic Alliances (Aryn Baker). With that said there might be a possibility for another realigning election sometime in South Africa’s
Imperialism is the act of expanding a country through diplomatic means. The British imperialized South Africa. One reason for doing so is because of South America’s natural resources. Useful resources such as diamonds, gold, tin, copper, and plants could be found in South Africa. The British also had new markets to sell to. Britain has control over South Africa’s natural resources and could use those resources to trade with other countries. In addition, the British believed in European superiority. The Europeans were racist and had racist beliefs in Social Darwinism, the idea that Europeans were more advanced and had the right and duty to bring their progress to other countries.
South Africa was positively affected in the way that before the Dutch and British, South Africa had been split up into many different tribes, who though they were free were not united. Through the centuries of hardship South Africa came out of apartheid very strong and the ANC has maintained a popularity of 60% popularity for all the elections since 1994. Economically South Africa has blossomed and is the 2nd largest economy in all of Africa and has managed to triple its GDP even though it has been less than 30 years since it has left apartheid, established democracy and freed itself from many international sanctions. South Africa’s economy still has many issues though for it is still an underdeveloped country which suffers from lack of education, employment, and crime. Socially South Africa remains strong as it is united under one goal of making its nation once again great, and it has maintained its heritage and culture. In fact, a quick look at a South African site will show many articles and memorials, of days in the past remembering the struggle for freedom. Politically, South Africa has remained strong and united with the ANC still carrying the vast majority of the votes and uses a governmental system quite similar to ours with a separation of powers and a thriving democratic system. Luckily, political diversity has also started to appear with many other groups appearing making the most out of South Africa’s democracy and all of which pledge freedom and are led by native
The blacks were overpowered through various regulations for over forty years. During the apartheid, blacks were to be relocated to “homelands.” The white government allocated that all black citizens be assigned to “tribes,” and were forced to return to “homelands” within the boundaries given by the government. There were soon eleven countries and ten black tribal National states. Blacks were now prohibited from leaving the “homelands” without work passes. White minority lived in luxury while the 80% of the population, black, lived on 17% of the poorest land. The National Party was able to eradicate human rights of the black South Africans while maintaining absolute control of the government. Most international communities ignored the apartheid in South Africa due to the Cold War concerns in the United States and Europe. This enabled the South African government to operate with little contact with international parties. There were uprisings like the Sharpeville killings of 1960 and Soweto of 1976 but were rare occurrences. South Africa, not depending on national ties to other countries, grew into a weakening economy. Soon the United Nations had a cultural boycott prohibiting international artists from performing in South Africa. Despite the boycott, artists such as Frank Sinatra and Elton John ignored this boycott and performed in Sun City (a white resort in
...bances began to emerge, and the economy began to drop. Unrest cost many lives, until demands for change were heard and the political system was revised. In 1994, the South African people went to the polls for the first time and held a democratic election in which Nelson Mandela became president. The country of South Africa has made strides in healing their broken country.
In 1990, South Africa became a totalitarian state. Apartheid is still in full effect. There is extensive racial violence in the streets. The country is economically suffering from sanctions from many other countries in protest of Apartheid.
Nelson Mandela’s commitment to politics and the ANC grew stronger after the 1948 election victory of the Afrikaner dominated National Party, which formed a formal system of racial classification and segregation “apartheid” which restricted non whites basic rights and barred them from government.
South Africa has large varieties ethnic backgrounds; unfortunately for them none of them are allowed their chance to shine because of the cloud of racism that has over shadowed their history. Like the United States, South African countries are built for the success of whites before any other ethnicity. This can be found in the countries politics and economics alike. For over 300 years this racism has occurred. Around the 1940’s South Africans have coined a policy for this racism, “apartheid”. In English apartheid can be translated to “Apart-hood”. (2) This will be touched about in more detail later. Like the United States, South Africa has had to deal with centuries of racism, the problem being that South Africans racism doesn’t seem to be depleting as fast as other countries in the same situation.
South Africa is one of the most developed nations in Africa, though like all other developed nations, it was not always that way. The major developments occurred over an extended period of time and were, arguably, brought on by many different factors. Previous literature and theories tell what helped the nation come to a state of development. One such theory is that the apartheid’s previously established democratic institutions contributed to the government’s smooth transition into democracy. Additionally, an indigenous model employed in South Africa, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, also contributed to the transition from the old apartheid system of rule to the evenly applied democracy it currently has. A case study on poverty and well-being in South Africa, in the post-apartheid era, sheds some light on the truth to these theories. My hypothesis, based on data from the World Bank and this case study, is that South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, paired with the apartheid regime’s previously established democratic institutions, helped the nation democratize. However, some of the “traditions” under the apartheid have contributed to the stunting of South Africa’s economic development.
During apartheid in South Africa, the country was a collaboration of racism and sexism with the government striving day in and day out to keep the country in such a state. The gender discrimination in South Africa is deeply rooted in the ethnic traditions of the multi-cultural communities, as well as by the compliance of women themselves. Several culture’s values perceive women as inferior to men. Because of these cultural traditions, compliance, and the government, gender equality in South Africa has been an ongoing battle, and will continue to be throughout the twenty-first century. In Western terms, Africa has always been impoverished and thriving with conflict whether it be between tribes, between husband and wife, or between citizens and the government. However, most of the conflict involves the discrimination and oppression of women. My objective is about African women living in reserves and urban areas struggles in housing, employment, and education during the apartheid.
...rry their pass books (“Black’s resistance to Apartheid”). “During 1980 there were 304 major incidents concerning struggle with apartheid including arrests, tear gas violence, stoning, and strikes (“Black’s resistance to Apartheid”). In 1986 violent conflict forced the government to assert a national state of emergency (Wright, 68). The Public Safety Act increased penalties such as fining, imprisonment, and whippings for protesting the law (“History of South Africa in the apartheid era”).
Apartheid in South Africa became a huge issue due to the loss of human rights. Apartheid segregated and created problems between the whites and blacks of South Africa. Many of the blacks of South Africa had their rights violated due to the National Party making the white minority more powerful. Which automatically made the white richer and the black poorer. This was all changed when Nelson Mandela and F.W. De Klerk joined the African National Congress (ANC) and stood up against the National Party which created a more equalized South Africa.
This unrest continued as many young people left the country out of thorough frustration with the government’s unyielding harassment against the black community through the police. Those who fled did not complete their education as they opted instead to undergo military training and join military camps as to prepare themselves for the possibility of orchestrating acts of sabotage against the apartheid government. This pattern continued in the on-going fight against apartheid which finally collapsed towards the end of the 1980s.
Culture is characterized by language, religion, food, music, arts and social norms (Zimmermann, 2012). Just from that definition, this characterizes diversity from a standpoint of cultural value, consumer behavior, and market environment. South Africa is the epitome of diversity. It is made up of a variety of other cultures that are all housed on one country. This country has 11 different ways to communicate, which is a great reason why South Africa is important in the global market. With many avenues of trade and a big sample size to trade with, this leads to unlimited resources and a booming global market. (Introduction: Describe research purpose and address the reasons why the selected country is important in global markets.)
The apartheid was a very traumatic time for blacks in South Africa. Apartheid is the act of literally separating the races, whites and non-whites, and in 1948 the apartheid was now legal, and government enforced. The South African police began forcing relocations for black South Africans into tribal lines, which decreased their political influence and created white supremacy. After relocating the black South Africans, this gave whites around eighty percent of the land within South Africa. Jonathan Jansen, and Nick Taylor state “The population is roughly 78 percent black, 10 percent white, 9 percent colored, and l...