The Struggle Against Apartheid
The National Party and Apartheid Policies
• 1948 – The Afrikaner National Party wins power as South
Africa becomes independent.
• Apartheid is created:
• The lighter your skin, the more benefits you received.
• Four classes: White, Indian, Colored, Black
• Only whites could hold positions of authority in the
government
• Public services will only be delivered in English or
Afrikaans.
Resistance Begins Before Independence
• Early 1900s, 3 important resistance
groups:
• Coloreds: African Political
Organization
• Indians: South African Indian
Congress
• Blacks: African National Congress
African National Congress (ANC)
• “educational, social, economic, and
political elevation of the native
people in South Africa”.
• Pledges to work within the law.
• The African Claims:
• Citizenship for all Africans
• Land ownership
1912 - 2012
African Youth League
• 1943: established by Nelson Mandela
• Young black men
• Wanted to unite the tribes of South
Africa.
• Overthrow of the white government.
• Push the ANC to become more radical.
Resistance Begins
• From the beginning, South Africans of all
races object to apartheid.
• African churches – black and white –
preach against apartheid.
• Black Sash – organization of white women
against apartheid.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu
• Anglican Bishop – called the “conscience of South
Africa”
• Consistently advocates nonviolent resistance.
• Protected (partially) from retribution by apartheid
government because of his status in the church.
• 1984 – before the end of apartheid – he is awarded
the Nobel Peace Prize.
• Following end of apartheid, will head the Truth
and Reconcilliation Commission.
The Cold War Interferes with Opposition
• Communist Party challenged the Afrikaner
Nationalist Party.
• Communist Party support the African National
Congress.
• Suppression of Communism Act:
• Bans political protest
The Freedom Charter
• By 1953, apartheid government
has ordered Mandela to leave the
ANC
• Mandela forms the Congress of
the People
• Unifies both white and non-white
anti-apartheid groups
• Issues the Freedom Charter
The Freedom Charter (1955)
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The people shall govern
All national groups shall have equal rights
The people shall share in the country`s wealth
The land shall be shared among those who work it
All shall be equal before the law
All shall enjoy equal human rights
There shall be work and security
The doors of learning and culture shall be opened
There shall be houses, security and comfort
There shall be peace and friendship
1956 Treason Trial
• Nelson Mandela and 156 others arrested.
• Trial lasted 4 years
• ANC splits
• Pan African Congress calls for protest
• Sharpeville Massacre
• Day of Mourning: Leaders burn their ID passes
• Mandela acquitted of treason, goes into hiding, uses
disguises to evade capture.
Resistance turns to violence
• Mandela organizes sabotage campaign
• Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation) –
underground organization that advocated violent
resistance.
• Organization of African Unity: supports liberation
throughout Africa.
Mandela Captured
• 1962: Mandela tried and sentenced to 5 years in prison.
• 1963: More charges added (for crimes that occurred while Mandela
was in jail)
• 40 other resistance leaders already sentenced to death.
• 1964 – Trial in Rivonia: Mandela and 9 others tried for sabotage
based upon evidence obtained from a raid on a farm that was an
ANC hideout.
• Mandela sentenced to life in prison.
Statement from the Dock
• “This is the struggle of the African people,
inspired by their own suffering and experience. It
is a struggle for the right to live. I have
cherished the ideal of a democratic and free
society, in which all persons live together in
harmony and with equal opportunity. It is an
ideal which I hope to live for and achieve. But, if
needs be, my Lord, it is an ideal for which I am
prepared to die.”
• Nelson Mandela, April 20, 1964
Robben Island
• Mandela Sentenced to life in
prison.
• 16 of 27 years would be spent on
Robben Island.
• Hard labor in the limestone quarry
• One visitor a year, for 30 minutes.
• One letter (written and received)
every six months.
Robben Island
• "He always made the point, if they say you must run, insist on
walking. If they say you must walk fast, insist on walking
slowly.That was the whole point.We are going to set the terms."
- Neville Alexander, fellow prisoner
Winnie Mandela
• Married Nelson Mandela in 1958
• Became a prominent ANC leader during her
husband’s imprisonment.
• Also imprisoned repeatedly for shorter
sentances.
• Becomes a controversial figure due to her use of
violence and a practice called necklacing.
• Mandela United Football Club – her bodyguards.
• 1991 conviction for kidnapping and murder.
• “Mother of South Africa”
Offers of release
• Mandela becomes a symbol to both South Africans and the world.
• 1973 – Apartheid government begins offering to release Mandela.
• “Only free men can negotiate; prisoners cannot enter into
contracts. Your freedom and mine cannot be separated.”
– Nelson Mandela, 1985
• Demanded to remain in prison until all blacks and people of color in
South Africa are free.
• 1988 – develops tuberculosis. Mandela is transferred off of Robben
Island.
International Response
• 1952 – United Nations passes a resolution every year declaring
apartheid “a crime against humanity.”
• United States remains South Africa’s main trading partner through
the 1970s.
• American human rights protesters pressure U.S. companies to
divest – cut off trade and investment .
South African Government Resists Change
• President P.W. Botha refuses to buckle to international
pressure.
• Attempts to divide non-white communities, offers special
privileges to those who abandon anti-apartheid
movement.
• 1976 – orders education in Africaans
• Soweto Uprising
• Steven Biko – death in custody typical of increased police
brutality.
Change begins
• 1988 President F.W. de Klerk elected.
• Inauguration: promises a nonviolent transition to a nonracial
South Africa.
• 1990 Lifts ban on ANC, meets with Mandela.
• February 11, 1990: Nelson Mandela released from
prison!
• 1991 Mandela elected president of ANC
• 1993 Mandela and de Klerk awarded Nobel Prize
• 1994 Apartheid officially ends: South Africa adopts new
constitution that guarantees all citizens equal rights.
1994
• Nelson Mandela becomes first black president of
South Africa.
Truth and Reconciliation Commission
• Created in 1995
• Replaced criminal charges for whites who
committed human rights abuses with public
confession and apology.
• Designed to help South Africans make
peace, practice forgiveness, and move
forward.
• Managed reparations – financial
compensation - for any who were entitled
to them.
• Helped to end racial hostility.