The Factors that Brought Apartheid to an End in 1994
The two key factors that brought apartheid to an end were political
and economic pressures that developed over the 50 years of Apartheid.
One clear attempt at changing the political scene was the adoption of
the 'Freedom Charter' composed in 1955, was a way of displaying what
individuals such as Mandela and Sisulu wanted and fought for. Mandela
considered it as "...it captured the hopes and dreams of the people
and acted as a blueprint for the liberation struggle and future of the
nation".
Whites feared some of the conditions of the freedom charter.
"The people shall govern"
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Some whites also feared that if the white's loss the majority of rule.
It may result in communism. Communism would be awful for the whites as
it would be many of their fears rolled into one, they would lose their
status have their land re-distributed and the whole country would most
likely end up in turmoil not just whites but blacks as well.
This allowed every man and woman the right to vote, as well as stand
for election. The whites feared that this would eventually mean the
end of whites in parliament, as 75% of the population was black.
But this Freedom Charter also showed how equality was wanted, not any
dominance over other races.
A group named Pan African Congress (PAC) was led by Robert Sobukwe.
They set in motion further pass law demonstrations. 1960, both the PAC
and ANC organized an enormous, peaceful anti-pass law demonstration.
The PAC made clear that their intention was to get arrested. Monday 21st
March the campaign began, immediately they were a...
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...ements happened initially because of the riots that
were shown to the world, when the pictures were displayed to the other
countries only then did South Africa's economic struggle with trading,
and eventually South Africa became isolated from the world. This is
what created the pressure and pushed apartheid to its boiling point.
The factors all came together and broke down the system of Apartheid.
With a failing economy by the boycotts it had put pressure on South
Africa. The riots, and how they were dealt with, publicised to the
rest of the world created a great opposition. In addition pressure
from 'anti apartheid' groups all added towards the 'boiling point' of
the system. It weakened the government.
The opposition to apartheid strengthened and progressed considerably
and as a result eventually ending apartheid.
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.
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Source A gives a view on the South African governments control over its people and racial discrimination. It is a biased view and makes the South African government seem cruel and racist. It states that the governments "politics are determined by the colour a persons skin". As this is a statement it gives the impression that it is a fact and by giving this impression it also communicates the idea that the South African government IS racist, rather than the South African government COULD be racist. This comes as no real surprise as the advert has been paid for by the ANC (African National Congress), who are a very anti - South African government organization.
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In 1948 the National Party took power of South Africa. The all-white minority government began enforcing already existing laws that encouraged segregation and separatism in the non-white majority country. Under these new sanctions apartheid, which literally means a policy or system of segregation or discrimination on grounds of race, non-whites would be forced to not only go to separate public facilities but would later be force to live on separate lands similar to that of the Native Americans in the United States. Even though there was strong opposition to the new set of laws both from within and form outside the country these outrages and unethical policies remained in effect for almost 50 years
The effect that the leaders had on the community was so influential that in the late 1960’s, South Africa began to witness the beginning of the Black Conscious movement. This movement was initiated by Black students led by Steve Biko. The PBS website explains, “This new generation of activists, working with the Black Trade Unions, would dominate the resistance movement in the 1970s and 1980s. In addition to the mobilization of Blacks, there were many other individuals and groups that were actively resisting Apartheid. In response to and in spite of resistance efforts, the apartheid system grew stronger and its grip was extended over all aspects of life” (Bloom, 1995). The Black Conscious movement was formed to show the governments that they are proud of who they are, and that they have a defined history different of that of whites. The main goal was to make clear that they will no longer be judged according to their appearance. Overall, the black conscious movement was created to break “white liberalism”. This group gives great merit to the influence the ANC leaders because it was formed by the
the ban on the ANC, the PAC and the SACP, he announced the release of
A Brief History of Apartheid in South Africa Apartheid is not a new thing. Ever since Dutch colonists landed in 1652, "Blacks" and "Whites" have lived apart in South Africa. Officially started in 1948 when the Afrikaner Nationalist party came to power, apartheid is a system of racial laws devised to "Preserve and promote a white majority over a black majority. " It has a lot of opposition and it led to an international boycott of South Africa because of it. When the Dutch first landed and established a strong colony there, they got on relatively peacefully with the natives.
South Africa really began to suffer when apartheid was written into the law. Apartheid was first introduced in the 1948 election that the Afrikaner National Party won. The plan was to take the already existing segregation and expand it (Wright, 60). Apartheid was a system that segregated South Africa’s population racially and considered non-whites inferior (“History of South Africa in the apartheid era”). Apartheid was designed to make it legal for Europeans to dominate economics and politics (“History of South Africa in the apartheid era”).