Summary of Apartheid in South Africa
The first people to live in the area now known
as South Africa were black Africans who spoke
the Bantu language. They raised cattle and
sheep near the coast. In 1652, the Dutch came to
settle in South Africa. Even though recent
immigrants, they believed the land was theirs.
These Dutch immigrants defeated many Africans
and forced them to work as servants and slaves
as they established a colony.
In 1806, Great Britain captured the colony from the Dutch. The British and
descendants of the Dutch settlers, known as the Boers, fought for control of the
country for about 100 years. The British finally won in 1910. When diamonds
and gold were discovered, the British forced blacks off the mineral rich lands into
land they though had little value, known as “reserves.“
In 1948, the racist Nationalist Party was elected to power. The Nationalist
government combined all the poor treatment of blacks into an official policy called
apartheid. Apartheid (pronounced apart hide) means apartness in Afrikaans, the
language of South Africa’s Dutch descendants. Under apartheid, the
government divided people into racial categories.
Four major ethnic groups were considered in
South Africa. The Europeans who arrived were
first known as Boers and later came to be called
Afrikaners. Their language was a mixture of
Dutch and new words from other settlers and
blacks. These whites controlled the government,
factories, farming, education, military use and the
press. The largest ethnic group was the blacks.
Over time, some black and whites married and
had families. Their children were described as
colored. In the 1860s, Asians also came to South
Africa; many of these Asians were Indians, as
India was also a British colony. The government Sign in a white area for
put those described as colored and Asians into a restrooms
third category. While a black could legally be
paid half what a white person was paid, a person
considered Asian or colored was paid 74%. Many
were not eligible for jobs available for whites.
Apartheid dictated where people could live and what jobs they could hold.
In 1958, the government separated white people by making the other groups,
especially the blacks, live on reserves or homelands. Blacks were considered
foreigners outside of their homelands and needed passports or papers to enter
the white areas. These reserves took up only 13% of the land, even though the
blacks made up 68% of the population. Even though whites were only 17% of
the population in 1986, they owned 87% of the land. The land on the reserves
had poor soil for farming, and not many schools and hospitals were built.
Many black men left their
homelands to find work in
mines or factories in white
areas. Many lived apart from
their families for most of the
year in shanty towns outside
the white areas, called
townships. A typical township
home was a shack without
running water or electricity.
The blacks could not be in the
Picture of Soweto, South Africa homeland
http://cyberschoolbus.un.org/discrim/race_b_at_ white areas after dark, and had
to return to the townships each
print.asp
night.
These shanty towns became the center for black groups who resisted the
white government, such as the African National Congress. Many blacks
frustrated by apartheid joined these groups. In the 1960s, many surrounding
countries regained independence, Swaziland, Lesotho and Botswana in 1965
and Angola and Mozambique in 1975. As more blacks got power, more in South
Africa tried to protest, including Nelson Mandela and the African national
Congress. The government responded by enforcing its laws, keeping blacks
separate and discouraging black culture. For example, subjects had to be taught
in Afrikaans rather than the language of the homelands.
School children in Soweto, one of the
townships, protested and the government
shot at the protestors, children, and killed
two of them. This killing in Soweto
together with the killing of a Black
Consciousness leader, Steve Biko, who
was beaten to death in police custody,
spread the information about the evils of
apartheid around the world.
Soweto uprising
http://cyberschoolbus.un.org/discrim/race_
b_at_print.asp
In 1986, the white South African government continued to try to destroy
those who resisted apartheid. For three years, they arrested, tortured and
imprisoned over 20,000 people. Nelson Mandela was kept in prison for twenty
seven years for his protest activities. As South Africans continued their fight,
countries around the world pressured the South African government to abolish
apartheid. The ANC was finally granted status as a political party and Nelson
Mandela was released from prison. All blacks could now vote. In 1994, the ANC
won the presidential election with 63%of the vote, and Nelson Mandela became
the new president. The country has since worked to create a more equal society.
Nelson Mandela elected president in 1994.
http://frpics.eu/keyword/nelson%20mandela%2019
94/
Nelson Mandela when released from prison.
http://lifeasahuman.com/2011/
South Africa:
Today: School and Job opportunities
During apartheid, schools were different depending on your ethnic group.
Students who went to a black school did not study much math or science. The
government knew that people with good math and science skills could make
much money, and by not teaching those skills to black people, the government
kept a group of people who would work in lower paying jobs.
The schools have changed. Not only does the government spend more
money on schools, but all ethnic groups go to the same schools. The percentage
of students who complete high school has risen for every ethnic group. For
blacks and coloreds, the percentages more than doubled. Students who
complete high school earn more in their jobs, and students who attend college
earn even more.
In 2001, for the first time ever, blacks took home more than half of all the
income earned in South Africans. Before 2001, whites had always earned the
most money. Yet this fact does not tell the whole story. Blacks greatly
outnumber whites in South Africa. This means that blacks still earned far less per
capita.
When apartheid ended, the government tried to create more jobs for
blacks. The government passed a law, the Employment Equity Act in 1998, to
make jobs open to all people. All workers must be paid fairly. During apartheid
non white workers could legally be paid less than white workers, often 50 to 70%.
The law requires businesses to hire people from groups who were denied jobs in
the past. These groups include blacks, coloreds, Asians, women and the
disabled. This law has provided more job opportunities.
Although the Employment Equity Act in 1998 provided more opportunities,
the slow growth in the South African economy means that many people still lack
jobs. Half of all South Africans do not make enough money to pay for everyday
needs like housing and food. Many live in slums around cities. Most of these
homes are built out of scrap metal or wood and lack running water or electricity.
These areas often contain more crime. While some South Africans have done
much better after apartheid, the poor are still struggling. Income-inequality, when
people in a country make very different amounts of money, continues to be a
serious problem in South Africa.
Geography Alive, Regions and People, “Resources and Power in Post-apartheid South Africa,”
Teachers Curriculum Institute, Palo Alto, CA, 2011, p 335-343.