The End of Apartheid in South Africa

Nelson Mandela was the main reason why the rest of the

world saw and put pressure on President de klerk or he wouldn’t have

released Nelson Mandela from prison if he weren’t so popular, and had

many millions of people on his side.

Mandela, a black South African, dedicated his life to stand up to the

apartheid in South Africa. In 1942 when he was just 24 years old,

Mandela became a member of the African National Congress (ANC). He,

along with other members tried to put an end to the apartheid and

minority rule in South Africa. As a member, he took part in

demonstrations, strikes and boycotts, and was later put into prison

for 26 years.

Nelson Mandela inspired many young black people to fight for what they

believed in. He got other people to believe what he did; he believed

that black and white people should be treated equally. He taught

people that apartheid was wrong, and took it upon himself to try and

change things. He dedicated everything he did to something he believed

so strongly in, however he, himself could not put an end to apartheid

in South African, but played a very important part in opposing it and

influencing others to believe what he did.

FW De Klerk became president in 1990, he was the son of a leading

National Party politician, and he was a life long National Party

member and believed strongly in racial separation. Therefore he did

not seem like someone who was going to change much. However he came

out, surprising everyone, in his first speech as president he, took of

the ban on the ANC, the PAC and the SACP, he announced the release of

Nelson Mandela and his fellow prisoners, and he said he was going to

work towards equal rights for all the South Africans. It was a big

surprise for everyone, as De Klerk believed in racial segregation.

There are many reasons why De Klerk may have helped to end apartheid.

Firstly, South Africa was on the verge of a civil war, and the