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Nelson Mandela has said that, “The memory of a
history of division and hate, injustice and suffering, inhumanity of person
against person should inspire us to celebrate our own demonstration of the
capacity of human beings to progress, to go forward, to improve, to do better.”
In brief
For decades, South Africans lived under
apartheid – an unjust and racist system that discriminated on race and
perpetuated appalling human rights abuses. Yet global pressure and the tireless
work of activists within South Africa saw an end to this injustice.
Following the end of apartheid, under the
leadership of Nelson Mandela, black South Africans enacted a process of
forgiveness, justice and reconciliation rather than seeking revenge.
The origins of apartheid
The roots of apartheid began with European
colonisation of Africa. Disputes between colonial powers led to the
Boer War at the turn of the 19th century.
Britain finally won the war in 1902, but the peace
treaty left the rights of the black community to be decided by the white
authorities, and the ex-Boer republics continued to exclude non-whites from the
political process.
Racist and discriminatory laws began to be
passed by the South African Party which was in power. In 1913, laws were passed
reserving 90 percent of the country for white ownership and forbidding black
Africans from working for themselves or owning land outside the native
reserves.
Apartheid became official policy in 1948.
Previous oppressive and discriminatory policies were formalised and toughened.
What was apartheid?
Apartheid is an Afrikaans word
meaning literally ‘apartness’. Apartheid is the name for the discriminatory
political and legal system enforced in South Africa from 1948 to 1994.
The apartheid system allowed the ruling white
minority in South Africa to segregate, exploit and terrorise the vast,
non-white majority, which included Africans and Asians.
In fact, apartheid was racism made law. It
dictated how and where non-white citizens of South Africa would live, work and die. (1)
Human rights abuses
The apartheid system discriminated against the
majority black population in many ways.
Although black South Africans made up 70 percent
of the population, they were restricted to small areas of the country.
The land they were assigned was usually unable
to support the population forced onto it. These areas rarely had plumbing or
electricity.
In areas designated ‘whites only’, black or
‘coloured’ South Africans were not allowed to run businesses. White people had
to be served ahead of any black person already waiting and until the 1980s
blacks were also expected to step off the footpath to make way for any white
pedestrian.
Non-whites were unable to vote except in
elections for ‘coloured’ bodies which had no power. Trains and buses were
designated according to race, with different buses and different stops for
blacks and whites.
Anyone needing emergency medical help had to
identify their race when calling an ambulance – a ‘white’ ambulance would
refuse to take a black person to hospital.
The fall of apartheid
The demise of the apartheid system came about
for many reasons.
There were internal pressures. Blacks fought
against the unjust system through a campaign of resistance, followed by an
armed struggle which began in the 1960s. Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life
in prison during the 1960s for his role as a leader in the campaign against
apartheid.
Foreign pressures were added, mainly in the
shape of sanctions which crippled the South African economy. Christian churches, both within South Africa and around the world, added to the pressure.
South Africa became progressively more isolated, politically
and economically, by the international community. Finally, the National Party
government realised that apartheid could no longer be defended.
On 2 February 1990, the then President F.W. de Klerk gave a famous
speech to Parliament that led to Nelson Mandela's release and the fall of
apartheid.
In April 1994, the first ever democratic
elections took place, and Nelson Mandela became president.
Truth and reconciliation
Apartheid is over, but its consequences remain a
challenge for all South Africans.
Many black South Africans still live in extreme
poverty, with lower incomes and less access to water, work and other basic
rights than the white community. Poverty has contributed to very high rates of
HIV & AIDS infection.
A Truth and Reconciliation Commission was set
up, primarily to investigate human rights abuses under apartheid, such as
politically motivated murders and attacks, and torture and ill-treatment of
prisoners.
While progress has been difficult in many areas,
Nelson Mandela has said that the “memory of a history of division and hate,
injustice and suffering, inhumanity of person against person should inspire us
to celebrate our own demonstration of the capacity of human beings to progress,
to go forward, to improve, to do better”. (2)
Forgiveness
and healing is helping South Africa move
on from the wrongs of the past.
April 1994, Nelson Mandela votes in the first ever
democratic
elections in South Africa
(1)
United Nations (15 September 2004) Human Rights: Historical
images of Apartheid in South Africa [Online] Available at: http://www.un.org/av/photo/subjects/apartheid.htm
(2) United Nations, Human Rights: Historical images of Apartheid in South Africa.
http://www.worldvision.com.au/wvconnect/content.asp?topicID=151
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