Name:______________________
Date:______________
12th
South Africa Apartheid Webquest
Today, we will be researching the Apartheid in South Africa from 1948 to
1992. It will be an inquiry-oriented activity where all of the information is
found by you online. You will be able to maneuver around the Internet using
the provided links. This activity is designed to help you:
 to gain an understanding of living in South Africa during the legalized
Apartheid for over 40 years
 to determine what life was like for both white South Africans and
black South Africans during this time period
 to examine prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination within society
 to question our treatment of others
BEFORE YOU BEGIN
You will be visiting and maneuvering around several different websites that
will provide background knowledge, timelines, and photographs. Be sure to
refer to these notes for reference.
NP=Nationalist Party legislates Apartheid/ D.F Malan
Afrikaner = White South Africans
ANC= African National Congress/ Nelson Mandela
Africans= Black South Africans
STEPS FOR YOUR JOURNEY
Step 1- Copy and paste this exact website address into the browser of the
Internet:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/lo/countries/za/za_overview.html
Read through the events on the South African timeline on the PBS website.
Then, fill in the events of the following years:
 1910

1929-1938

1948 and define Apartheid

1949-1958

1959-1961

1966-1972

1990-1993

1994
Step 2- Copy this exact website address into the browser of the Internet:
http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~cale/cs201/apartheid.hist.html
Read through the first 3 paragraphs describing the categories of race
classification on the Stanford website. How were races categorized?
Then, scroll down to the last 2 paragraphs on the page and read about the
penalties. Next, study the 1978 chart at the bottom of this website. When
comparing the figures in the chart, what is shocking to you about the
numbers? Explain this chart in your own words.
Step 3- Next, copy this exact website address into the browser of the
Internet: http://africanhistory.about.com/library/bl/blsalaws.htm
Read through the South African laws that formalized Apartheid. Then,
summarize these laws and respond with your reaction to each law.
 Prohibition of Mixed Marriages

Immorality Amendment

Natives Act

Extension of University Education Act

Choose one other law. Summarize and react to it.
STEP 4-Lastly, you will visit the PBS website about Nelson Mandela’s life as
one of the noteworthy leaders of the ANC and Anti-Apartheid Revolution.
Mandela was famously imprisoned for 27 years in an effort to stop
Apartheid. Later, he became President of South Africa after his release.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/mandela/
 Click on the Revolutionary link on this page and read the blurb at
the top of the page. Then, choose one of the links that intrigues
you in order to read more about others’ accounts of Mandela’s
revolutionary actions. Read, summarize, and react to one of
these links.
Title of link:

Next, hit the “Back” button in the browser to go back to the
Mandela home page on the PBS website. Click on the Prisoner
link. Scroll down the page and choose to read either “The Dark
Years” link or “The Most Important Person in Any Prisoner’s Life”
link. Then, you will read, summarize, and react to one of these
links below.
Title of link:
Step 5-Reflection
Please close all the windows that you have opened on the computer.
Please use the space below to organize your feelings and reactions to what
you have learned through this webquest.
"During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African
people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against
black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free
society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal
opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if
needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."
- Mandela's statement from the dock at the opening of the defense case in
the Rivonia Trial, Pretoria Supreme Court, April 20th, 1964.
In a 1-page reflection, consider the aforementioned quote as you also
consider your feelings or reactions to your new knowledge of the South
African Apartheid. Include any other feelings or reactions that you had
during this activity, but be specific.