south african apartheid essay

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By: History.com Editors

Updated: April 20, 2023 | Original: October 7, 2010

Apartheid, or “apartness” in the language of Afrikaans, was a system of legislation that upheld segregation against non-white citizens of South Africa. After the National Party gained power in South Africa in 1948, its all-white government immediately began enforcing existing policies of racial segregation. Under apartheid, nonwhite South Africans—a majority of the population—were forced to live in separate areas from whites and use separate public facilities. Contact between the two groups was limited. Despite strong and consistent opposition to apartheid within and outside of South Africa, its laws remained in effect for the better part of 50 years. In 1991, the government of President F.W. de Klerk began to repeal most of the legislation that provided the basis for apartheid.

Apartheid in South Africa

Racial segregation and white supremacy had become central aspects of South African policy long before apartheid began. The controversial 1913 Land Act , passed three years after South Africa gained its independence, marked the beginning of territorial segregation by forcing Black Africans to live in reserves and making it illegal for them to work as sharecroppers. Opponents of the Land Act formed the South African National Native Congress, which would become the African National Congress (ANC).

Did you know? ANC leader Nelson Mandela, released from prison in February 1990, worked closely with President F.W. de Klerk's government to draw up a new constitution for South Africa. After both sides made concessions, they reached agreement in 1993, and would share the Nobel Peace Prize that year for their efforts.

The Great Depression and World War II brought increasing economic woes to South Africa, and convinced the government to strengthen its policies of racial segregation. In 1948, the Afrikaner National Party won the general election under the slogan “apartheid” (literally “apartness”). Their goal was not only to separate South Africa’s white minority from its non-white majority, but also to separate non-whites from each other, and to divide Black South Africans along tribal lines in order to decrease their political power.

Apartheid Becomes Law

By 1950, the government had banned marriages between whites and people of other races, and prohibited sexual relations between Black and white South Africans. The Population Registration Act of 1950 provided the basic framework for apartheid by classifying all South Africans by race, including Bantu (Black Africans), Coloured (mixed race) and white.

A fourth category, Asian (meaning Indian and Pakistani) was later added. In some cases, the legislation split families; a parent could be classified as white, while their children were classified as colored.

A series of Land Acts set aside more than 80 percent of the country’s land for the white minority, and “pass laws” required non-whites to carry documents authorizing their presence in restricted areas.

In order to limit contact between the races, the government established separate public facilities for whites and non-whites, limited the activity of nonwhite labor unions and denied non-white participation in national government.

Apartheid and Separate Development

Hendrik Verwoerd , who became prime minister in 1958, refined apartheid policy further into a system he referred to as “separate development.” The Promotion of Bantu Self-Government Act of 1959 created 10 Bantu homelands known as Bantustans. Separating Black South Africans from each other enabled the government to claim there was no Black majority and reduced the possibility that Black people would unify into one nationalist organization.

Every Black South African was designated as a citizen as one of the Bantustans, a system that supposedly gave them full political rights, but effectively removed them from the nation’s political body.

In one of the most devastating aspects of apartheid, the government forcibly removed Black South Africans from rural areas designated as “white” to the homelands and sold their land at low prices to white farmers. From 1961 to 1994, more than 3.5 million people were forcibly removed from their homes and deposited in the Bantustans, where they were plunged into poverty and hopelessness.

Opposition to Apartheid

Resistance to apartheid within South Africa took many forms over the years, from non-violent demonstrations, protests and strikes to political action and eventually to armed resistance.

Together with the South Indian National Congress, the ANC organized a mass meeting in 1952, during which attendees burned their pass books. A group calling itself the Congress of the People adopted a Freedom Charter in 1955 asserting that “South Africa belongs to all who live in it, Black or white.” The government broke up the meeting and arrested 150 people, charging them with high treason.

Sharpeville Massacre

In 1960, at the Black township of Sharpeville, the police opened fire on a group of unarmed Black people associated with the Pan-African Congress (PAC), an offshoot of the ANC. The group had arrived at the police station without passes, inviting arrest as an act of resistance. At least 67 people were killed and more than 180 wounded.

The Sharpeville massacre convinced many anti-apartheid leaders that they could not achieve their objectives by peaceful means, and both the PAC and ANC established military wings, neither of which ever posed a serious military threat to the state.

Nelson Mandela

By 1961, most resistance leaders had been captured and sentenced to long prison terms or executed. Nelson Mandela , a founder of Umkhonto we Sizwe (“Spear of the Nation”), the military wing of the ANC, was incarcerated from 1963 to 1990; his imprisonment would draw international attention and help garner support for the anti-apartheid cause.

On June 10, 1980, his followers smuggled a letter from Mandela in prison and made it public: “UNITE! MOBILIZE! FIGHT ON! BETWEEN THE ANVIL OF UNITED MASS ACTION AND THE HAMMER OF THE ARMED STRUGGLE WE SHALL CRUSH APARTHEID!”

President F.W. de Klerk

In 1976, when thousands of Black children in Soweto, a Black township outside Johannesburg, demonstrated against the Afrikaans language requirement for Black African students, the police opened fire with tear gas and bullets.

The protests and government crackdowns that followed, combined with a national economic recession, drew more international attention to South Africa and shattered any remaining illusions that apartheid had brought peace or prosperity to the nation.

The United Nations General Assembly had denounced apartheid in 1973, and in 1976 the UN Security Council voted to impose a mandatory embargo on the sale of arms to South Africa. In 1985, the United Kingdom and United States imposed economic sanctions on the country.

Under pressure from the international community, the National Party government of Pieter Botha sought to institute some reforms, including abolition of the pass laws and the ban on interracial sex and marriage. The reforms fell short of any substantive change, however, and by 1989 Botha was pressured to step aside in favor of another conservative president, F.W. de Klerk, who had supported apartheid throughout his political career.

When Did Apartheid End?

Though a conservative, De Klerk underwent a conversion to a more pragmatic political philosophy, and his government subsequently repealed the Population Registration Act, as well as most of the other legislation that formed the legal basis for apartheid. De Klerk freed Nelson Mandela on February 11, 1990.

A new constitution, which enfranchised Black citizens and other racial groups, took effect in 1994, and elections that year led to a coalition government with a nonwhite majority, marking the official end of the apartheid system.

The End of Apartheid. Archive: U.S. Department of State . A History of Apartheid in South Africa. South African History Online . South Africa: Twenty-Five Years Since Apartheid. The Ohio State University: Stanton Foundation . 

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Apartheid (1948-1994).

Apartheid is the name of the racial institution that was established in 1948 by the National Party that governed South Africa until 1994. The term, which literally means “apartness,” reflected a violently repressive policy designed to ensure that whites, who comprised 20% of the nation’s population, would continue to dominate the country.

Although the policy began officially in 1948, the practice of racial discrimination has deep roots in South African society. As early as 1788, Dutch colonizers began establishing laws and regulations that separated white settlers and native Africans. These laws and regulations continued after the British occupation in 1795, and soon led to the channeling of Africans into specific areas that would later constitute their so-called homelands. By 1910, the year that all of the formerly separate Boer Republics united with the British colony to become the Union of South Africa, there were nearly 300 reserves for natives throughout the country.

By 1948, Dr. D.F. Malan, the prime architect of apartheid, led the National Party in the first campaign that centered on openly racist appeals to white unity. The Party promised that if elected it would make permanent these reserves under the joint fundamental principles of separation and trusteeship. The National Party swept into office, winning 80 seats (mainly from Afrikaner voters), compared to the United Party’s 64 seats.

Soon afterwards the new government instituted a number of policies in the name of apartheid which sought to “ensure the survival of the white race” and to keep the different races separate on every level of society and in every facet of life. One of the first acts passed was the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act, in 1949, which outlawed marriage between Europeans and non-Europeans. The following year new legislation banned sexual intercourse between Europeans and non-Europeans. Additionally, in 1950, the Malan government passed the Population Registration Act, which categorized every South African by race, and subsequently required people to carry with them at all times a card stating their racial identity. This Act was later modified in 1952, by issuing “reference books” instead of identification passes. Anyone caught without their “reference book” was fined or imprisoned.

The Group Areas Act of 1950, however, was the core of apartheid in South Africa. The act marked off areas of land for different racial groups, and made it illegal for people to live in any but their designated areas. Thousands of Africans were uprooted and moved into racially segregated neighborhoods in cities or to reserves which by the 1970s would be called homelands.

In conjunction with the Reservation of Separate Amenities Act of 1953, even black workers who during the day worked in the now residentially white only cities were still required to use different public transportation, post offices, restaurants, schools, and even separate doors, benches, and counters. The Natives Urban Areas Act in 1952 and the Native Labor Act in 1953 placed more restrictions on the black majority in South Africa.

Three important movements challenged apartheid. The oldest was the African National Congress (ANC) which was founded in 1912. The Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) broke away from the ANC in 1958 and initiated its own campaign against apartheid. Both groups were eventually banned by the South African government and forced underground where they began violent campaigns of resistance. In the late 1960s, the South African Students’ Organization (SASO) was formed. Today it is known as the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) in South Africa.

Apartheid formally ended in 1994 with the first election which allowed the participation of all adult voters. With that election Nelson Mandela became the first black president of South Africa.

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Source of the author's information:.

Martin Meredith, In the Name of Apartheid (New York: Harper & Row Publishers,1988); Mokgethi Motlhabi, Challenge to Apartheid: Toward a Moral National Resistance (Grand Rapids: William B. Erdmann’s Publishing Company, 1988); L.E. Neame, T he History of Apartheid: The Story of the Colour War in South Africa (New York: London House & Maxwell, 1962); U.S. Department of State: Diplomacy in Action. “The end of apartheid.” http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/pcw/98678.htm .

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Welcome to the United Nations

30 years on, South Africa still dismantling racism and apartheid’s legacy

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Rethabile Ratsomo said it’s the little things that remind her of her perceived “place” in South African society.

There are the verbal slights and side-eye in workspaces, where she’s been viewed as a B-BBEE hire (The Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment programme in South African that seeks to advance and transform the participation of black people in the country’s economy) and therefore not capable of doing the work. There are the passive-aggressive comments from colleagues, constantly complimenting her on how well she speaks English. She has lived through the daily microaggressions that form part of her life.

“I am a born-free and despite being born after the advent of democracy in South Africa, my race continues to play a huge role in my being, as a South African,” Ratsomo said, 29, who currently works at the Anti-Racism Network and the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation. “Many people continue to normalise racial discrimination and perpetuate harmful behaviours. Racism remains rife.”

Thirty years since the end of Apartheid, South Africa still grapples with its legacy. Unequal access to education, unequal pay, segregated communities and massive economic disparities persists, much of it is reinforced by existing institutions and attitudes. How is it that racism and its accompanying discrimination continues to hold such sway in this, majority Black populated and Black governed nation?

Racism has deep roots in the economic, spatial and social fabric of this country. It reflects the legacy of oppression and subjugation from apartheid and colonialism. While progress has been made to eliminate the scourge of racism it requires everyone to do their part for it be eliminated, said Abigail Noko, Representative for UN Human Rights Regional Office of Southern Africa (OHCHR ROSA)

“Dismantling such entrenched racist and discriminatory systems requires commitment, leadership, dialogue and advocacy to put in place anti-racist policies that implement human rights norms and provide a framework to help address and rectify these injustices and promote equality,” she added.

Free your mind and the rest will follow

The project of dismantling racist systems in a place like South Africa, must go hand in hand with the process of decolonization – both at an institutional and an individual level, said Professor Tshepo Madlingozi, a Commissioner at the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC).

“History has shown that unless you have decolonized your mind, you are going to step into the shoes of the oppressor and oppress other people over and over again,” he said.

Madlingozi’s comments were part of a panel discussion on dismantling racist systems in South Africa, which took place during the Human Rights Festival in Johannesburg in March, which aligns with national Human Rights Day and the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The discussion, sponsored by OHCHR ROSA, had three panellists providing their answers to the overarching question, how can racism present in the “rainbow nation” be dismantled to bring about freedom, equality, and justice for all?

Samkelo Mkhomi, a social justice and equality activist in her 20s, agreed that an internal mindset change was needed, especially among young people. She said she noticed that many of her born-free peers, i.e., someone who was born after the advent of democracy in South Africa, harbour suspicious and distrustful attitudes toward other races. She mentioned a friend who has a distrust of all white people. When Mkhomi asked why, he told her “because of what they did in the past.” She called this deliberate lack of understanding among her peers as hereditary and a big stumbling block in moving forward.

“We have set perceptions and stereotypes that we've inherited from family, from social experiences, experiences that are not our own,” Mkhomi said. “And we've used that as a blueprint to view other people. Once you can get rid of that as young people, I feel like we can start moving on and dismantling racism.”

Madlingozi suggested one way to do this could be to not only focus on individual racist incidences, but also to bring more awareness, and push for policies in institutions that deconstruct current ways of working.

“What matters is, have we dismantled the institutions, the cultures that perpetuate racism,” he said. “Because unless you do that, you’ll have Black people, you will have a Black government that will continue to perpetuate racism because that is the nature of institutionalised racism. So yes, let’s focus on individual human rights. Let’s focus on social justice, but where it matters the most is structural institutionalized oppression.”

Casting a long shadow

The scars of Apartheid run deep, leaving a legacy of segregation, discrimination and inequality. This is evidenced by the stark economic disparities in the country. A 2022  World Bank report on inequality in southern Africa  gave South Africa the unfortunate distinction of being the most unequal country in the world.

The report stated that 80 percent of the country’s wealth was in the hands of 10 percent of the population. And it is the Black population who factor the most into the poorest category. The report places the blame for the income disparities directly on race.

“The legacy of colonialism and Apartheid rooted in racial and spatial segregation continues to reinforce inequality,” the report states.

The spatial divide mirrors the economic one.

The evil genius of Apartheid was the segregation project, as it allowed the Government to not only separate people based on arbitrary categorisations, but through this create material differences between the communities to reinforce the idea of actual racial differences, said Tessa Dooms. These racial classifications also encouraged the idea that the different groups needed to compete for basic human rights, dignity and economic opportunities, she added.

“The Apartheid government didn’t just give people categories, they gave real live material meaning to those categories,” said Dooms, Director of Programmes for Rivonia Circle during the panel discussion. “As long as those categories mean something in the world, we still have work to do, to undo Apartheid, to undo colonialism, to decolonize.”

To do this, Dooms recommended practical vision as to what a decolonized South Africa would look like, being very specific about the results wanted. She also called on the privileged groups to do the heavy lifting of helping to create more equality. Until those with privileges work to broaden access to them, the cycle will continue, Dooms added.

“We cannot leave creating a more just world to the people who are most affected by injustice,” she said. “It’s not fair, it’s not right and it won’t work.”

Taking concrete action

Globally, South Africa’s post-Apartheid long walk to freedom has garnered an international reputation as a leader in global efforts to combat racism. In 2001, South Africa hosted the World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (WCAR), which resulted in the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action (DDPA). The DDPA is a roadmap, providing concrete measures for States to combat racism, discrimination and xenophobia and related intolerance.

One of the big recommendations was to have each country create its own National Action Plan (NAP). The plan is a means through which governments locally codify their commitment to taking action, with concrete steps on how they will combat racism. South Africa launched its plan in 2019, with OHCHR ROSA providing technical assistance. This assistance took many forms including participation in the consultations that led up to the final NAP and helping to set up support structures for its implementation, and support for research and other work to help develop systems for data collection on issues related to the NAP.

“Human rights play crucial role in dismantling racism by providing a framework for addressing and rectifying historical injustices, promoting equality, and ensuring that all individuals are treated fairly and with dignity,” Noko said

Various other sectors have pioneered innovative approaches to chip away at Apartheid’s remnants. Corporate and governmental diversity programmes, such as B-BBEE, and the Employment Equity Amendment Bill of 2020, aim to promote diversity and equity in the workplace.

Ratsomo of the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation said these and other efforts to address the underlying issue of what to do about that still exists in the country are key to taking it down. Everyone must  learn, speak up, and act on racism, racial discrimination and related intolerances, she said.

“The beginning point to tackle and dismantle systemic racism is to understand that being anti-racist does not only mean being against racism,” she said. “It also means being active and speaking out against racism whenever you see it happen. The more we understand racism, the easier it becomes to identify when it happens, which allows us to speak out and act against it when we see it happening.”

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National Archives and Records Service of South Africa

Thirty years ago, the South African miracle came true. Millions voted in the country’s first democratic elections, seemingly delivering a death blow to apartheid.

The African National Congress rose to power under the leadership of Nelson Mandela and used the Freedom Charter, a decades-old manifesto, as a guide to forming a new nation.

The charter’s 10 declarations offered a vision for overcoming apartheid through a free, multiracial society, with quality housing, education and economic opportunities for all.

As South Africans celebrate 30 years of freedom and prepare to vote in a pivotal national election, we looked at how far the country has come in meeting the Freedom Charter’s goals.

Has South Africa Truly Defeated Apartheid?

By John Eligon and Lynsey Chutel in Johannesburg and Lauren Leatherby in London. Photographs by Joao Silva .

When the apartheid government was toppled in South Africa, ending white minority rule, people around the world shared in the excitement and optimism that a more just society would emerge. A generation later, the country’s journey provides a broader lesson: It is far easier to rally for an end to racism than it is to undo entrenched inequities and to govern a complicated country.

The African National Congress won the 1994 election on the promise of “a better life for all.” But for many that promise has fallen short. Polls now suggest that in the election scheduled for May 29, the party risks losing its absolute majority in the national government for the first time.

No one doubts that South Africa has made strides since the days of legalized racial oppression. Democracy has brought a growing Black middle class, access to better education across racial lines and a basic human dignity once stolen from the Black majority.

But there also has been a widening gap between rich and poor, a breakdown in basic services like electricity and water, and the continued isolation of Black families stuck in ramshackle homes in distant communities.

Black South Africans, who make up 81 percent of the population, often argue that they’ve gained political freedom, but not economic freedom — and remain trapped in the structure of apartheid.

We went through the Freedom Charter’s declarations — each ending in an exclamation point — to measure South Africa’s progress and shortcomings over the past 30 years.

100% turnout among voting-age population

Voter turnout has dropped.

U.S.A., 2020 - 63%

U.K., 2019 - 62%

U.S.A., 2020 – 63%

U.K., 2019 – 62%

Sources: Collette Schulz-Herzenberg, "The South African non-voter: An analysis"; Konrad Adenaur Stiftung, 2020 (South Africa); Pew Research (United States and U.K.)

On a continent where coups, autocrats and flawed elections have become common, South Africa is a widely admired exception.

Since 1994, the country has held national elections every five years, with local elections in between. Presidents have changed, but the party in power — the A.N.C. — never has. Despite this, there have never been any serious doubts about the integrity of those electoral contests. A record 52 parties will compete in the national election this year.

Despite the electoral stability, politics have been dangerous. Fierce conflict within the A.N.C. has resulted in many assassinations over the years. The A.N.C.’s access to state resources as the governing party has fueled many of the disputes and led to widespread corruption — from top national officials down to local councilors.

The enrichment of A.N.C. leaders while many people barely earn enough to feed themselves has shaken the faith of many South Africans in their democratic system.

Last year, 22 percent of South Africans approved of the functioning of the country’s democracy, down from 63 percent in 2004, according to surveys from the Human Sciences Research Council.

Under apartheid, race restricted every aspect of life for South Africans who were Black, Indian and colored — a multiracial classification created by the government. There were strict limits on where they could live, attend school, work and travel. Laws enforced this segregation, and partaking in politics was criminalized.

But the democratic government drafted a constitution that enshrined equal rights for all.

South Africa has become a place where people of all races often dine, worship and party together. Gay rights are largely accepted. There is a free and vigorous press, and protests and open political debate are a part of life.

But many of the economic barriers created under apartheid still endure.

By one measure, the World Bank has ranked South Africa as the most unequal country in the world. Ten percent of the population holds about 71 percent of the country’s wealth, while the bottom 60 percent holds just 7 percent of assets, according t o the World Bank .

To a large extent, the wealth disparities have kept millions of Black South Africans relegated to some of the most deplorable conditions.

Just look at the place in the Soweto community of Kliptown where hundreds of anti-apartheid activists gathered to draft the Freedom Charter in 1955. It is now known as Walter Sisulu Square, named for a prominent anti-apartheid activist.

Nearly two decades ago, the government built a large concrete complex around the square, with restaurants, offices and a hotel. But because of a lack of maintenance and huge riots in 2021 that stemmed from political grievances, most of the businesses are now gutted, littered and stinking of sewage. Informal traders eke out a living nearby selling sandwiches, clothes and fruit.

Across adjacent railroad tracks sits an all-Black neighborhood where most residents live in tin shacks, use outdoor latrines, rely on jury-rigged wires for electricity and navigate craggy dirt roads.

Walter Sisulu Square in Kliptown, Soweto, where South Africa’s Freedom Charter was signed in 1955, is now dilapidated.

Joao Silva/The New York Times

Jack Martins, 54, who lives in the neighborhood, had a cellphone repair shop in the complex, but it did not survive the riots. He now plies his trade from a table on the sidewalk. He secured public housing, but had to pay a bribe to get it, he said. Two of his sons could not get into university because there was not enough space, and his daughter, despite having a mechanical engineering degree, has been unable to find stable work. He is fed up with the near-daily, hourslong electricity outages caused by the failing state power utility.

“What is this government doing for us?” he said. “Absolutely nothing.”

The Black middle and upper classes have grown significantly. In 1995, just 350,000 Black South Africans lived in households that were among the top 15 percent in income, according to researchers at the University of Cape Town’s Liberty Institute of Strategic Marketing. By 2022, that number had grown to about 5.6 million.

Still, Black families are underrepresented among rich households.

Many expected something better this far into democracy. Much of the nation’s wealth remains in white hands.

Black South Africans had a stake in only 29 percent of the companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, according to a 2022 report by South Africa’s Black Economic Empowerment Commission. Not a single entity on the exchange was fully Black-owned, the report said.

Economists say the country’s economy never took off enough to allow for a greater redistribution of wealth. Even when South Africa experienced its strongest stretch of economic growth in the first decade and a half of democracy, it still lagged behind its peers in Africa and other upper-middle-income countries. Since then, growth has been tepid, and contraction since the Covid-19 pandemic has been sharper than that in similarly sized economies.

8% annual GDP growth

Upper-middle-income

country average

Sub-Saharan

Africa average

South Africa

South Africa’s economic growth

has consistently lagged behind

Sources: Harvard Growth Lab analysis of World Economic Outlook (South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa) and World Development Indicators (upper-middle-income countries).

Government rules have allowed Black South Africans to gain a greater stake in industries like mining, where Black ownership has grown from 2 percent to 39 percent over the past two decades. But the gains have gone to relatively few people at the top.

However, the Bafokeng kingdom, an ethnic group within South Africa, has shown what is possible when a community gets its fair share of its resource wealth. The kingdom sits on rich platinum deposits. After a court victory in 1999 that affirmed its land rights, the kingdom used its platinum dividends to build a school with a large campus and a modern clinic, and to invest in other industries. Most families live in large brick homes that are the envy of other rural villages.

At the end of apartheid, when almost all of South Africa’s agricultural land was white-owned, Mr. Mandela’s government pledged in 1994 to transfer 30 percent of it into Black hands within a few years, by encouraging white landowners to sell.

The government failed to meet its goal, and it stretched the deadline to 2030. So far, about 25 percent of white-owned farmland has been transferred to Black ownership, mostly through the purchase of land by the government or Black individuals, according to Wandile Sihlobo and Johann Kirsten, agricultural economists at Stellenbosch University.

White South Africans make up roughly 7 percent of the population, but white-owned farms still cover about half of the country’s entire surface area, according to Mr. Sihlobo and Mr. Kirsten.

A worker on a Black-owned farm letting out cattle to graze near Carletonville, South Africa.

In the first decade of democracy, the government gave Black people full ownership of the white-owned farms it had bought. Owning the land meant that Black families had the chance not only to feed and support themselves but also advance.

But the government is no longer giving land to Black South Africans outright, offering long-term leases instead, Mr. Sihlobo and Mr. Kirsten said. Without ownership, Black farmers cannot generate wealth by using the land as collateral to get a bank loan. That has prevented Black farmers from expanding their operations to be commercially competitive.

Only about 7 percent of commercial-scale farms — those that sell to major grocers or export their products — are Black-owned. Only about 10 percent of the food produced by commercial farms in South Africa comes from Black-owned farms, about the same share as in the 1980s, Mr. Sihlobo said.

In the first decade of democracy, more than 930,000 mostly Black and colored farm workers were evicted from farms despite new laws intended to allow them to spend their lives on the farms where they worked.

“We haven’t been able to live up to those ideals” of Black land ownership, Mr. Sihlobo said.

Black South Africans are unemployed at far higher rates than their white peers, and that disparity has not improved over time.

50% unemployment rate

Black unemployment

The unemployment gap between

Black and white South Africans

remains wide.

White unemployment

Source: Statistics South Africa

Note: Graphic shows the expanded definition of unemployment, which includes those discouraged from seeking work.

The high unemployment rate has given rise to a hustle culture that sends many South Africans to the streets early each morning in search of work.

Zinhle Nene, 49, has been waking up by 5:30 a.m. most days and waiting on a corner in downtown Johannesburg with hundreds of others seeking day jobs. She left her low-paying job as a home health aide because the transportation to work was too expensive.

“It’s heartbreaking because we come here and we don’t even have food,” she said, wiping away tears as the hours passed. “Sometimes, you even get home, there’s nothing. You just drink water and then you sleep.”

Poverty has decreased since the start of democracy. Still, it remains very high. Nearly two out of every three Black South Africans lived below the upper-bound poverty line in 2015 — the most recent data available — meaning they had access to less than about $80 a month. Only 1 percent of white South Africans lived below that line.

Peter Mokoena broke down in tears last November inside the modest two-bedroom house the government had just given him. It sat alongside dozens of other homes just like it, on the freshly paved roads of a new subdivision about half an hour southeast of Johannesburg.

“I’m so happy, happy, happy, happy for this house,” said Mr. Mokoena, 74, who had been living in a tin shack so leaky that his furniture was soaked when it rained. “Now, it feels like I'm in heaven.”

The government has built 3.4 million houses since 1994, and given ownership of most of them for free to poor South Africans. Some units, known as social housing, are rented out at below-market rates. The government also has embarked on several “mega city” projects, in partnership with the private sector, to cluster together various types of housing and services like day care centers.

Many South Africans have moved into formal homes from makeshift structures, and access to basic services like electricity and piped water has increased. But frequent power and water outages have made those services unreliable, leading to anger and frustration nationwide.

Mr. Mokoena waited 27 years for his house. Many are still waiting. In the meantime, some squat in downtown buildings. Others build shacks in any open space they can find. Or they rent small backyard units built behind houses — an effort the government is supporting .

New government housing has often ended up in areas far from jobs and economic activity, perpetuating the apartheid system of marginalizing Black people to outlying townships.

JOHANNESBURG

Jobs in the city are concentrated in this area.

The area includes Sandton, a suburb that was

exclusively for white residents during

The densest populations are often far away.

Many of the densest places are townships,

like Soweto, where Black South Africans

were forced to live during apartheid

and where many new government

housing units have been built.

Population density

Jobs in the city are

concentrated in this

The area includes

Sandton, a suburb that

was exclusively for

white residents during

The densest populations are

often far away.

Many of the densest places are

in townships, like Soweto,

where Black South Africans

were forced to live during

apartheid and where many new

government housing units have

been built.

Sources: Spatial Tax Panel (employment data); WorldPop (population density)

Note: The area outlined in yellow represents parts of Johannesburg with at least 10,000 full-time equivalent employees in formal employment.

Nokuthula Mabe anxiously sat on her suitcase in the February heat outside North-West University in the city of Mahikeng, waiting with about a dozen other high-school graduates hoping for a spot. The university had received more than 181,000 applications for 11,717 slots.

In many ways, Ms. Mabe epitomized post-apartheid progress simply by graduating from her overcrowded village school near the Botswana border.

Nokuthula Mabe, right.

In the 1950s, only 10 percent of Black children finished high school. By 2021, that number had risen to 58 percent, according to government statistics.

Despite these gains, significant racial disparities persist.

100% completion rate

White high school

completion rate

Despite gains, there remains a

large education gap between

Black and white South Africans.

Black high school

Sources: Equal Education Law Centre analysis of data from Statistics South Africa General Household Survey; Department of Basic Education

Note: Shows share of 22- to 25-year-olds who have completed at least grade 12 or equivalent.

In 1982, the apartheid government spent roughly $1,100 a year on education for each white child but just $140 for each Black child, according to Section 27 , a human rights organization.

By 2018, that had increased to about $1,400 for each child, according to researchers at Stellenbosch University, much of it intended to level the playing field for Black students.

But schools are still failing many of their students. A report published in 2022 found that 81 percent of Grade 4 students could not understand what they were reading.

And while more children are finishing high school, there are not enough seats in colleges to meet the demand.

In 2022, about 6 percent of South Africans aged 18 to 29 were enrolled in higher education, according to Statistics South Africa. These enrollment rates lag behind countries with similarly sized economies, like Brazil, Mexico and the Philippines, according to figures from the World Bank .

After waiting nervously for hours, Ms. Mabe, 18, dragged her suitcase to the nearest bus stop to begin the three-and-a-half-hour trip back to her village. The university was too full to admit her.

During apartheid, the judicial system was used to criminalize Black people, mete out harsh punishment and cover up the atrocities committed against them.

Today, the judiciary is seen as among the most credible institutions in the country. Judges have upheld human rights and taken tough stances against even powerful political figures like the former president Jacob Zuma, who was sentenced to prison for contempt .

Still, as in many other countries, the South African justice system works best for those with money. A government commission found two years ago that most South Africans could not afford legal fees. The agency providing legal assistance for the poor is underfunded and overburdened.

“Those with very deep pockets are able to take the criminal justice process, stretch it for a very long period of time,” said Chrispin Phiri, a spokesman for the Ministry of Justice and Correctional Services. “That’s a privilege not afforded to a poorer person.”

What’s more, the justice system does not seem to be taming the country’s high crime rate.

70 murders per 100,000 residents

Murder rates are

on the rise.

70 per 100,000 residents

Sources: The Institute for Security Studies (South Africa); the World Bank (other countries, 2021 figures)

Although the murder rate is lower than it was in 1994, it has climbed steadily since 2012.

On paper, South Africa’s legal system prioritizes rehabilitating prisoners. The government offers an array of restorative justice, jobs and counseling programs for inmates and those being released.

In reality, though, prison-reform activists and studies suggest that treatment behind bars can be harsh and access to education difficult.

Internationally, South Africa has tried to position itself as a broker of peace and a leader in challenging a Western-led world order.

South Africa is the “S” in the BRICS group of nations that also includes Brazil, Russia, India and China, formed as a counterpoint to American and European alliances.

South Africa has played a critical role over the years in peace missions in African countries like Ethiopia, Burundi and Zimbabwe. And President Cyril Ramaphosa led a peace delegation last year to Ukraine and Russia, while refusing to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2021.

South Africa argues that as a midsize nation, it cannot afford to choose sides and must make friends with everyone.

But it has been accused of being hypocritical and selectively concerned about peace and human rights.

The government brought a genocide case this year in the International Court of Justice against Israel for its war in Gaza after the attacks by Hamas on Oct. 7. South African officials have argued that Palestinians face a situation similar to apartheid.

For all of the frustrations that South Africans may have about the past 30 years, democracy has brought something that money and data cannot measure: freedom.

As in, freedom to go where you want, to date whom you want, to complain and advocate change as loudly as you want.

That has driven Sibusiso Zikode, 48, for much of his adult life.

He arrived in Durban, a port city on South Africa’s east coast, and started law school, but dropped out in the first term when his family savings ran out.

Sibusiso Zikode, left, helped establish a protest movement in Durban to advocate on behalf of poor people.

He moved to Kennedy Road, a slum built on muddy slopes and surrounded by a landfill, joining thousands who had flocked to the city for opportunity, only to find themselves in zinc shacks. This didn’t feel like freedom.

So, he helped to establish Abahlali baseMjondolo, a protest movement that is one of many that represent the revolt of poor people. Between July and September in 2022, the South African police responded to 2,455 protests.

But going up against the post-apartheid political establishment has come at great cost: Leaders of Abahlali have been assassinated, and Mr. Zikode had to flee from his home at the squatter camp after deadly attacks.

Abahlali’s members are growing more disillusioned with democracy.

“Whoever is homeless now,” Mr. Zikode said, “will be homeless after the election.”

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South Africa's successful struggle for freedom and democracy is one of the most dramatic stories of our time. The racial tyranny of apartheid ended with a negotiated transition to a non-racial democracy, but not without considerable personal cost to thousands of men, women, and young people who were involved.

South Africa: Overcoming Apartheid, Building Democracy presents first-hand accounts of this important political movement. Interviews with South African activists, raw video footage documenting mass resistance and police repression, historical documents, rare photographs, and original narratives tell this remarkable story.

Watch three-minute preview video. Explore South Africa's history through unique Interviews , chronological Units , in-depth Essays , or collections of Media on key events in the struggle against apartheid. Curricular materials are in the For Educators section.

Apartheid in South Africa

Introduction.

Racial segregation is a significant problem that shaped the development of many countries and societies. In South Africa, apartheid was the institutionalized segregation of black people throughout the country. It had substantial repercussions for South Africa and its citizens, both positive and negative. Nelson Mandela played a crucial role in ending apartheid. The present paper will explore apartheid from beginning to end while also clarifying Nelson Mandela’s role.

South Africa’s development was heavily impacted by colonization. Due to its favorable geographic location, colonizers from various European countries, including the Netherlands and Britain, sought to occupy the land. The tensions between the indigenous people of South Africa and the colonizers resulted in racial conflict, which created a foundation for segregation. After the colonies merged, and the Union of South Africa was established, the opposition between native and white people strengthened. Apartheid started in 1948 as a policy introduced by the National Party to establish separate development of different racial groups in South Africa (“A history of Apartheid”, 2019). In theory, this could have contributed to cultural preservation and multiculturalism.

However, in reality, apartheid facilitated racial segregation on all levels. For example, under apartheid, “non-white South Africans (a majority of the population) would be forced to live in separate areas from whites and use separate public facilities, and contact between the two groups would be limited” (“Apartheid”, 2019, para. 1). Marriages and sexual relations between white people and those of other races were prohibited, and non-white people had to carry passes to enter restricted public areas (“Apartheid”, 2019).

The participation of non-white people in politics was banned, and even the activity of labor unions advocating for non-white workers was limited (“Apartheid”, 2019). As a result, apartheid promoted racial inequality and prevented the parallel development of various races while also opposing democracy.

Apartheid in South Africa impacted world history in two ways. On the one hand, apartheid supported the idea of white supremacy and black inferiority. At the time, non-white people in many other areas of the world were facing segregation and discrimination. The South African policy supported the opposition between white supremacists and people from other ethnicities. On the other hand, the fight against apartheid and the outrage toward injustice also contributed to the development of equal rights movements around the world. In a way, apartheid in South Africa drew attention to the issues of discrimination and segregation, thus inspiring the fight for freedom in other countries.

The defeat of the apartheid policy is widely attributed to Nelson Mandela, who was one of the most famous opposers of apartheid. Having faced discrimination throughout his life, Mandela wanted to end racial discrimination and segregation in South Africa. When apartheid was introduced in 1948, Mandela was a member of the African National Congress. He used his political position to encourage peaceful protests against the policy. Nevertheless, as these protests turned out to be futile, the party started using violent tactics. Along with other civil rights activists, Mandela was labeled a terrorist, and further activity led to his imprisonment (“Nelson Mandela”, 2019).

Mandela’s activity drew international attention, forcing a change of views in the South African government. The president of South Africa released Nelson Mandela from jail and worked together with him to put an end to apartheid laws and their effects (Nelson Mandela, 2019). In 1994, Mandela won the elections, becoming South Africa’s first democratic president.

Overall, the apartheid was a crucial period in South Africa’s development. The policy provided legal foundations for the forceful segregation of non-white citizens, leading to social, economic, and political inequality. Apartheid played an essential role in the development of civil rights movements all over the world, thus also having a substantial effect on global history. Nelson Mandela was one of the main opposers to apartheid, and his actions, although violent at times, led to the ending of apartheid and the establishment of democracy in South Africa.

A history of apartheid in South Africa . (2019). Web.

Apartheid . (2019). Web.

Nelson Mandela: Father of the nation . (2019). Web.

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85 Apartheid Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best apartheid topic ideas & essay examples, ✅ simple & easy apartheid essay titles, 📝 interesting topics to write about apartheid, ❓ apartheid essay questions.

• Black Consciousness Movement vs. Apartheid in South Africa In his representation, the black consciousness is a way to resist racism not only by the rallying of the oppressed black majority, but also by the realized formation of the fundamentally excellent system of social […]
• Apartheid in South Africa This essay gives a detailed coverage of the issue of apartheid in South Africa and its impact to the economy, politics and social life of South Africans.
• Negotiations to End Apartheid in South Africa The white rulers of the National Party initiated the apartheid system in South Africa. Although the governing national party reformed the apartheid system, the reformations could not stop the Africans from opposing the government.
• Apartheid Imagery in “A Walk in the Night” and “A Dry White Season” Superiority of white population in the country prevented the African population from establishing fair treatment, which led to the division of the inhabitants in racial groups and residential areas in which various ethnicities lived. The […]
• Israeli Apartheid Ideology Towards Palestinians Scholars, humanitarian organizations and the United Nations have also contributed to this discussion by critically evaluating Israel’s policy on the treatment of Palestinians in the occupied territories and within the Israeli sovereign state.
• Apartheid in South: Historical Lenses The conclusions vary depending on lenses. Political attempt to control the population.
• South African Apartheid: Historical Lenses and Perception The research studied South African Apartheid’s social narrative as the addressed issues were the protests of the affected people and the regime’s consequences based on the societal changes.
• Jonathan Kozol “The Shame of Nation”: The Rationales of Apartheid Schooling The absence of discrimination written in a form of law appears to be enough for the government not to fight about ever-rising inequality in thousands of schools.
• Desmond Tutu’s Fight Against Apartheid Desmond Tutu is a South African Archbishop who rose to international fame in the late 1970s and the early 1980s because of his role in fighting apartheid a racial segregation policy in the RSA.
• Post-Apartheid Restorative Justice Reconciliation Asmal suggests that restorative justice and reconciliation were chosen out of a strong desire to end the illegitimate and violent governance of the old regime while ensuring that the nature of governance changes under the […]
• The Necessity to Fight Apartheid in South Africa One of the things that contributed to the development of South Africa is the dominance of the whites in the country.
• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict vs. Apartheid in South Africa One of the first points that should be made is that ethnic conflicts were present in the history of many nations, but many countries were able to overcome them at least to some degree, for […]
• Apartheid, Its Causes and the Process The first point that is mentioned in the work is that the colonization by Europeans and their actions were characterized through the depletion of Gold and diamonds.
• South African Non-Violent Protests Against Apartheid In spite of the largely peaceful demonstrations, which the locals believed would limit casualties and bring the change they yearned for; security forces were deployed by the government to contain the protests.
• Apartheid: Nelson Mandela and Apartheid Liberation Movement
• Apartheid, Racial Segregation, and White Domination
• Labor Markets During Apartheid in South Africa
• South African Apartheid: Political Defiance Campaigns Against the Gover
• Comparing the Israeli Conflict With Palestine to the South African Apartheid
• Education and Distance Education in Apartheid South Africa
• South Africa and Apartheid: Have the Effects of Apartheid Disappeared
• Apartheid: Theory and Practice During the Apartheid Era
• Apartheid and Its Historical Background in South Africa
• Apartheid and Its Effects on Society
• Describing and Decomposing Post-apartheid Income Inequality in South Africa
• American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass
• How the Transition From Apartheid to Democracy Was Managed
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• Colonial Rule, Apartheid and Natural Resources: Top Incomes in South Africa, 1903-2007
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• The Socioeconomic and Cultural Impacts of Apartheid in Africa
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• The Factors that Brought Apartheid to an End in 1994
• Apartheid and Post-Apartheid South Africa
• After Apartheid: The Effects of ANC Power
• Apartheid and the Struggles in Life of the Black People
• The History and Laws of Apartheid in South Africa
• The Various Changes that the Apartheid Brought in South Africa
• South Africa Crime Increases Since Apartheid Ending
• Apartheid Cessation and the Role Played by Social Groups
• The Relationship Between Capitalism, Slavery, Colonialism, and Apartheid
• Life After Apartheid South African Women
• Defiance of Apartheid Political Policy of Racial Segregation
• Reasons Behind the Ending of the Apartheid
• Police Intimidation During the Apartheid
• The South African Treason Trial and the Effect on Apartheid’s Success
• How Successful Were the Methods Used to Fight Apartheid in South Africa
• South Africa During and After the Apartheid
• Africans’ Lives Under Apartheid
• Apartheid: Systematic and Intention Oppression
• The Church’s Struggle Against Apartheid
• What Was the Main Idea of Apartheid?
• How Many People Died in Apartheid in South Africa?
• What Is Apartheid in Social Studies?
• Why Do We Study Apartheid?
• What Were the Groups of Apartheid?
• Who Was the Leader of Apartheid?
• What Are the Features of Apartheid?
• What Caused Apartheid in Africa?
• How Did Apartheid Affect People’s Life?
• What Is the Another Term for Apartheid?
• Who Helped South Africa During Apartheid?
• What Are Some Examples of Apartheid?
• What Is Apartheid Culture?
• What Is Apartheid and Its Effects?
• When Did Apartheid Start in Africa?
• What Is the Meaning of Apartheid in Oxford Dictionary?
• What Was the First Apartheid Law?
• When Was the Word Apartheid First Used?
• How Long Did Apartheid Last?
• Is Apartheid Taught in South African Schools?
• Why Is Apartheid Important to History?
• Who Was the Most Famous Person Who Fought Against Apartheid?
• Who Was the First Apartheid Leader?
• Who Decided to End Apartheid?
• Did the US Support Apartheid in South Africa?
• Where Did Apartheid Originate?
• What Caused the End of Apartheid?
• What Language Did They Speak During Apartheid?
• How Did Apartheid Affect Students?
• Did Russia Support South Africa During Apartheid?
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Apartheid South Africa 1940s to 1960s Essay for Grade 11

On this page, we guide grade 11 student on how to write “Apartheid South Africa 1940s to 1960s Essay”.

Table of Contents

Apartheid in South Africa was a system of institutionalised racial segregation and discrimination that existed from the late 1940s until the early 1990s. This period in South African history is marked by the enforcement of legal policies and practices aimed at separating the races and maintaining white dominance in all aspects of life. The years between the 1940s and the 1960s were critical in laying the foundations and entrenching the policies that would define this era. This essay will explore the implementation of apartheid laws , resistance movements , and international reactions to apartheid from the 1940s to the 1960s.

Implementation of Apartheid Laws

The formal introduction of apartheid can be traced back to the National Party’s victory in the 1948 elections . The party, which represented the Afrikaner nationalist interest, institutionalised apartheid as a means of securing white dominance. Key legislation enacted during this period included:

• The Population Registration Act (1950): This act classified all South Africans into racial groups – ‘white’, ‘black’, ‘coloured’, and ‘Indian’. This classification was a prerequisite for the implementation of other apartheid laws.
• The Group Areas Act (1950): This law geographically segregated South Africans by race , determining where different racial groups could live, work, and own property.
• The Suppression of Communism Act (1950): Though ostensibly aimed at combating communism , this act was frequently used to silence critics of apartheid, including non-communists.

Resistance Movements

Resistance against apartheid came from various quarters, including political parties, trade unions, and individual activists. The most prominent of these movements included:

• The African National Congress (ANC): Initially adopting a policy of peaceful protest, the ANC organised strikes, boycotts, and civil disobedience campaigns. Following the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960, the ANC shifted to a strategy of armed struggle .
• The Pan Africanist Congress (PAC): A breakaway from the ANC, the PAC also played a significant role in organising protests against apartheid, notably the anti-Pass Laws protest that led to the Sharpeville Massacre.
• Sharpeville Massacre (1960): A turning point in the resistance against apartheid, where a peaceful protest against pass laws in Sharpeville turned deadly, with police opening fire on demonstrators, resulting in 69 deaths.

International Reactions to Apartheid

The international community’s response to apartheid was initially muted, but as the realities of apartheid became more widely known, international condemnation grew. Significant aspects of the international reaction included:

• United Nations Condemnation: The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution in 1962 calling for sanctions against South Africa, urging member states to cease military and economic relations with the apartheid regime.
• Isolation in Sports: South Africa was banned from the Olympic Games and other international sporting events, highlighting the growing international isolation of the apartheid government.

Student Guide

When writing an essay on Apartheid in South Africa from the 1940s to the 1960s, focusing on clarity, depth, and evidence-based arguments is crucial. Here are some useful tips to enhance your essay writing:

• Start with a Strong Thesis Statement:
• Clearly state your essay’s main argument or analysis point at the end of your introduction. This sets the direction and tone of your essay. For example, “This essay argues that the apartheid laws enacted between the 1940s and 1960s not only institutionalised racial segregation but also laid the foundation for the resistance movements that eventually led to apartheid’s downfall.”
• Organise Your Essay Logically:
• Use subheadings to divide your essay into manageable sections, such as the implementation of apartheid laws, resistance movements, and international reactions. This helps readers follow your argument more easily.
• Use Evidence to Support Your Points:
• Incorporate specific examples and quotes from primary and secondary sources to back up your statements. For instance, reference the Population Registration Act when discussing racial classification or cite international condemnation from United Nations resolutions.
• Analyse, Don’t Just Describe:
• Go beyond simply describing events by analysing their impact and significance . For example, when discussing the Sharpeville Massacre, explore its effect on both the apartheid government’s policies and the tactics of resistance movements.
• Acknowledge Different Perspectives:
• While focusing on the factual history of apartheid, also acknowledge the various perspectives on apartheid policies and resistance efforts, including those of the government, opposition movements, and international bodies.
• Conclude Effectively:
• Summarise the main points of your essay and reiterate your thesis in the context of the information discussed. Offer a concluding thought that encourages further reflection, such as the legacy of apartheid in contemporary South Africa.
• Reference Accurately:
• Ensure all sources are accurately cited in your essay to avoid plagiarism and to lend credibility to your arguments. Follow the specific referencing style required by your teacher or educational institution.
• Proofread and Revise:
• Check your essay for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors. Also, ensure that your argument flows logically and that each section supports your thesis statement.
• Seek Feedback:
• Before final submission, consider getting feedback from teachers, peers, or tutors. Fresh eyes can offer valuable insights and identify areas for improvement.

By incorporating these tips, you can create a well-argued, informative, and engaging essay on Apartheid in South Africa that meets the expectations of a Grade 11 history assignment.

The period from the 1940s to the 1960s was pivotal in the establishment and consolidation of the apartheid system in South Africa. Through the enactment of draconian laws, the apartheid government institutionalised racial discrimination, which led to widespread resistance within the country and condemnation from the international community. This era laid the groundwork for the struggles and transformations that would eventually lead to the end of apartheid.

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South Africa: 30 years after apartheid, what has changed?

Big socio-political gains have followed apartheid but the legacy of racism and segregation is still starkly visible.

Three decades ago, on April 27, 1994, after centuries of white rule, Black South Africans voted in general elections for the first time. This marked the official end of apartheid rule, cemented days later when Nelson Mandela was sworn in as the country’s first Black president .

Since the arrival of Dutch settlers in the 1600s and British colonists in the 1700s and 1800s, South Africa had been a project that subjected Black people to systematically segregationist laws and practices.

Keep reading

‘i am prepared to die’: mandela’s speech which shook apartheid, mandela’s world: a photographic retrospective of apartheid south africa, thirty years waiting for a house: south africa’s ‘backyard’ dwellers, in search of ramadan with south africa’s men who sight the moon.

But it was the adoption of apartheid in 1948 that codified and formalised these racist practices into law. It strictly separated people into separate classes based on their skin colour, putting the white minority in the highest class, with all others, including Black, Indigenous, multi-race people, and descendants of indentured Indian workers, below them.

South Africa’s road to freedom was long and bloody –  laden with the bodies of thousands of Black activists and students who dared to protest, both loudly and quietly.

The wounds of those times are still painful and visible. Black South Africans make up 81 percent of the 60 million population. But, burdened with the trauma and lingering inequalities of the past, Black communities continue to be disproportionately afflicted with poverty.

Here’s how apartheid unfolded, how it collapsed, and what has since changed in South Africa:

What was apartheid?

The Afrikaner National Party (NP) government formally codified apartheid as government policy in South Africa in 1948.

Translated from Afrikaans – a language first spoken by Dutch and German settlers – apartheid means “apart-hood” or “separateness”, and its name embodied the ways the ruling white minority sought to separate itself from, and rule over, non-white people socially and spatially.

The policies rigidly and forcefully separated South Africa’s diverse racial groups into strata: White, Coloured (multiracial), Indian, and Black. These groups had to live and develop separately – and grossly unequally – such that although they lived in the same country, it was largely impossible for any one group to mix with another.

The rules were debilitating particularly for the Black majority who were relegated to the bottom rung. Laws limited their movement and squeezed them into small sections of land. The places they were allowed to inhabit were generally impoverished and included designated “Bantustans” (rural homelands) or townships on the outskirts of cities – settlements largely built out of ramshackle corrugated iron homes that were unplanned, overcrowded and had few to no amenities.

Meanwhile, the minority white population reaped the benefits of a gold-and-diamond-powered economy and flagrantly underpaid non-white labour as it kept the lion’s share of land, resources and amenities for themselves.

Apartheid also affected Indians, at first brought into South Africa as indentured labourers and later as traders, and multiracial people, called the Coloured community, who faced segregation and discrimination but to a lesser degree than Black Africans.

What were the apartheid laws?

Apartheid was enforced through a system of strict laws that kept everything in its place. There were “Grand” laws dictating housing and employment allocations, and “Petty” laws dealing with rules of everyday life, like the racial separations in public amenities.

Some of the most important laws were:

• Where people lived: The Group Areas Act – People were legally segregated based on race and allocated separate areas to live and work in. The law relegated nonwhite groups further away from developed urban cities. Black people, in particular, were housed in under-resourced fringe townships far from the centre. From the late 1950s, some 3.5 million Black South Africans were forced to relocate from urban areas, and some 70 percent of the population was squeezed into 13 percent of the country’s most unproductive land. Those who opposed the laws and refused to move had their homes forcibly demolished and were sometimes arrested and imprisoned. Black people, specifically men, who worked in cities as a source of cheap labour were required to carry “pass books” that dictated which white areas they were allowed to be in and for how long. Under the Separate Amenities Laws, public transport, parks, beaches, theatres, restaurants, and other amenities were segregated racially. Signs stating “Whites Only” and “Natives” were commonplace.
• What people learned: The Bantu Education Act – Apartheid laws stipulated the segregation of schools, including setting a different standard of education for different races. White schools were the best resourced, Coloured and Indian schools in the middle, while Black Africans were intentionally given an inferior education, specifically meant to ready them for manual labour and more menial jobs. A later law also segregated tertiary education. Some universities allowed non-white students to study but only to a limited degree, as apartheid officials sought to intentionally underskill the population. Government spending on white institutions was far higher than those catering to other groups.
• Who people could marry: The Immorality Laws – While intermarriages between white and Black people were already illegal under a 1927 law, a revised version ( PDF ) criminalised marriage and intimate relationships between white people and all other groups. The penalty was up to five years imprisonment. Thousands of people were arrested for this during apartheid, with nearly 20,000 prosecuted.

Why did apartheid end?

Apartheid came to an end out of the need for the white minority to sustain itself, not because of a change of heart, noted Thula Simpson, a historian of apartheid at the University of Pretoria.

“There was nothing benevolent or voluntary about the retreat of the white government,” he told Al Jazeera. “It was because there was an internal criticism of apartheid, and people were basically saying, ‘In order to maintain white supremacy, you must maintain white survival.’”

Before apartheid finally yielded, it was placed under tremendous pressure, including by growing resistance among Black South Africans. Political groups like the African National Congress (ANC) led by Nelson Mandela, and the Pan African Congress (PAC), roused the population, instigating protests, peaceful and violent. These movements triggered deadly crackdowns by the apartheid government.

When, on March 21,1960, apartheid police officers opened fire on some 7,000 Black people protesting pass laws, killing 69 people and injuring 180 others in what is now known as the Sharpeville Massacre, the world noticed. International uproar and condemnation from the United Nations followed, even as Mandela was imprisoned and the ANC liberation movement and others like it were banned by the apartheid government.

The 1976 killing of hundreds of Soweto pupils protesting the compulsory use of Afrikaans in Black schools also drew a similar global reaction. June 16 still marks the African Union’s “Day of the African Child,” in remembrance of those killed in the Soweto Uprising.

Increasingly, South Africa became isolated as it was slapped with economic sanctions, starting with a trade ban from Jamaica in 1959. The country was banned from sporting events, as well. By the 1990s, President FW de Klerk was forced to release Mandela and start negotiations for a democratic transition.

What’s changed since apartheid?

Legally and politically, much has changed in South Africa, with people of all races now free and equal under the law. Anyone is technically able to live, work and study anywhere, and people are free to interact and marry across colour lines. Black South Africans have democratically governed through the ANC for the past 30 years, compared with during apartheid when it was illegal for a Black person to even vote.

However, despite the significant gains, the legacy of apartheid is still present economically and spatially, which has contributed to South Africa being one of the least equal countries in the world.

Although South Africa’s economy grew with the end of apartheid and international sanctions, Black South Africans households continue to receive only a small share.

In the first decade after apartheid, the ANC-led South Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) went from $153bn in 1994 to $458bn in 2011,  according  to the World Bank.

However, a cocktail of corruption and government inefficiency has seen economic growth taper off, with gross debt rising from 23.6 percent of GDP in 2008 to 71.1 percent in 2022, according to researchers at Harvard ( PDF ).

While infrastructure quality has declined in general – partly due to the crumbling of the coal-powered electricity system that provided cheap power for production – it is exacerbating the historical inequalities Black communities face, experts said.

“The whole network has not been maintained so now the collapse is spreading out [even] to areas where it was not the norm,” Simpson of Pretoria University said, referencing South Africa’s recent, but frequent power and water cuts. “That impacts first and foremost the poor people,” he added.

In 2022, the World Bank classified ( PDF ) South Africa as the most unequal country in the world, and listed race, the legacy of apartheid, a missing middle class and highly unequal land ownership, as the major drivers. About 10 percent of the population controls 80 percent of the wealth, its report said.

Researchers from Spain’s Universidad de Vigo in 2014 found ( PDF ) that the average monthly income of Black South African households was 10,554 rand ($552), compared with 117,249 rand ($6,138) in white households.

In 2017, a government survey tracking household expenditure echoed those findings, stating that nearly half of all Black-headed households were spending the least while only 11 percent were in the highest spending category.

Economic woes have added pressure on the ANC, which is predicted to lose a parliamentary majority in the upcoming May elections for the first time since 1994. Simpson said a divide between older voters who witnessed the ANC’s struggle to end apartheid and younger people who do not have an attachment to the party has widened.

Education and skilled employment

After apartheid collapsed, historically white schools with good amenities and qualified teachers were desegregated and drew ambitious parents from Black communities, where government schools were poorly funded and lacked amenities like toilets – conditions that have persisted. According to a 2020 Amnesty International report, out of 23,471 public schools, 20,071 had no laboratory, 18,019 had no library, and 16,897 had no internet.

However, there is persistent trouble with transport to these formerly white-only schools for pupils from low-income and rural communities as these areas remain far apart and are not easily accessible. Pupils have also complained of racism in the formerly segregated white schools.

Meanwhile, general unemployment in South Africa is at more than 33 percent – one of the world’s highest. Nearly 40 percent of Black South Africans were unemployed in the first three months of 2023, while that rate was 7.5 percent among white people, according to government figures ( PDF ).

Where Black people make up 80 percent of the employable population ( PDF ) and account for 16.9 percent of top management jobs, white people who comprise about 8 percent of the employable population hold 62.9 percent of top management jobs.

A new law aimed at seeing more Black people employed – the Employment Equity Amendment Bill of 2020 – was signed last year by President Cyril Ramaphosa, but it sparked debate, with South Africa’s main opposition party the Democratic Alliance (DA) saying the law prescribes “race quotas” for companies and would cause other groups to lose jobs.

Although Black South Africans are no longer confined to rural, fringe townships – and people of colour spread out to urban areas across the country at the end of white minority rule – many still live in settlements with limited amenities.

In the once-majority-white Cape Town, for example, the population of Black South Africans increased from 25 percent in 1996 to 43 percent in 2016, according to the Center for Sustainable Cities ( PDF ).

“There’s been a massive redistribution of the population and whites have moved to the suburbs or outside the country,” Simpson said. “It has created the opportunity for Black South Africans to move closer to business districts.”

But, the historian added, “the townships remain the areas that have not been de-racialised.”

In some parts, small buffers separate Black townships from high-income neighbourhoods, providing starkly visible differences in satellite images. For example, a quick Google Maps tour will reveal the beautiful Strand, a seaside community in the Western Cape province that boasts of big homes with large, well-tended yards, and clean streets. Just beside it though, the Nomzamo township stands, with tinier homes and streets littered with refuse.

Raesetje Sefala, a researcher at the Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR), said her organisation has observed that townships are still expanding. “They continue to resemble their appearance during the apartheid era, indicating that similar small land sizes are still being allocated,” she told Al Jazeera.

Sefala said the South African government now groups townships together with well-serviced suburbs as “formal residential neighbourhoods”, which makes it difficult for researchers to track the actual improvements in quality of life since the end of apartheid.

However, as someone who comes from a township, “I can attest to the extent of the poor service delivery,” she added.

Government reforms have sought to provide subsidised homes for low-income earners, with some four million homes ( PDF ) delivered since 1994 according to the South Africa Human Rights Commission. But some of those policies have meant houses are located far from economic centres, inadvertently recreating the same apartheid dynamic, some researchers have said.

Besides, there is a national backlog of some 2.3 million households and individuals still waiting for a home since 1994.

Meanwhile, rural homelands, where Black people were once forced to reside, continue to be at a disadvantage. For one, they experience extremely low employment rates: Although some 29 percent of South Africa’s population lives there, employment rates are roughly half of what they are in all other parts of the country according to Harvard researchers. Experts have blamed the government’s failures to expand connecting infrastructure like transport, technology, and know-how to these historically excluded places.

South Africa marks ‘Freedom Day,’ 30 years since apartheid ended, amid discontent with the ANC

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South Africans celebrated their “Freedom Day” on Saturday, commemorating their country’s pivotal first democratic election on April 27, 1994, that announced the official end of the racial segregation and oppression of apartheid.

South Africa marked the 30th anniversary with 21-gun salutes and remembrances of that momentous vote, when millions of Black South Africans decided their own futures for the first time, a fundamental right they had been denied by a racist white minority government.

The first all-race election saw the previously banned African National Congress party win overwhelmingly and made its leader, Nelson Mandela, the country’s first Black president four years after he was released after decades in prison.

But Saturday’s celebrations of the momentous anniversary were set against a growing discontent with the current government.

From the Archives: Nelson Mandela: Anti-apartheid icon reconciled a nation

Nelson Mandela, who emerged from more than a quarter of a century in prison to steer a troubled African nation to its first multiracial democracy, uniting the country by reaching out to fearful whites and becoming a revered symbol of racial reconciliation around the world, died Thursday.

Dec. 5, 2013

Here’s what you need to know about that iconic moment and a South Africa that’s changing again 30 years on:

A turning point

The 1994 election was the culmination of a process that began four years earlier when F.W. de Klerk, the last apartheid-era president, shocked the world and his country by announcing that the ANC and other anti-apartheid parties would be unbanned.

Mandela, the face of the anti-apartheid movement, was released from prison nine days later, setting him on the road to becoming South Africa’s first Black leader.

South Africa needed years to prepare and was still on a knife-edge in the months and weeks before the election because of ongoing political violence, but the vote — held over four days between April 26 and April 29 to accommodate the large numbers who turned out — went ahead successfully.

A country that had been shunned and sanctioned by the international community for decades because of apartheid emerged as a full-fledged democracy.

Nearly 20 million South Africans of all races voted, compared with just 3 million white people in the last general election under apartheid in 1989.

Associated Press photographer Denis Farrell’s iconic aerial photograph of people waiting patiently for hours in long, snaking queues in fields next to a school in the famed Johannesburg township of Soweto captured the determination of millions of Black South Africans to finally be counted. It was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

“South Africa’s heroes are legend across the generations,” Mandela said as he proclaimed victory. “But it is you, the people, who are our true heroes.”

Apartheid falls

The ANC’s election victory ensured that apartheid was finally dismantled and a new constitution was drawn up and became South Africa’s highest law, guaranteeing equality for everyone no matter their race, religion or sexuality.

Apartheid, which began in 1948 and lasted for nearly half a century, had oppressed Black and other nonwhite people through a series of race-based laws. Not only did the laws deny them a vote, they controlled where Black people lived, where they were allowed to go on any given day, what jobs they were allowed to hold and whom they were allowed to marry.

30 years on

Current South African President Cyril Ramaphosa — a protege of Mandela — presided over the celebrations at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, the seat of government.

“Few days in the life of our nation can compare to that day, when freedom was born,” Ramaphosa said in a speech. “South Africa changed forever. It signaled a new chapter in the history of our nation, a moment that resonated across Africa and across the world.”

“On that day, the dignity of all the people of South Africa was restored,” Ramaphosa said.

The ANC has been in government ever since 1994 and while it is still recognized for its central role in freeing South Africans, it is no longer celebrated in the same way as it was in the hope-filled aftermath of that election.

South Africa in 2024 has deep socioeconomic problems, with severe poverty that still overwhelmingly affects the Black majority. The official unemployment rate is 32%, the highest in the world; it’s more than 60% for people ages 15-24.

World & Nation

Thirty years into freedom, thousands of kids in South Africa still walk miles to school

Thousands of kids in South Africa’s poorest, most remote rural areas still face a miles-long walk to school nearly 30 years after democratic change.

Nov. 13, 2023

Millions of Black South Africans still live in neglected, impoverished townships and informal settlements on the fringes of cities in what many see as a betrayal of the heroes Mandela referred to. South Africa is still rated as one of the most unequal countries in the world.

The ANC is now largely being blamed for the lack of progress, even if the damage of decades of apartheid wasn’t going to be easy to undo.

Another pivotal election?

The 30th anniversary of 1994 fell with another possibly pivotal election as a backdrop. South Africa will hold its seventh national vote since the end of apartheid on May 29.

Analysts and polls predict that the ANC will lose its parliamentary majority for the first time as a new generation of South Africans make their voices heard. The ANC will likely have to enter into complicated coalitions with smaller parties to remain part of the government.

South Africans still cherish the memory of Mandela and the elusive freedom and prosperity he spoke about in 1994. But the majority of them now appear ready to look beyond the ANC to attain it.

Imray writes for the Associated Press.

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Ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Tsotsi represents South African apartheid (a system of legally enforced segregation and discrimination) as a racist structure that destroys Black South Africans’ lives—even when they aren’t experiencing direct, interpersonal racism. Many of the Black characters’ lives are destroyed by racist apartheid laws despite having little direct contact with racist white people. For example, the Black South African protagonist, Tsotsi , lost his mother in childhood because white police rounded up Black people, including her, whom they suspected of living or working in white areas without the required pass. While one of the policemen did display clear racist attitudes—he called Tsotsi’s mother “kaffir,” a South African racial slur—it was the law, not his individual beliefs, that empowered him to destroy Tsotsi’s family. Tsotsi’s mother’s abduction propelled Tsotsi into homelessness and gang membership. In this sense, though Tsotsi rarely interacts with white people, the racist and white supremacist structure of apartheid changed the direction of his whole life.

Other Black characters similarly suffer from the racist economic and legal structures of apartheid, whether or not they come into regular contact with racist white people: the beggar Morris Tshabalala is crippled in a mining accident as a Black worker in an industry where the profits and gold go to white people. The young mother Miriam Ngidi experiences the disappearance of her husband during his participation in a bus boycott—and although the novel does not explicitly state this fact, major bus boycotts in apartheid South Africa were often protests by the Black population against segregation and economic exploitation of Black workers, which exposed protesters like Miriam’s husband to retaliatory racial violence. And Tsotsi’s fellow gang member Boston becomes a criminal after he forges an employment history for an acquaintance who will go to jail due to racist apartheid laws unless he can prove he has a previous employer. Thus, Tsotsi represents how a racist legal and economic structure like apartheid can harm oppressed people independent of and in addition to the interpersonal prejudice they experience. 

Apartheid and Racism ThemeTracker

Apartheid and Racism Quotes in Tsotsi

The knife was not only his weapon, but also a fetish, a talisman that conjured away bad spirits and established him securely in his life.

He didn’t see the man, he saw the type.

Gumboot had been allocated a plot near the centre. He was buried by the Reverend Henry Ransome of the Church of Christ the Redeemer in the township. The minister went through the ritual with uncertainty. He was disturbed, and he knew it and that made it worse. If only he had known the name of the man he was burying. This man, O Lord! What man? This one, fashioned in your likeness.

[Morris] looked at the street and the big cars with their white passengers warm inside like wonderful presents in bright boxes, and the carefree, ugly crowds of the pavement, seeing them all with baleful feelings.

It is for your gold that I had to dig. That is what destroyed me. You are walking on stolen legs. All of you.

Even in this there was no satisfaction. As if knowing his thoughts, they stretched their thin, unsightly lips into bigger smiles while the crude sounds of their language and laughter seemed even louder. A few of them, after buying a newspaper, dropped pennies in front of him. He looked the other way when he pocketed them.

Are his hands soft? he would ask himself, and then shake his head in anger and desperation at the futility of the question. But no sooner did he stop asking it than another would occur. Has he got a mother? This question was persistent. Hasn’t he got a mother? Didn’t she love him? Didn’t she sing him songs? He was really asking how do men come to be what they become. For all he knew others might have asked the same question about himself. There were times when he didn’t feel human. He knew he didn’t look it.

So she carried on, outwardly adjusting the pattern of her life as best she could, like taking in washing, doing odd cleaning jobs in the nearby white suburb. Inwardly she had fallen into something like a possessive sleep where the same dream is dreamt over and over again. She seldom smiled now, kept to herself and her baby, asked no favours and gave none, hoarding as it were the moments and things in her life.

On she came, until a foot or so away the chain stopped her, and although she pulled at this with her teeth until her breathing was tense and rattled she could go no further, so she lay down there, twisting her body so that the hindquarters fell apart and, like that, fighting all the time, her ribs heaving, she gave birth to the stillborn litter, and then died beside them.

Petah turned to David. ‘Willie no good. You not Willie. What is your name? Talk! Trust me, man. I help you.’

David’s eyes grew round and vacant, stared at the darkness. A tiny sound, a thin squeaking voice, struggled out: ‘David…’ it said, ‘David! But no more! He dead! He dead too, like Willie, like Joji.’

So he went out with them the next day and scavenged. The same day an Indian chased him away from his shop door, shouting and calling him a tsotsi. When they went back to the river that night, they started again, trying names on him: Sam, Willie, and now Simon, until he stopped them.

‘My name,’ he said, ‘is Tsotsi.’

The baby and David, himself that is, at first confused, had now merged into one and the same person. The police raid, the river, and Petah, the spider spinning his web, the grey day and the smell of damp newspapers were a future awaiting the baby. It was outside itself. He could sympathize with it in its defencelessness against the terrible events awaiting it.

‘What are you going to do with him?’

‘Keep him.’

He threw back his head, and she saw the shine of desperation on his forehead as he struggled with that mighty word. Why, why was he? No more revenge. No more hate. The riddle of the yellow bitch was solved—all of this in a few days and in as short a time the hold on his life by the blind, black, minute hands had grown tighter. Why?

‘Because I must find out,’ he said.

To an incredible extent a peaceful existence was dependent upon knowing just when to say no or yes to the white man.

It was a new day and what he had thought out last night was still there, inside him. Only one thing was important to him now. ‘Come back,’ the woman had said. ‘Come back, Tsotsi.’

I must correct her, he thought. ‘My name is David Madondo.’

He said it aloud in the almost empty street, and laughed. The man delivering milk heard him, and looking up said, ‘Peace my brother.’

‘Peace be with you’, David Madondo replied and carried on his way.

The slum clearance had entered a second and decisive stage. The white township had grown impatient. The ruins, they said, were being built up again and as many were still coming in as they carried off in lorries to the new locations or in vans to the jails. So they had sent in the bulldozers to raze the buildings completely to the ground.

They unearthed him minutes later. All agreed that his smile was beautiful, and strange for a tsotsi, and that when he lay there on his back in the sun, before someone had fetched a blanket, they agreed that it was hard to believe what the back of his head looked like when you saw the smile.

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Women and the struggle against Apartheid

Introduction Full feature on the  History of Women’s struggle in South Africa  will give a broader view of the role played by women in the struggle for freedom.

It is often overlooked that women played a very important role in the struggle against apartheid. Today when we think of the leaders of the struggle we tend to think about Nelson Mandela , Walter Sisulu , Oliver Tambo , Albert Luthuli and other prominent men. It is not often that people remember to look at not only the wives of some of these men, but also other women who got deeply involved in fighting apartheid. Black women faced three forms of oppression in South Africa during apartheid - racial, social and sexual. For this reason they had more to struggle against, and many women are still resisting oppression as a result of their gender today, either in the workplace or at home. In this unit we will look at:

• some specific instances where women took a stand against apartheid
• some women's organizations and
• some prominent women.

Women take a stand against passes

A pass was a document that black people were forced by the government to carry with them at all times. If somebody did not have a pass they would not be allowed out of the area where they lived (and into an area designated for whites only) to seek or do work. With a pass they could move around and look for a job for a defined period. If they had not found a job by the time the pass expired, the law compelled them to go back home. A black person without a pass was by law unemployable. People moving around without passes could be and were often arrested on the spot, and were often harassed by the police. For more information and an image of an actual passbook, click here .

Before apartheid began in 1948 there were cases of women fighting racial oppression in South Africa. One important such process was on 23 September 1913 (see our Women's Chronology) when women in the Free State, organized by Charlotte Maxeke, fought against carrying passes. At this time women in the rest of South Africa did not need to carry passes, but because there were many black women working in the Bloemfontein area, the government ordered them to do so. As they were not prepared to accept this, they started protests and marched to the offices of the mayor and the administrator. When this resolved nothing they drew up a petition and sent it to the Prime Minister. The pass laws on women were subsequently relaxed in 1914, but could still be re-introduced. The women continued to protest until 1920 when it was specified that only men need carry passes. This was a huge victory for women.

Over the years immediately following the pass protests, women did not play a prominent role in struggle politics. This was not really out of choice, but also because the African National Congress (ANC) was reserved for male membership. This began to change when in 1943 the ANC decided to allow women to join, but they had to wait another 5 years for the ANC Women's League (ANCWL) to be created in 1948. This means that in the same year that apartheid was introduced, women members of this significant black political opposition organization began to play an active role in the struggle in South Africa.

The first campaign where many women were involved was the Defiance Campaign of 1952. This was a campaign against apartheid laws, and people were asked to publicly break these laws, thus offering themselves for arrest. The idea was to so clog the apartheid criminal-justice system that reform would be inevitable. An example would be for a black person to use a 'white' bus, bench or toilet. White people who took part would, for example demand to travel in the section of a train reserved for blacks only. Women all over South Africa joined in the campaign and many ended up in prison as a result of their actions.

In 1955 the apartheid government again brought up the issue of passes for women. Once again women decided that they would not just accept the pass laws without resisting, and in October about 2000 women demonstrated against passes. The government continued to introduce the law and it was decided to hold a march to the Union Buildings in Pretoria and meet the Prime Minister. The march was held on 9 August 1956, and about 20 000 women participated. This makes it one of the largest political protest marches in South African history. 

The second march was not successful in stopping the pass laws, but did give women a voice and show how strong they were. We still remember the role of women today, and 9 August is South African Women's Day. Women continued to play an important role after this day, and many joined the ANC in exile, others died in detention and still others continued to lead women's organizations inside South Africa.

Women's organizations

Women had a choice to join open organizations (often still controlled or dominated by men) or those specifically for women. In some cases women formed their own organizations so that they could articulate and deal with their views on issues (not necessarily only those that impacted on women) and thus facilitate greater say in the methods of the organization. Examples of these can be found in the Women's organizations section of our Imbokodo special project.

A very important women's organization formed to fight apartheid was the ANC Women's League (ANCWL). This was formed in 1948 and resulted in women becoming much more actively involved in the ANC and its campaigns. The first official president of the ANCWL was Ida Mntwana. In 1955 the ANCWL made sure that women's demands were included in the Freedom Charter and in 1956 it organized the march on the Union Buildings. In 1960, when the ANC was banned, the ANCWL was also affected as many leaders went into exile. It continued to function inside South Africa for the next few years through regional branches and under different names.

In 1991 the ANCWL moved back into South Africa and set up a National Women's Coalition to draw up a Women's Charter. The Charter was completed in 1994 and influenced the Bill of Rights. It is largely thanks to this group that women in South Africa today are so well protected by the law and play an important role in politics.

An interesting organization to look at is the Black Sash. Six white women formed the Black Sash in 1955 and were against the government's attempts to take the vote away from Coloured people (black people had always been excluded). The organization got their name after they started wearing black sashes (pieces of material) over their shoulders during marches and demonstrations to symbolize mourning. They were mourning the death of the constitution that was meant to protect people and their franchise. Members of the Black Sash also became involved in opposition politics and humanitarian issues such as unemployment and poverty. The Black Sash still exists today, but now it focuses only on poverty and helping the poor.

Specific women

Although many women played an important role in South Africa, there are some women who stand out for the role they played. We are only going to look at two women, although there are many more who you can find out about.

Albertina Sisulu married ANC leader Walter Sisulu in 1944 soon after moving to Johannesburg and becoming politically active. In 1948 she joined the ANCWL, and in 1954 she was a founding member of the Federation of South African Women (FEDSAW). From 1958 onwards she moved in and out of prison and faced banning orders, while her husband was sentenced to life imprisonment and two of her children went into exile. She however carried on with political work inside South Africa. While in jail in 1983 Albertina Sisulu was elected president of the newly formed United Democratic Front (UDF). In this capacity she supported people during rent and consumer boycotts and visited the American president George Bush in 1989. After the unbanning of the ANC she again became involved with the ANCWL.

Helen Suzman grew up in Johannesburg and studied and lectured in Economic history. In 1953 she decided to move into politics, and chose to fight apartheid from within the system. She initially joined the United Party, but later formed the Progressive Party and for decades was the only representative of the party in parliament. Here in the whites-only parliament Suzman fought for all South Africans' rights and the freedom of expression. She criticized apartheid policy, gave her support to those fighting apartheid and even visited Robben Island. She was awarded the United Nations Human Rights Award twice and was given other honorary awards. In 1989 she retired from politics.

Many other women; Black, White, Indian and Coloured, also played an important role in changes in resisting apartheid, changing the system and in developing post-apartheid South Africa. 

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30 years of democracy in South Africa

This weekend marks 30 years since Nelson Mandela was elected president of South Africa, officially ending the country's era of apartheid. NPR's Scott Detrow talks with journalist Redi Thlabi.

Copyright © 2024 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

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South Africa remembers an historic election every April 27. Here’s why this year is so poignant

FILE - Then African National Congress leader, Nelson Mandela casts his vote April 27, 1994 near Durban, South Africa, in the country’s first all-race elections. South Africans celebrate “Freedom Day” every April 27, when they remember their country’s pivotal first democratic elections in 1994 that announced the official end of the racial segregation and oppression of apartheid. (AP Photo/John Parkin. File)

FILE - People queue to cast their votes In Soweto, South Africa April 27, 1994, in the country’s first all-race elections. South Africans celebrate “Freedom Day” every April 27, when they remember their country’s pivotal first democratic elections in 1994 that announced the official end of the racial segregation and oppression of apartheid. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell. File)

FILE — Nelson Mandela addresses supporters during victory celebrations in Johannesburg as he and the African National Congress are set to take power following the country’s first racially integrated election, May 2, 1994. South Africans celebrate “Freedom Day” every April 27, when they remember their country’s pivotal first democratic elections in 1994 that announced the official end of the racial segregation and oppression of apartheid. (AP Photo/John Parkin)

FILE — Nelson Mandela addresses supporters during victory celebrations in Johannesburg as he and the African National Congress are set to take power following the country’s first racially integrated election, May 2, 1994. South Africans celebrate “Freedom Day” every April 27, when they remember their country’s pivotal first democratic elections in 1994 that announced the official end of the racial segregation and oppression of apartheid. (AP Photo/Peter Delong/File)

An election poster, with President Cyril Ramaphosa atop a pole in Soweto, South Africa, Monday, April 22, 2024. South Africans celebrate “Freedom Day” every April 27, when they remember their country’s pivotal first democratic elections in 1994 that announced the official end of the racial segregation and oppression of apartheid. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

FILE - Train commuters hold on to the side of an overcrowded passenger train in Soweto, South Africa. Monday, March 16, 2020. South Africans celebrate “Freedom Day” every April 27, when they remember their country’s pivotal first democratic elections in 1994 that announced the official end of the racial segregation and oppression of apartheid.(AP Photo/Themba Hadebe, File)

FILE — A crowd of people sing and give peace signs during a lunchtime peace march in downtown Johannesburg, South Africa, Jan. 27, 1994 ahead of the country’s all race elections. South Africans celebrate “Freedom Day” every April 27, when they remember their country’s pivotal first democratic elections in 1994 that announced the official end of the racial segregation and oppression of apartheid. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell/File)

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CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — South Africans celebrate their “Freedom Day” every April 27, when they remember their country’s pivotal first democratic election in 1994 that announced the official end of the racial segregation and oppression of apartheid.

Saturday is the 30th anniversary of that momentous vote, when millions of Black South Africans, young and old, decided their own futures for the first time, a fundamental right they had been denied by a white minority government.

The first all-race election saw the previously banned African National Congress party win overwhelmingly and made its leader, Nelson Mandela, the country’s first Black president four years after he was released from prison.

Here’s what you need to know about that iconic moment and a South Africa that’s changing again 30 years on:

A TURNING POINT

The 1994 election was the culmination of a process that began four years earlier when F.W. de Klerk, the last apartheid-era president, shocked the world and his country by announcing that the ANC and other anti-apartheid parties would be unbanned.

Mandela , the face of the anti-apartheid movement, was released from prison nine days later, setting him on the road to becoming South Africa’s first Black leader.

South Africa needed years to prepare and was still on a knife-edge in the months and weeks before the election because of ongoing political violence, but the vote — held over four days between April 26 and April 29 to accommodate the large numbers who turned out — went ahead successfully.

A country that had been shunned and sanctioned by the international community for decades because of apartheid emerged as a fully-fledged democracy.

FILE — A crowd of people sing and give peace signs during a lunchtime peace march in downtown Johannesburg, South Africa, Jan. 27, 1994 ahead of the country’s all race elections. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell/File)

Nearly 20 million South Africans of all races voted, compared with just 3 million white people in the last general election under apartheid in 1989.

Associated Press photographer Denis Farrell’s iconic aerial photograph of people waiting patiently for hours in long, snaking queues in fields next to a school in the famed Johannesburg township of Soweto captured the determination of millions of Black South Africans to finally be counted. It was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

“South Africa’s heroes are legend across the generations,” Mandela said as he proclaimed victory. “But it is you, the people, who are our true heroes.”

APARTHEID FALLS

The ANC’s election victory ensured that apartheid was finally dismantled and a new Constitution was drawn up and became South Africa’s highest law, guaranteeing equality for everyone no matter their race, religion or sexuality.

FILE - Train commuters hold on to the side of an overcrowded passenger train in Soweto, South Africa. Monday, March 16, 2020. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe, File)

Apartheid, which began in 1948 and lasted for nearly half-a-century, had oppressed Black and other non-white people through a series of race-based laws. Not only did the laws deny them a vote, they controlled where Black people lived, where they were allowed to go on any given day, what jobs they were allowed to hold and who they were allowed to marry.

30 YEARS ON

Current South African President Cyril Ramaphosa — a protege of Mandela — will lead Saturday’s 30th anniversary Freedom Day celebrations at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, the seat of government.

The ANC has been in government ever since 1994 and while it is still recognized for its central role in freeing South Africans, it is no longer celebrated in the same way as it was in the hope-filled aftermath of that election.

South Africa in 2024 has deep socio-economic problems, none more jarring than the widespread and severe poverty that still overwhelmingly affects the Black majority. The official unemployment rate is 32%, the highest in the world, while it’s more than 60% for young people aged 15-24.

FILE - People queue to cast their votes In Soweto, South Africa April 27, 1994, in the country’s first all-race elections. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell. File)

Millions of Black South Africans still live in neglected, impoverished townships and informal settlements on the fringes of cities in what many see as a betrayal of the heroes Mandela referred to. South Africa is still rated as one of the most unequal countries in the world.

The ANC is now largely being blamed for the lack of progress in improving the lives of so many South Africans, even if the damage of decades of apartheid wasn’t going to be easy to undo.

ANOTHER PIVOTAL ELECTION?

The 30th anniversary of 1994 falls with another possibly pivotal election as a backdrop. South Africa will hold its seventh national vote since the end of apartheid on May 29, with all the opinion polls and analysts predicting that the ANC will lose its parliamentary majority in a new landmark.

The ANC is still expected to be the largest party and will likely have to enter into complicated coalitions with smaller parties to remain part of the government, but the overriding picture that is expected is that more South Africans will vote for other parties in a national election for the first time in their democracy.

South Africans still cherish the memory of Mandela and the elusive freedom and prosperity he spoke about in 1994. But the majority of them now appear ready to look beyond the ANC to attain it.

AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

I Lived in Apartheid South Africa—Equating it to Israel Is an Affront

In the eyes of the world, I have been considered a pariah for most of my life.

Ironic, really, for I was born on October 24, 1945, the same date as the establishment of the United Nations (UN) whose lofty ideals eschew collective opprobrium upon individuals based on skin color or religion.

Barely two years out of toddlerdom, two consequential events would determine my status over the next three-quarters of a century, for I was born in South Africa (SA) both white and Jewish.

On May 26, 1948, the Nationalist Party, playing on fears of white South Africans with their cry of "die swart gevaar"—the black danger—assumed power in South Africa and introduced arguably the most loathed political ideology in the immediate post-world war era (except for Nazism): Apartheid.

Growing up in SA, I was, like most of the 120,000 Jews, opposed to this philosophy; but the rest of the world lumped all white South Africans together as racists and subjected all to the UN-recommended sanctions in economic, cultural, and sporting spheres.

Many countries forbade entry, but even in my visits to those that permitted it I would often be harassed for what was assumed to be my political belief.

As most Americans and Europeans in those days had difficulty differentiating colonial accents, I often claimed to be an Australian or New Zealander to avoid confrontation.

It was not only the uncomfortable feeling of being a pariah that plagued me, but also the impotent guilt of not doing more to protest against the SA government's harsh treatment of Blacks.

I still reflect on attending my first post-mortem while a medical student in Cape Town as the first stirrings of my decision to emigrate.

The deceased, a blonde female in her sixties, lay exposed, and while I was adjusting to my squeamishness, a dour Scot professor ambled in and without a glance at us brusquely ordered the non-white students to vacate for it was illegal for them to witness a post-mortem on a white female.

To my everlasting discredit, I remained silent as my fellow Black students trooped out. The prudence of my tight-lipped non-protest avoided possible termination from medical school, or worse, was validated some years later during my pediatric internship.

Groote Schuur Hospital, made famous by the first heart transplant, had white (E1) and non-white (E4) wings separated by a short passage.

On call one night I needed to admit a desperately ill black child to E4. While every bed in that ward was occupied, some with two children, the white ward was barely 50 percent full.

I would never have considered admitting the child to the white side, but I did push an empty bed from E1 to E4. First light, I was summoned by the administrator and informed that a repeat of the previous night would result in immediate termination.

That seminal moment resolved my decision to leave South Africa. Los Angeles Veteran Hospital was my perfect first job, for it introduced me to American medicine but more significantly to a multiracial and ethnic workplace.

During those early years there many, especially Black doctors and nurses, were suspicious of my background.

That finally changed when I wrote an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times that whites had failed to create a just society in SA for two centuries; perhaps it was time for another group to try.

It earned me acceptance from my doubting colleagues, but amongst some family members still living in South Africa merely switched the epithet I endured from pariah to traitor.

The arrival of Nelson Mandela on the world stage and the abolition of apartheid gradually led to the dissipation of antagonism towards white South Africans, but sadly the apartheid word was slowly being introduced to the vernacular of another theater of dispute—Israel.

As an ardent Zionist, I once again began to recognize my pariah status.

Although I was born Jewish, I became a Zionist upon reading Leon Uris' Exodus in 1958, learning of David Ben-Gurion's Declaration of Independence a mere twelve days before the Nationalists assumed government.

I've always drawn a distinction between antisemitism and anti-Zionism, yet the differences between them over the past two decades have become blurred, exacerbated by students on American campuses since the Hamas attack of October 7.

I had experienced in my youth episodes of petty antisemitism. I only began to experience the vicious antisemitism of Europe during my visit to Poland in 1989.

Outside the infamous gates of Auschwitz, I was threatened with arrest for remonstrating with the Catholic clergy who had erected a 26-foot cross overlooking the camp courtyard.

While returning to our hotel in nearby Krakow, after a gut-wrenching and life-changing day, the Polish taxi driver, unhappy with his tip, said to me: "Are you trying to Jew me?" (The Polish currency had collapsed against the dollar and my tip was ten times the recommended.)

Worse was to come the following day. I was assailed by vendors selling vicious contemporary antisemitic art and Judaic items plundered during the Nazi occupation.

These events brought home the need for a safe Jewish state to exist to secure the survival of the Jewish people. I am no longer a student, but my grandchildren are all close to their college years.

Are they also to become pariahs for their Jewishness or their Zionism?

I was ashamed to be associated with apartheid but make no apologies for my Jewish roots and Zionist feelings. Equating apartheid in SA to modern Israeli society is an affront to the deprivation suffered by South African Blacks.

In every sphere of life, the Blacks had it worse than Arabs living in Israel. Students pushing for a Palestinian state and opposed to Zionism are well within their rights for this is a political viewpoint. Antisemitic chants reek of bigotry and prejudice.

These are the very issues their parents fought against and their teachers should enlighten them.

They should remember that the Jewish state of Israel was legally created by the UN partition plan and that it was rejected by all Arab states. They should reflect upon contributions made by the Jewish people and more recently Israel since the advent of monotheism.

If I was insecure about my pariah status in the world during the first half-century of my existence, today I am at peace with my beliefs.

Winston Churchill was considered a pariah throughout the 1930s for his determination to re-arm in the face of the perceived threat to England's survival; look what happened to him.

Evan M. Krantz M.D. is the former chief of anesthesia at Santa Monica Hospital. He lives in Los Angeles, California.

All views expressed are the author's own.

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