African Civilization The Fall of the Apartheid System 1

Higher College of Teachers

Department of English
African Civilization
5th year degree

The Fall of the Apartheid System

South Africa is one of the world’s largest and most ethnically and culturally diverse with over 10
official languages. ‘Rainbow Nation’ Coined by Desmond Tutu due to its multicultural make-up, the country
consists of a large number of ethnic groups, however most of the country are of black African ancestry. Now
seen as a major world power, the country has previously suffered from racial conflict between the black
majority and white minority, including the introduction of apartheid in 1948, adding to an on-going theme of
racial segregation. Discriminatory laws have been repealed and abolished in recent decades, but not without a
persistent and often violent struggle.

Apartheid
One of the main issues causing consistent and substantial unrest in South Africa was the introduction
of apartheid in 1948 following a general election. Enforced by the National Party, apartheid, which literally
meant ‘apartness’, restricted the rights of the majority black population. During apartheid the minority white
population controlled the rule of the country and up until 1971 numerous laws were passed which determined
where a person might live, go to school, who they could have a relationship with or what job they could have.
Up until the early 1980s, approximately 3.5million non-white South Africans were forced from their homes
into segregated areas.

Apartheid Legislation

 The Population Registration Act of 1950 required that each inhabitant of South Africa be classified and
registered in accordance with his or her racial characteristics as part of the system of apartheid. (White,
Black/African, Indian and Colored)
 The Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act, Act No 55 of 1949, was an apartheid law in South Africa that
prohibited marriages between "Europeans" and "non-Europeans". It was among the first pieces of
apartheid legislation to be passed following the National Party's rise to power in 1948. Subsequent
legislation, especially the Population Registration and Immorality Acts of 1950, facilitated its
implementation by requiring all individuals living in South Africa to register as a member of one of four
officially defined racial groups and prohibiting extramarital sexual relationships between those classified
as "white" on the one hand and those classified as "non-White" (Blacks, Coloureds, later also Asians) on
the other. It did not criminalize sexual relationships between those classified as "Blacks", "Coloureds",
and "Asians".
 The Group Areas Act of 1950 established residential and business sections in urban areas for each race,
and members of other races were barred from living, operating businesses, or owning land in them. In
practice this act and two others (1954, 1955), which became known collectively as the Land Acts,
completed a process that had begun with similar Land Acts adopted in 1913 and 1936; the end result was
to set aside more than 80 percent of South Africa’s land for the white minority.
 The Separate Representation of Voters Act (Act No. 46 of 1951) was a South African law enacted by
the apartheid government which removed the right of Coloured (mixed-race) voters in the Cape Province
to vote in ordinary constituency elections, and allowed them to instead elect four MPs in segregated
elections.
African Civilization The Fall of the Apartheid System 2

 The Bantu Education Act, 1953 Act No. 47 of 1953; (later renamed the Black Education Act, 1953)
was a South African segregation law which legalised several aspects of the apartheid system. Its major
provision was enforcing racially separated educational facilities.
 The Terrorism Act No 83 of 1967 was a law of the South African Apartheid regime. Section 6 of the
Act allowed someone suspected of involvement in terrorism—which was very broadly defined as
anything that might "endanger the maintenance of law and order"—to be detained for a 60-day period
(which could be renewed) without trial on the authority of a senior police officer. Since there was no
requirement to release information on who was being held, people subject to the Act tended to disappear.
The death of Steve Biko in police custody in 1977, while being detained under the Act, caused
controversy. It is estimated that approximately 80 people died while being detained under the Act.
 The Internal Security Act, 1982 (Act No. 74 of 1982) was an act of the Parliament of South Africa that
consolidated and replaced various earlier pieces of security legislation. It gave the apartheid government
broad powers to ban or restrict organisations, publications, people and public gatherings, and to detain
people without trial.

Whites Non-Whites:
Africans, Coloreds and Indians
Living  Segregated Suburbs  Homelands overcrowded
Conditions
 Middle and Upper Class  Many impoverished & destitute
 Had domestic servants  Worked as domestic servants

 White solidarity encouraged  Ethnic and social cleavages

 Excellent public services and facilities  Public services inadequate or nonexistent

Economic  High wages & employment  Low wages and high unemployment
Conditions  Wealth  Poverty
 Opportunity  2/3 of total pop living below MLL; (MLL
Minimum Living Level)

Education  Compulsory primary education  Non-compulsory primary education

 Excellent facilities  Inferior facilities
 3x as many graduates  Low graduation rates
 10x as much funding  Inadequate funding
 Teachers had better qualifications, salaries  Teachers had fewer qualifications,
salaries
 Higher education privilege  Few black students in higher education

Health  Low infant mortality  High infant mortality

 Good life expectancy  Low life expectancy
 Excellent healthcare  Poor healthcare
 High suicide rates  High murder rates
 Health concerns: heart disease  Health concerns: pneumonia,
gastroenteritis and Tuberculosis;
venereal disease
 African Civilization The Fall of the Apartheid System 3

After being offered freedom if he rejected violence as a political weapon, Nelson Mandela, declared in 1985,
“What freedom am I being offered while the organisation of the people [ANC] remains banned? Only free
men can negotiate. A prisoner cannot enter into contracts.”

Anti-Apartheid Movement:
 The African National Congress
Originally the South African Native National Congress (formed in 1912), the ANC came into existence
in 1923 and became a mass antiapartheid movement in the mid-40s. Since 1994, the ANC has been the ruling
political party in post-apartheid South Africa.

Opening words of the Freedom Charter compiled by the ANC in 1955: “ We, the people of South
Africa, declare for all our country and the world to know: That South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black
and white, and that no government can justly claim authority unless it is based on the will of the people.”

 Umkhonto Wesizwe
On 16th December 1961, Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation) was co-founded by Nelson
Mandela as the military wing of the ANC. In the wake of the Sharpeville Massacre, some members of the
ANC believed that violence was necessary to combat apartheid.

 The Pan Africanist Congress

The PAC was a South African black nationalist movement that was formed on 6th April 1959 by a
number of breakaway ANC members. On 21st March 1960, the PAC organized a protest against 'pass laws'
which resulted in the Sharpeville Massacre.

 The Black Consciousness Movement

(BCM) was a grassroots anti-Apartheid activist movement that emerged in South Africa in the mid-1960s
out of the political vacuum created by the jailing and banning of the African National Congress and Pan
Africanist Congress leadership after the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960. It was led by medical student Steve
Biko, BCM was opposed to the traditional white values of apartheid South Africa.
 African Civilization The Fall of the Apartheid System 4

 Conflict in South Africa is largely based around the theme of segregation with the country’s black
majority attempting to regain lost rights. Key moments and periods in the country’s recent history are
detailed below:

Sharpeville Massacre 1960

The Sharpeville Massacre occurred on 21st March, 1960, following a day of demonstrations against
‘pass laws’, a passport system designed to segregate the population. Between 5,000 and 10,000 black
protestors went to a police station in the township of Sharpeville to protest against the laws and offered
themselves up for arrest by not carrying their passbooks.

Some sources state the crowd had been acting peacefully while others say they had been attacking the
police with stones and had advanced towards the station. South African police opened fire on the protestors
killing a total of 69 people, including 51 men, eight women and 10 children while a further 180 were injured.
Some of the dead had been shot in the back as they attempted to flee. In solidarity to the people killed in the
massacre, Nelson Mandela burned his passbook and rioting broke out across South Africa, leading the
government to introduce martial law. In the wake of the Sharpeville Massacre, the South African government
banned the anti-apartheid movements African National Congress (ANC) and the Pan Africanist Congress
(PAC).

“The native mentality does not allow them to gather for a peaceful demonstration. For them to gather means
violence.” Statement from Leiutenant Colonel Pienaar, Commanding Officer at Sharpeville

Nelson Mandela Arrested and Charged (1962)

An active member of the African National Congress (ANC) and a lawyer, Nelson Mandela was
repeatedly arrested for so-called questionable activities and, along with the ANC leadership, was
unsuccessfully prosecuted for treason in 1961.

In 1962 Nelson Mandela was again arrested and this time charged with a number of offences, including
inciting workers to strike. While he was in custody, Mandela was also charged with conspiring to overthrow
the government and was sentenced to life imprisonment.

South African Border War (1966 – 1990)

The South African Border War took place between South African forces, including the National Union
for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), and the Angolan Government, South-West Africa People’s
Organization (SWAPO) and their allies. Roots of the conflict emerged following the First World War when
South Africa conquered South-West Africa (now Namibia), a country that had been held by the Germans.
When South Africa refused to release ownership of the area, and following its implementation of
apartheid policies in South-West Africa, SWAPO became increasingly militant and formed a military wing
known as the People’s Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) in 1962. On 26th August 1966, the first clash of
the conflict took place when South African Police exchanged fire with SWAPO forces.

The war raged with a number of battles for over two decades while armies from other countries,
including Portugal and Cuba, became involved on both sides. When the war ended, Namibia held
Independence Day celebrations on 21st March 1990, which were attended by heads of state, including the
recently released Nelson Mandela.

SOWETO UPRISING (1976)

Also known as ‘16 June’ due to the date it took place, the Soweto Uprising was a series of protests
organized by high school students, with the support of the Black Consciousness Movement, in South Africa
 African Civilization The Fall of the Apartheid System 5

in response to the introduction of Afrikaans1 as a teaching medium for schools. Education directors insisted
that the language should be introduced in all black schools for the teaching of a number of key subjects.

Punt Janson, Deputy Director of Language Education, speaking ahead of the Soweto Uprising, he advanced
that:

A Black man may be trained to work on a farm or in a factory. He may work for an employer who is
either English-speaking or Afrikaans-speaking and the man who has to give him instructions may be
either English-speaking or Afrikaans-speaking. Why should we not start quarrelling about the medium
of instruction among the Black people as well? No, I have not consulted them and I am not going to
consult them. I have consulted the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.
The country’s black population saw Afrikaans as the ‘language of the oppressor’ and many teaching
organizations objected. A strike led by children at Orlando West Junior School in Soweto quickly spread to
other schools in the area and a mass rally was organized for 16th June. Between 10,000 and 20,000 black
students walked from their schools to Orlando Stadium that morning before being halted by a police barricade.

A crowd of up to 10,000 continued on a different route towards the area of a school singing and waving
placards. The police opened fire on the crowd following the alleged throwing of rocks. Official government
reports claim only 23 were killed while over 170 are known to have lost their life, with estimates continuing
up to 700. Many more people were wounded and injured as a result of the attacks. The aftermath of the uprising
established the ANC as a leading figure in the anti-apartheid struggle.

Student leader Khotso S. Seathlolo speaking in 1976 “Through the rejection of Afrikaans, we are
prepared to break the spine of the whole immoral White Apartheid Empire.”

Nelson Mandela Freed and Apartheid Ends 1990

During the 1980s, South Africa came under increasing pressure from around the world to end
Apartheid. With its global reputation and its economy suffering as a result, the South African government
began to repeal many of the laws it had introduced. Nelson Mandela was freed on 11th February 1990 when
the new state President, F.W. de Klerk, released all ANC prisoners and legalized the actions of the ANC
organization. Nelson Mandela was elected as ANC Deputy President shortly after his release. Negotiations to
end Apartheid carried on between 1990 and 1993 and culminated in South Africa’s first multiracial elections
in 1994 ending in the election of Nelson Mandela as the first black President in South Africa’s history.
Mandela would step down in 1999 following one term as President although remained an influential figure in
South Africa until his death on 5th December 2013.

Nelson Mandela after being sworn in as president, May 1994 stated that: “Never, never and never again
shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another and suffer the
indignity of being the skunk of the world.”

F.W. de Klerk, former State President of South Africa speaking in May 1997: “I apologise in my
capacity as leader of the NP to the millions who suffered wrenching disruption of forced removals; who
suffered the shame of being arrested for pass law offences; who over the decades suffered the indignities and
humiliation of racial discrimination.”

1
Afrikaans is an offshoot of several Dutch dialects and spoken in South Africa and other African countries including Zimbabwe and
Botswana. Although English is the language of less than 10% of the population, it is the language most understood. Afrikaans was
seen by many as an oppressive language used by the white authority.
 African Civilization The Fall of the Apartheid System 6

Suggested Reading:
Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela, parts 8–11.
A timeline of the life of Nelson Mandela
https://www.nelsonmandela.org/content/page/timeline
Questions to Consider:
1. How important was Nelson Mandela in the anti-apartheid movement?
2. What factors led to the end of apartheid in South Africa?