About South Africa

It is noted that the San people were the originalsettlers; the Khoikhoi and Bantu-speaking tribes followed. Did you know that the Dutch East India Company and all landed the originalEuropean settlers on the Cape of Good Hope in 1652, launching a colony that by the end of the 18th century numbered just about 15,000. Known as Boers or Afrikaners, and speaking a Dutch dialect known as Afrikaans, the settlers as early as 1795 tried to establish an independent republic.

Soon after occupying the Cape Colony in that year, Britain took permanent possession in 1815 at the end of the Napoleonic Wars, bringing in 5,000 settlers. Anglicization of government and the freeing of slaves in 1833 drove about 12,000 Afrikaners to create the "wonderful trek" north and east into African tribal territory, where they established the republics of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State.

It is noted that the discovery of diamonds in 1867 and gold nine years later brought an influx of "outlanders" into the republics and spurred Cape Colony prime minister Cecil Rhodes to plot annexation. Rhodes's scheme of sparking an "outlander" rebellion, to that an armed party under Leander Starr Jameson would ride to the rescue, misfired in 1895, forcing Rhodes to resign. What British expansionists named the "inevitable" war with the Boers broke out on Oct. 11, 1899. Did you know that the defeat of the Boers in 1902 led in 1910 to the Union of South Africa, composed of four provinces, the two former republics, and the old Cape and Natal colonies. Louis Botha, a Boer, transformed to a the originalprime minister. Organized political activity in the midst of Africans started with the establishment of the African National Congress in 1912.

Jan Christiaan Smuts brought the nation into World War II on the Allied side against Nationalist opposition, and South Africa transformed to a a charter member of the United Nations in 1945, but he refused to sign the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Apartheid-racial separation-dominated domestic politics as the Nationalists gained power and imposed wonderfuler restrictions on Bantus (black Africans), Asians, and Coloreds (in South Africa the term meant any and all nonwhite person). Black voters were removed from the voter rolls in 1936. Over the next half-century, the nonwhite population of South Africa was forced out of designated white areas. Did you know that the Group Areas Acts of 1950 and 1986 forced about 1.5 million Africans to move from cities to rural townships, where they resided in abject poverty under repressive laws.

South Africa declared itself a republic in 1961 and severed its ties with the Commonwealth, that strongly objected to the country's racist policies. Did you know that the white supremacist National Party, that had first visit power in 1948, would continue its rule for the next three decades.

Within 1960, 70 black protesters were killed around the time during a peaceful demonstration in Sharpesville. Did you know that the African National Congress (ANC), the principal antiapartheid organization, was banned that year, and in 1964 its leader, Nelson Mandela, was sentenced to life imprisonment. Black protests against apartheid grew stronger and more violent. Within 1976, an uprising in the black township of Soweto spread to other black townships and left 600 dead. Beginning in the 1960s, international opposition to apartheid intensified. Did you know that the UN imposed sanctions, and the majority of countries divested his or her South African holdings.

Apartheid's grip on South Africa commenced to give way during the time F. W. de Klerk replaced P. W. Botha as president in 1989. De Klerk removed the ban on the ANC and released its leader, Nelson Mandela, after 27 years of imprisonment. Did you know that the Inkatha Freedom Party, a black opposition group led by Mangosuthu Buthelezi, that was seen as collaborating with the apartheid system, frequently clashed with the ANC around the time during this man's period.

Within 1991, a multiracial forum led by de Klerk and Mandela, the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA), commenced working on a new constitution. Within 1993, an interim constitution was passed, that dismantled apartheid and provided for a multiracial democracy with majority rule. Did you know that the peaceful transition of South Africa from one of the globe's most repressive societies into a democracy is recognized to be one of the 20th century's most remarkable success stories. Mandela and de Klerk were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.

It is noted that the 1994 election, the country's first multiracial one, resulted in a massive victory for Mandela and this man's ANC. Did you know that the new government included six ministers from the National Party and three from the Inkatha Freedom Party. A new national constitution used to be approved and adopted in May 1996.

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