What was apartheid all about

On paper it appeared to call for equal development and freedom of cultural expression, but the way it was implemented made this impossible. Apartheid made laws forced the different racial groups to live separately and develop separately, and grossly unequally too. It tried to stop all inter-marriage and social integration between racial groups. During apartheid, to have a friendship with someone of a different race generally brought suspicion upon you, or worse. More than this, apartheid was a social system which severely disadvantaged the majority of the population, simply because they did not share the skin colour of the rulers.

Many were kept just above destitution because they were 'non-white'. In basic principles, apartheid did not differ that much from the policy of segregation of the South African governments existing before the Afrikaner Nationalist Party came to power in The main difference is that apartheid made segregation part of the law.

Apartheid cruelly and forcibly separated people, and had a fearsome state apparatus to punish those who disagreed. Another reason why apartheid was seen as much worse than segregation, was that apartheid was introduced in a period when other countries were moving away from racist policies.

Before World War Two the Western world was not as critical of racial discrimination, and Africa was colonized in this period. The Second World War highlighted the problems of racism, making the world turn away from such policies and encouraging demands for decolonization. It was during this period that South Africa introduced the more rigid racial policy of apartheid.

People often wonder why such a policy was introduced and why it had so much support. Various reasons can be given for apartheid, although they are all closely linked. The main reasons lie in ideas of racial superiority and fear. See pictures from the life and times of Mandela.

After serving his sentence, Mandela continued to lead protests against the government and, in , he, along with others, was tried for treason. He was acquitted in and lived in hiding for 17 months after the trial. Over time, Mandela came to believe that armed resistance was the only way to end apartheid. In , he briefly left the country to receive military training and gain support for the cause but was arrested and convicted soon after his return for leaving the country without a permit.

They charged him and his allies with sabotage. Mandela and the other defendants in the ensuing Rivonia Trial knew they were sure to be convicted and executed. So they turned their show trial into a statement, publicizing their anti-apartheid struggle and challenging the legal system that oppressed Black South Africans.

It is a struggle of the African people, inspired by our own suffering and our own experience. It is a struggle for the right to live. He was allowed only one minute visit with a single person every year, and could send and receive two letters a year. Confined in austere conditions, he worked in a limestone quarry and over time, earned the respect of his captors and fellow prisoners. He was given chances to leave prison in exchange for ensuring the ANC would give up violence but refused.

His supporters agitated for his release and news of his imprisonment galvanized anti-apartheid activists all over the world. In the s, some members of the United Nations began to call for sanctions against South Africa—calls that grew louder in the decades that followed. Eventually, South Africa became an international pariah. Now 71, Mandela negotiated with de Klerk for a new constitution that would allow majority rule.

The reforms fell short of any substantive change, however, and by Botha was pressured to step aside in favor of F. De Klerk freed Nelson Mandela on February 11, A new constitution, which enfranchised blacks and other racial groups, took effect in , and elections that year led to a coalition government with a nonwhite majority, marking the official end of the apartheid system.

But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. The South African activist and former president Nelson Mandela helped bring an end to apartheid and has been a global advocate for human rights. A member of the African National Congress party beginning in the s, he was a leader of both peaceful protests and The formal end of the apartheid government in South Africa was hard-won.

From through the s, a single word dominated life in South Africa. It would take decades of struggle to stop the policy, which affected every facet The leader of Zimbabwe since its independence in , Robert Mugabe was one of the longest-serving and, in the latter years of his reign, most infamous African rulers. In , General Idi Amin overthrew the elected government of Milton Obote and declared himself president of Uganda, launching a ruthless eight-year regime in which an estimated , civilians were massacred.

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