South Africa: A Country’s History
Native Cultures of South Africa
Zulu Tribe - The Zulu are the largest ethnic group
in South Africa. They are well known for their
beautiful brightly colored beads and baskets as
well as other small carvings. They are also the
most feared group because of their long history of
deadly and fearsome warfare. (SPARTA, ASSYRIA)
San - The 'Bushmen' are the oldest inhabitants of
southern Africa, where they have lived for at least
20,000 years. Their home is in the vast expanse of
the Kalahari desert.
April 27, 1994
South African’s of all races will go to the
polls in the first FREE and DEMOCRATIC
elections in the nation’s history!
On April 27,1994, Nelson Mandela
became South Africa’s FIRST black
president!
Until this day, three out of four
black South Africans had never
been allowed to vote.
WHY?
APARTHEID
A governmental policy of racial segregation.
Apartheid : Separateness
How did it all begin?
Early
Inhabitants
of South
Africa
The Khoikhoi speaking people lived in the southern coastal
region of South Africa, the San, or bushmen, in the desert
region, and Bantu speaker (farmers, hunters, and herdsmen)
in the east .
And Then …
In 1488, the Portuguese were the first
Europeans to round the Cape of Good Hope,
sailing for India.
However, the first
European settlement
was not established
until . . .
. . . April 6, 1652
After the British decided against establishing
a colony at the Cape of Good Hope, the
Dutch, commissioned by the Dutch-East
India Company, established Cape Town
under the lead of Jan van Riebeeck.
Accompanied by 82 men and 8 women,
Riebeeck was instructed to establish a
strong base to provide the Company’s ships
with fresh food, water, and other provisions on
the long journey from Europe to Asia.
Riebeeck built the
“Fort de Goede Hoop”
and set up trade with the
native Khoikhoi people
and drove many from their
homelands.
Intermarriage
1700s
– Slaves outnumbered the colony’s whites and
intermarriage was common.
• The children of such marriages become known as
“Coloureds” being neither white or black.
– Many Dutch settlers decided to Trek out on
their own
Expansion
1652:
Cape Town established. Slaves
from other parts of Africa and
East Indies were brought in to
clear farmland.
1659:
Khoikhoi uprising failed.
Natives retreated North.
1662:
250 Europeans, mostly Dutch
and Germans settle in Cape
Town. Become known as Boers,
later Afrikaans.
1685:
Interracial marriages between
whites and local black slaves
were banned.
1688:
French Huguenots fleeing
political persecution settle in
Cape Town.
Cape Town in modern times
1720-1770
Trek Boers expanded north and east looking for land
for farming and grazing of cattle. They preferred
free, unrestricted life to town law. They paid for
their choice of lifestyle with constant conflict with
the native “black” tribe population.
Afrikaners (Boers)
– Africa’s “white tribe”
Dutch Trekkers developed their own culture
and beliefs, including a strict form of
Protestantism that portrayed them as a
chosen people in a hostile word.
– Protestantism (branch of Catholic church)
The language they developed is a mixture of
Dutch and African languages called
Afrikaans.
A Change in Politics
Due to the French Revolution and the Napoleonic
wars (1779-1806), the British gained control of the
Dutch colony in Cape Town in 1795.
By 1833, England had abolished the slave trade
and the “Emancipation Act” demanded that white
slave owners free their slaves promising a small
compensation from the state for their loss.
1835: The “Great Trek”
Feeling the British policy destroyed their
political and social order, based
on racial separation and that
white dominance was
“God’s own will,”10,000
Boers, or Voortrekkers,
left Cape Town to escape
British rule on a 1,000 mile
migration inland, known
as the
“Great Trek.”
A Series of
Boer Struggles
1838:
Boers defeat the Zulu nation in the Battle of Blood River in
their fight to obtain land the Zulu tribe was occupying.
1843 :
British take over Natal.
1852-1854:
Boers travel further north and establish the Orange Free
State and Transvaal as independent republics.
1870-1886:
Diamonds deposits are discovered in Kimberley and gold
deposits are discovered in Transvaal causing an influx of
British immigrants and black Africans searching for work
and fortune.
1880-1881:
Anglo-Boer Wars
More struggles
1899:
Boer War erupted as a result of Afrikaaners upset over
Continual British migration inland to the mining
regions.
1899-1902:
British established Afrikaner civilian camps where
epidemics broke out and killed 26,000 prisoners.
1902:
Boers surrendered to British rule
1910:
British award independence to South Africa. They
believed only white to be capable of self-government.
Blacks were barred from voting and Afrikaans was
made the official language.
A Country Divided
White South Africans made up only 21.5% of the total
population and of these, an English-speaking minority
dominated government and business in the cities.
Most whites were Afrikaans-speaking Boers, mostly
farmers and still bitter about the war
The majority black population, 67%, included many
different groups of people including Zulu and Xhosa of the
Transkei region. Other groups were much smaller.
By 1910, black Africans owned less than
10% of a country their ancestors
completely controlled.
1913, the South African Parliament
passed a Native Land Act that limited the
blacks’ ownership of land even more.
– Apartheid placed restrictions on how people
could live. For example, black South
Africans were made to live in tiny clusters of
homes called townships.
Other Ethnic Groups
Coloureds: 9% of the population.
Indian immigrants: 2.5% of the population.
Both groups had varying rights in the Cape,
but were not treated as equals by most
whites
The Native Homeland Act
separated different African
tribes into segregated
areas. This act set aside
7.3% of the country’s land
Aside as reservations and
banded black Africans
from buying land outside
these areas.
Road to Apartheid
In 1912, the South African Native National
Congress (later known as the ANC – 1923)
was founded to unite black Africans and
defend their interests.
In 1913, the Afrikaaner Nationalist Party was
established.
Peaceful Protest
1912, a young Indian Lawyer living in Cape
Town named Mohandas K. Gandhi became
outraged after being thrown off the train for
sitting in a “white’s only” seat.
He organized a peaceful protest march,
inspiring some black South Africans to
form a civil rights organization.
ANC
African National Congress (ANC) was
created to aide in the civil rights movement.
In 1924, the Labour Party defeats the South
African Party. Led by James Hertzog, South
Africa became more independent of British
control and favored the interests of whites,
especially Afrikaners. Afrikaans is
confirmed as an official language along with
English.
1948:
Apartheid becomes Law
During the 1948 elections, the National
Party introduced apartheid as part of their
campaign. With the party’s victory, led by
D.F. Malan, apartheid became the
governing political policy until
the early 1990’s.
Many National Party members aligned with the Nazi party
racist movement that had divided humanity into “master
race” to dominate and an “inferior” race to be enslaved.
Laws of Apartheid
Apartheid is the rigid racial division between
the governing white minority population and
the non-white majority population. It is Afrikaan for
“apartness”
People were divided into three social groups
White
Black African or Bantu
Coloured or people of mixed descent.
Separate residential areas were
established, with whites getting the
best land. Blacks were put into areas
called “homelands”.
Black Africans were reduced to
menial jobs (housekeeping, gardener,
ect.)
Pass Law required all ethnic groups,
excluding whites, to carry passes to
allow them to have Jobs and travel
out of their Homelands.
Racial segregation in all public
institutions, transportation, and
toilets.
Bantu Education Act (1953) limited
the quality of education young black
Africans could receive.
Homelands
Covered 13% of South Africa’s land area
for 75% of its population.
Economic development was outlawed.
The only work was in the white areas
Blacks were forced to live apart from their
families to work in the white areas where
they had to carry Passes at all times.
Pass Checks
Checks were
performed at random
of any/all black
Africans.
Those without Pass
were arrested and
fined. If they couldn’t
pay the fine, they were
sent to work camps.
Courtesy of www.unitedstreaming.com
During the 1950’s
The ANC declared that:
“South Africa belongs to all who live in it,
black and white,”
and worked to abolish apartheid.
A Suppression of Communism Act gave the government the
power to imprison anyone accused of trying to make changes
through “disturbance or disorder.”
Nelson Mandela was elected national president of the
Youth League. He planned a “Defiance Campaign” of
marches and meetings for April 6, 1952 – just as Afrikaners
celebrated the 300th anniversary of Dutch settlement.
The Nationalist government cracked down with arrests and
made apartheid laws harsher, but the campaign spread
awareness abroad and the system was condemned by the
United Nations.
Mandela was arrested under the Communism Act.
March 6,1960: Sharpeville Massacre
A large crowd of Black South Africans assembled in front of the
Sharpeville police station to protest the pass laws imposed by
apartheid.
After the Sharpeville Massacre,
Thethe
Pan-Africanist
Congress (PAC),banned
led by Robert Sobukwe,
together
government
(exile)
all
with Nelson Mandela's African National Congress (ANC), organized
the protest for the
nation's blacks
to join together
to demonstrate
black
African
political
peacefully against apartheid.
organization,
including
the
ANC
Rarely in South Africa before 1960 had so many black people
demonstrated their defiance
of thethe
laws inPAC.
any way. The police were
and
highly apprehensive, not knowing what to expect. Suddenly, tensions
were released: the crowd pelted the policemen with stones, and the
edgy policemen retaliated with gunfire.
In the end, sixty-nine protesters were killed and one hundred and eighty
were wounded (some shot while trying to flee)
“Spear of the Nation”
ANC created an armed resistance movement. It’s
leader was Nelson Mandela.
1964, Mandela and the rest of the ANC leaders
were arrested and convicted of sabotage and
treason and sentenced to life imprisonment.
During his 26 year imprisonment, his is work was
carried on by his wife, Winnie, who herself spied
on, kidnapped, and repeatedly was forced to move
by police.
Mandela went on the run after the ANC was banned. He was
arrested in 1962, after secretly returning to South Africa, and was
imprisoned for five years for organizing strikes.
In 1963, Mandela was linked to a sabotage campaign in Rivonia near
Johannesburg. He was sentenced for life.
1973, Mandela was offered a shorter sentence if he would support the
bantustan program – he refused!
In 1974, South Africa was banned from the United Nations General
Assembly.
1976: Soweto
When high-school students in Soweto
started protesting for better education
on June 16, 1976,police responded
with teargas and live bullets. In the
aftermath, the plan for schooling in
Afrikaans was dropped and the UN
banned sales of weapons to south
Africa in 1977.
Mid 1970’s – Mid 1980’s
The government implemented a series of reforms that
allowed black labor unions to organize and permitted
some political activity by the opposition.
The 1984 constitution opened parliament membership
to Asians and Coloureds, but it continued to exclude
black Africans, who made up 75% of the population.
Many countries, including the United States, imposed
economic sanctions of South Africa. More urban
revolts erupted and, as outside pressure on south
Africa intensified, the government’s apartheid
policies began to unravel.
Momentous Meetings
In May 1988, the United Nations called for Mandela’s
release without conditions.
In July 1989, President Botha met with Mandela. Both men
pledged a “support for peaceful developments.”
Both resigned due to health reasons and was succeeded
as president by F.W. de Klerk.
Determined to break the “cycle of violence,” de Klerk
Ordered the release of eight political prisoners.
De Klerk and Mandela met in
December. Mandela declared de
Klerk to be “the most honest and
serious white leader” he had ever
met.
On February 2, 1990, de Klerk
announced the end of the bans on
the ANC, the PAC, and over 30
other anti-apartheid organizations
Free At Last!
On February 11, 1990, after 27 years in
prison, Nelson Mandela was released.
“Today the majority of South Africans, black
and white, recognize that apartheid has no
future.” – Nelson Mandela
Nobel Peace Prize
Mandela and De Klerk both won the Nobel
Peace Prize in 1993 for their efforts to end
Apartheid.
Accepting the award on December 10,
1993, Mandela declared:
“We live in the hope that as she battles to remake
herself, South Africa will be like a microcosm of
the new world that is striving to be born.”
On April 27, 1994, Nelson Mandela was elected
the first black president if the first free election.
“We are moving from an era of resistance, division,
oppression, turmoil, and conflict and starting a
New era of hope, reconciliation, and nation-building. I
sincerely hope that the mere casting of a vote . . . will give
hope to all South Africans.”- Nelson Mandela