After nearly thirty years in prison on trumped up charges, Nelson Mandela was released on February 11, 1990. Mandela was the voice of the oppressed black Africans during the 40s, 50s and 60s. His stint in prison and refusal to back down from his fervent anti-apartheid stance strengthened and supported the hopes of the oppressed. Working with then-president F.W. de Klerk, Mandela helped bring an end to apartheid. South Africa held its first democratic election in 1994.  

  Following the presidential election of Nelson Mandela, there occurred a shift from white- to black-dominated government. Unfortunately, this change has given rise to serious problems. This shift of governmental power has not yet resulted in significant lifestyle changes for most blacks in the country. The white population still primarily controls the economy. Affirmative action programs have not yet positively impacted the average black person. According to recent statistics, unemployment among the black population is 45% nationwide. The national crime rate is up with blacks being the most common victims. These statistics seem as if South Africa has not made any significant changes under this new “democratic government.” 

  In 1993, a temporary Constitution was established while a new, completed Constitution was being drafted. On May 8, 1996, the finalized Constitution of South Africa was ratified. It provides equal rights for all citizens of South Africa, making discrimination of any kind illegal. It broke from the apartheid-based system of government and established democracy as the ruling administration.   The political system of South Africa has made many changes as well. Representatives are still elected, but under the current system of government, the people play a role in the matters directly affecting their own lives. After years of living in the shadow of the Nationalist Party, the African National Congress has become the dominant political party. Kwazulu-Natal, the Inkhata Freedom Party, long an ally of the old South African government, retains local power. There continues to be violence between Inkhata and ANC supporters of President Mandela that has claimed hundreds of lives in the province. Hopefully, the political factions will be able to peacefully settle all disputes and work together towards a peaceful, prosperous South Africa.[From left, President Thabo Mbeki and his former deputy, Jacob Zuma, have been locked in a struggle over the African National Congress party. Caught in their feud are Jackie Selebi, the national police commissioner, and Vusi Pikoli, the chief prosecutor. ]    The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was set up in 1995 to investigate apartheid-era crimes and promote the healing of wounds left by apartheid. The commission has the powers to grant amnesty to those who committed human rights abuses and confess their deeds. Their sense and eagerness to forgive should be an inspiration to Christians worldwide for after all the horrible events that occurred, they are willing to forgive and let the occurrences rest in the past. Although South Africa has made great steps towards recovering from the effects of apartheid, they are a long way from economic and social harmony.

  Each South African day sees an average of 59 murders, 145 rapes and 752 serious assaults out of its 42 million population. The new crime is the rape of babies; some AIDS-infected African men believe that having sex with a virgin is a cure. Twelve percent of South Africa’s population is HIV-positive, but President Mbeki says that HIV cannot cause AIDS.

[president Mbeki]

  In response to growing violence, South Africa’s minister of safety and security, Steve Tshwete, says: “We can’t police this; there’s nothing more we can do. South Africa’s currency, the rand, has fallen about 70 percent since the African National Congress (ANC) came to power in 1994. Emigration from South Africa (mainly of skilled people) is now at its highest level ever.”

   The tragic fact of business is that ordinary Africans were better off under colonialism. Colonial masters never committed anything near the murder and genocide seen under black rule in Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Nigeria, Mozambique, Somalia and other countries, where millions of blacks have been slaughtered in unspeakable ways, which include hacking to death, boiling in oil, setting on fire and dismemberment.

   Kenny says that whites treat blacks like animals. In Africa, when blacks behave badly, Kenny says colonialism, imperialism, apartheid, globalization or multi-nationalism is blamed for not bringing up blacks properly. Liberals saw South Africa’s apartheid and other human-rights abuses as unjust because blacks were suffering at the hands of whites. They hold whites accountable to civilized standards of behaviour. Blacks are not held to civilized standards of behaviour. From the liberal’s point of view, it might even be racist to expect blacks to adhere to civilized standards of behaviour.

  Through most of this century, the African National Congress (ANC) has fought the Nationalist government in hopes of escaping the domination of apartheid, colonialism, racism, and fascism. Their struggle came mainly in the form of peaceful protests. It was not until the 1960’s that an armed struggle began.

[Picture of a "Peaceful Protest"-- http://xenon.stanford.edu/~cale/cs201/apartheid.hist.html]

  In 1961, the ANC and the South African Communist Party formed a people’s army to fight the government. In the 1970’s, the liberation of surrounding countries provided hope for the struggling South Africans. In the 1980’s, the ANC, along with oppressed black South Africans, entered into a complete revolution against the government. This revolution included political and religious struggles, trade activities, women’s campaigns, school boycotts, revolts and military actions. Due to these struggles and the implementation of UN sanctions in 1977, the government of South Africa was significantly weakened, but did not fall. It was not until the late 1980’s and early 1990’s did apartheid come to an end. In 1986, the United States Congress decided to involve itself in the South African on-goings by encouraging peace and supporting negotiations between the South African government, the ANC and their affiliates. The U.S. Congress’ hopes were that a democracy would be established in South Africa. [FW de Klerk and Nelson Mandela"--http://www.fox.co.za/constitution/rights.html] 

  F.W. de Klerk became the president of South Africa in 1989. Instead of supporting apartheid, which was expected, he proclaimed “white domination will have to disappear. Otherwise there will never be peace in South Africa.” In 1990, Nelson Mandela was released from jail, and he quickly gained supporters. His continual determination to end apartheid strengthened the movement even more. As a result, the government repealed the last laws supporting apartheid in 1991, allowing democracy to be ushered into the country slowly but surely. In 1993, de Klerk and Mandela shared the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts in bringing peace to South Africa.   As the result of numerous negotiations, a democratic election occurred in 1994, and it was obvious that Mandela would win. The polls were to be democratic in nature in which every person had the right to vote. This was of great significance because until this time, the apartheid-based government endeavored to deny blacks the right to vote in South Africa. As a result, the Nationalist Party made a last desperate effort to change the outcome of the vote. Their actions led to terrible violence in 1993-1994. Nonetheless, the election was held as planned and Nelson Mandela was elected president of South Africa on 10 May, 1994. A “Temporary” Constitution was instituted while a New Constitution was being drawn up. The new Constitution of South Africa was adopted 8 May, 1996. Thus the democracy of South Africa was completely established.   The end of apartheid was a great victory for blacks after a long struggle for freedom, but the country of South Africa has a long way to go before the depression will end. There is still a massive amount of poverty, malnutrition, disease, and violence. According to the National Congress Health Care Plan of 1994, 18 million people are below the “minimum living level” and almost 11 million are in poverty. It is going to take time for the nation to rid itself of the “bitter taste” of apartheid. Although South Africans are faced with these troubles, they can be optimistic of the rebuilding and renewing of all aspects of life after having been oppressed for so long.

Apartheid was a system of legalized racial segregation enforced by the National Party (NP) South African government between 1948 and 1994. It arose from a longer history of settler rule and Dutch and British colonialism. These colonial relations became policies of separation after South Africa gained self-governance and were expanded and formalised into a system of legitimised racism and white nationalism after 1948. Apartheid was dismantled in a series of negotiations from 1990 to 1993, culminating in elections in 1994, the first in South Africa with universal suffrage, but the legacies of apartheid still shape South African politics and society.Apartheid legislation classified South Africa’s inhabitants and visitors into racial groups. The system of apartheid sparked significant internal resistance.

  The government responded to a series of popular uprisings and protests with police brutality, which in turn increased local support for the armed resistance struggle. In response to popular and political resistance, the apartheid government resorted to detentions without trial, torture, censorship, and the banning of political opposition from organisations such as the African National Congress, the Black Consciousness Movement, the Azanian People’s Organisation, the Pan Africanist Congress, and the United Democratic Front, which were popularly considered liberation movements. Despite suffering extreme repression and exile, these organisations maintained popular support for the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa and forged connections with the international anti-apartheid movement during this period. White South Africa became increasingly militarised, embarking on the border war with the covert support of the USA, and later sending the South African Defence Force into black townships. The anti-apartheid organisations had strong links with other liberation struggles in Africa, and often saw their armed resistance to apartheid as part of the socialist struggle against capitalism.In 1973, an International Convention of the United Nations General Assembly ruled that the system of apartheid amounted to a crime against humanity, and defined the crime of apartheid as “inhuman acts committed for the purpose of establishing and maintaining domination by one racial group of persons over any other racial group of persons and systematically oppressing them.”In South Africa, under apartheid, blacks were stripped of their citizenship, legally becoming citizens of one of ten, theoretically sovereign, bantustans (homelands). The government created the homelands out of the territory of Black Reserves founded during the British Empire period. These reserves were akin to the US India Reservation, Canadian First Nations reserves, or Australian aboriginal reserves. Many Black South Africans, however, never resided in these “homelands”. The homeland system disenfranchised black people residing in “white South Africa” by restricting their voting rights to the black homelands, the least economically-productive areas of the country.

  The government segregated education, medical care, and other public services with inferior standards for blacks. The black education system within “white South Africa”, by design, prepared blacks for lives as a labouring class. There was a deliberate policy in “white South Africa” of making services for black people inferior to those of whites, to try to “encourage” black people to move into the black homelands, hence black people ended up with services inferior to those of whites, and, to a lesser extent, to those of Indians, and ‘coloureds’.