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introduction to apartheid in south africa
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During the Apartheid Era, there emerged from South Africa cases of gross human rights abuse, racism, police brutality and general mistreatment of the non-white population. Excluding the fact that South Africa was never ruled by a dictator, it can be argued that some of these features were totalitarian and that South Africa was, to a certain extent, a totalitarian state under Apartheid. This discussion will analyse the totalitarian features that were apparent during Apartheid, and will be structured in the format of the characteristics of a totalitarian state1. Political, economic and social spheres will be dealt with, with the main focus being on racial purity, a “reign of terror” and education. A totalitarian state involves many spheres being partly or wholly controlled by the state, and, often, the manipulation of the population to benefit the state. In South Africa, this was apparent for the non-white population – the state controlled and often manipulated them with various pieces of Apartheid legislation. In the political sphere, South Africa could be seen to a certain extent as a totalitarian one-party state, as the Afrikaans National Party (NP) maintained power throughout Apartheid. Opposition parties (such as the ANC, PAC, SACP, and UDF in 1988) were banned according to the “Unlawful Organisations Act No 34 of 1960;”2 and in 1956, the “Separate Representation of Voters Amendment Act3” removed the right to vote from coloureds (blacks already had no voting rights), leaving only whites allowed to vote and therefore removing opposition. Membership of the South African government could be regarded as “elite” (a totalitarian feature) as the government was predominantly Afrikaans with few English-speaking people and no... ... middle of paper ... ...show.php?include=docs/shopsteward/1995/ss0406-12.html. Accessed 3 April 2011 9. “Stephen Bantu Biko.” Taken from the SA History website: http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/people/bios/biko-s.htm Accessed 3 April 2011 10. “Casspir Mk III.” Taken from the Army Guide website: http://www.army-guide.com/eng/product.php?prodID=4310&printmode=1 . Accessed 3 April 2011. 11. “Cosatu Ban: State Hopes to Smash Apartheid Resistance.” Taken from the DISA website: http://www.disa.ukzn.ac.za/index.php?option=com_displaydc&recordID=CoMay88.1727.0588.000.001.May1988.18 Accessed 3 April 2011. 12. Extract from a textbook, History for Standard 6–10 (Joubert and Britz 1975), popularly used during the Apartheid era in schools. Taken from a 2008 publication on Apartheid by Alta Engelbrecht - http://info.worldbank.org/etools/docs/library/232527/engelbrecht.pdf. Accessed 30th March 2011
Around the 1970s, due to South Africa’s internal contradictions with its economy and people, the Apartheid began its slow demise. Soon the united nation began to take notice of South Africa and began to get involved. With South Africa now in the spot light, Prime Minister P.W Botha left office due to his belief that he had failed to keep order in the country. After the reassignment of P.W Botha, F.W Klerk had taken office. The final stage of the demise of the Apartheid began when Klerk lifted the ban off the ANC and other African political parties. The last blow was the release of Nelson Mandela after 27 years in prison. Now that South Africa’s hope was out of prison he continued to ...
...f South African language and culture, acknowledgement of the racial oppression in South Africa, past and present, that it was wrong and positive action is required to make it right, and finally that all South Africans are legitimate and enjoy full moral equality (“About – DA”). In order for all this to be possible, the state must ensure it does not compromise the freedom of the individual (“About – DA”).
Failure to resist the consuetude of tyranny was seen in the apartheid regime that was allowed to rise in South Africa, “with its explicit policy promoting white supremacy” (Cooper 2002, 1). As a result of this establishment, non white Africans were forced to live separate and in poor conditions for years by the all white government. This yet again encumbered any chance for augmentation of self and society for the African people. While the rest of the world was creating mass transit and health care systems, Africa was being held down, it’s potential to develop as a state of power and influence,
Apartheid was a system of separation of the races both politically and socially in South Africa in the second half of the twentieth century. This system was said to be one of the last examples of institutionalized racism, and has been almost universally criticized. These Apartheid rules and restrictions were put in place by the National Party which had power over South Africa during this time period. The purpose of Apartheid legislation was to bring the Afrikaner ethnic group to a higher power in South Africa, and accomplished just that. The Afrikaner group was made up of descendants from Dutch colonists who settled in South Africa in order to make a refreshment station, a sort of rest stop, for the Dutch East India Company. The longer people stayed in Africa, the more they started to associate with it as their home. With the enslavement of many Africans, it is easy to see how these Afrikaners would associate themselves as above them and would feel entitled to power over them. This entitlement it how Apartheid rules were born.
Long-denied rights and freedoms wouldn’t have been granted to the now multi-racial South Africa, if it hadn’t been been for two icons in black history who battled against Apartheid. The recurring theme in the articles “Steve Biko” and “Obituaries; Nelson Mandela” is that both strongly fought against Apartheid and worked to overturn the oppression of the black race to restore their basic human rights. Steve Biko started his career as an activist at the age of 20 and founded a movement called The Black Consciousness that grew quickly. Because of the growth, the government started to jail hundreds of members of the movement and had the police hack into his phone to watch his every move. Biko was then banned by the government of all methods that supported the struggle, although, despite the ban, Biko continued to support the cause using various illegal strategies. The police soon arrested him without charge and treated him abusively and vulgarly. Biko then died that year due to serious brain damage and 17 years later Nelson Mandela, another leader of the struggle, was elected as president in a free and open election. Hoping to give black South Africans the right to vote along with other rights, and society only getting worse, Mandela opened up the country’s first black law firm in 1952. Then in 1960, 69 peaceful demonstrators were killed, infuriating Mandela, causing him to lead a bombing campaign against official government sites and offices. Because of the campaign, he would then spend the next 27 years of his life in prison doing harsh labor in a limestone quarry. However, the battle wasn’t over yet, as these two demonstrators would continue to fight until the day of the overturn of Apartheid.
The word apartheid comes in two forms, one being the system of racial segregation in South Africa, and the other form is the form that only those who were affected by apartheid can relate to, the deeper, truer, more horrifying, saddening and realistic form. The apartheid era truly began when white South Africans went to the polls to vote. Although the United Party and National Party were extremely close, the National party won. Since they won, they gained more seats and slowly began to eliminate the black’s involvement with the political system. With the National Party in power, they made black South African life miserable which continues to exist in South Africa’s society today. To decrease the political power of black South Africans even more, they were divided along tribal lines. During apartheid in South Africa, The National Party, along with the help of the white social classes damaged the social and political life of black South Africans which continue to leave a devastating effect on South Africa today.
Although apartheid in South Africa was not legally enacted until 1948, to fully understand the circumstances which allowed for such racism and segregation we must first understand key events beginning with the colonization of South Africa by the Dutch in 1652.
Coster, P., & Woolf, A. (Eds.).(2011). World book: South Africa’s Anti-Apartheid Movement, (pp. 56-57). Arcturus Publishers: Chicago.
It can be easily stated that the apartheid movement bestowed cruel and unusual punishments upon the people of South Africa, in order to execute its purpose. However, apartheid could have not been carried out if they were not individuals who believed in its principles. In order to understand the National parties ideologies regarding the issue of apartheid, it is essential to acknowledge the history of Boer soc...
South Africa is a unique country compared to other African countries when it comes to democratization. South Africa after decolonization was considered by many scholars a type of democracy, specially a parliamentary regime. The only problem with that regime was apartheid, since it did not allow many of the citizens vote for their own representation and president. South Africa never had a dictator or an autocratic regime. Thus, the country’s first multi-party election is considered to be held after the end of apartheid. South African regime after the multi-party elections grew stronger in democracy with free and fair elections. However, South African still experiences some setbacks that make it hard to consider a totally perfect democracy.
...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”).
Repression by the South African government during the apartheid era, has hurt the ability for civil society groups to form. Instead of channeling grievances through civil society organizations that act as a “safety valve” for discontent in a more peaceful way, most South Africans who want to get their voices heard end up using violence as a tool in order to bring political gain.1 The use of violence as a component of South Africa's political culture was originated during the 1980s anti-apartheid struggle, where the ANC and other underground anti-apartheid groups would use violent and militaristic actions, language, and ideas to get their voices heard as part of social mobilization. Even after the end of apartheid and the establishment of the democratic regime, the elements of formal democracy such as competitive electoral politics, lobbying of interests, and open public debate have not replaced the violent and militaristic actions, rhetoric, and ideas that were the political norm of the 1980s.2 Civil society organizations still remain weak and shallow even under the current post-apartheid democratic regime, due to heavy co-optation of many civil society groups into the ANC.3 The weakness of civil society in South Africa and the reluctance of many South Africans to organize such groups under an environment of heavy political dominance of the ANC makes it possible for violent action to happen in many South African protests.4
A system of legal separation amongst races dominated the Republic of South Africa, namely apartheid between 1948 until 1993. Apartheid led to the separation and discrimination between whites against people of colour. Not only was this racism commonly accepted between whites against blacks, but it was also legally enforced as white’s maintained priority in terms of housing, education, political power and jobs. I will be examining a particular event, The Soweto Uprising of 1976 which was an education related outcry by students. This event carries with it a great deal of importance as it was a very powerful thing to impact South Africa and help in the deconstruction of the Apartheid government.
Apartheid was considered a necessary arrangement in South Africa, as the Afrikaner National Party gained a strong majority political control of the country after the 1940’s and the economic dependence on their fertile natural resources, such as diamond and gold mines and other metals such as platinum. This required intense labor and the white dominant control over the repressed black majority allowed for an
I was treated well in prison; security guards grew a certain respect for me. I decided not to waste my time, so I informed my cellmates about the apartheid, and their horrible laws. They listened attentively, and wanted to help, so together we organized hunger strikes and protests. After 27 years, on February 11, 1990 I was released from jail. I could’ve got out of jail in 1985, P.W. Botha offered me a release but only if I would stop the armed conflict. Without a doubt, I chose to stay in prison because I believed that the right thing to do was to put an end to apartheid. P.W. Botha was an evil man, he committed to state terrorism and to thwart black majority rule. He had a stroke in 1989 and Frederick Willem replaced Botha. Frederick on the other hand, was the complete opposite of Botha. He set me free from jail.”