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The End of Apartheid in South Africa

Mar 15, 2025

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Lecture Notes: The End of Apartheid in South Africa

Key Historical Context

  • April 27, 1994: Nelson Mandela votes in the first free and democratic elections in South Africa, marking the official end of racial oppression and apartheid.
  • Apartheid: Derived from Afrikaans, meaning "apartness," a system of lawful racial segregation.

Origins and Implementation of Apartheid

  • 1948: Afrikaner National Party implements apartheid, intensifying existing racial segregation.
  • 1913 Natives Land Act: Limited black African land ownership to 7% and restricted land occupation.
  • Apartheid extended segregational practices with numerous race laws affecting daily life, such as where non-whites could live, work, and study.
  • Interracial relationships and marriages: Illegal under apartheid.

Segregation and Racial Classification

  • The Race Classification Act placed individuals into four categories: White, Indian, Coloured (mixed descent), and Black.
  • Pencil Test: Pseudoscientific test to classify race based on hair texture.
  • Black South Africans required to carry "passbooks."

Resistance to Apartheid

  • Key Figures: Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo, Walter Sisulu, Ahmed Kathrada.
  • 1952 Defiance Campaign: Encouraged breaking apartheid laws; involved using white facilities and entering white areas.
  • Public Safety Act and Criminal Law Amendment Act (1953): Imposed severe penalties for anti-apartheid protests.

Significant Events

  • Sharpeville Massacre (March 21, 1960): Police fire on protestors against passbooks, killing nearly 70 and wounding 180.
  • State of Emergency Declared: Opposition parties, including ANC, banned.
  • Rivonia Trials (1964): Mandela and other resistance leaders sentenced to life imprisonment.

International and Domestic Pressure

  • Global Movement: Calls for divestment and boycott of South Africa increased.
  • Soviet Union Collapse: Created global shifts.
  • Negotiations began between ANC and National Party.

Dismantling of Apartheid

  • 1990: Mandela released from prison at age 71.
  • 1994 Elections: ANC wins 62% of vote; Mandela becomes president.
  • Mandela's Promise: "Never again shall it be that this beautiful land will entertain the oppression of one another."

Conclusion

  • South Africa regained control and abolished apartheid by 1994.

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