South Africa - Apartheid & Mandela

Nelson Mandela

A South African anti-Apartheid revolutionary who led a violent campaign of resistance and ended up in jail for 28 years after being convicted of sabotage and treason. During that time, he became a hero for Black Africans. He was later released and was elected the first black President of South Africa in 1994 in which all adult voters were allowed to participate.

Population Registration Act (1950)

An Apartheid law that categorized every South African by race, and subsequently required people to carry with them at all times a card stating their racial identity. The law was later modified, by issuing "reference books" instead of identification passes. Anyone caught without their "reference book" was fined or imprisoned.

Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act (1949)

An Apartheid law which outlawed marriage between Europeans and Non-Europeans. The following legislation banned sexual intercourse between Europeans and Non-Europeans.

Desmond Tutu

An anti-apartheid Anglican cleric who convinced foreign nations to limit trade and investment to South Africa, which is why President De Klerk decided to end Apartheid and held free and fair elections.

Reservation of Separate Amenities Act (1953)

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.

Pan-Africanist Congress

Broke away from the ANC in 1958 and initiated its own campaign against Apartheid until it was banned by the government and forced underground along with the ANC.

Water Crisis

Cape Town, South Africa will be the first cosmopolitan city without water by April of this year (2018). The lack of water was caused by drier and hotter weather and the lack of rainfall. Residents are restricted to 50 liters of water per day, only 1/6th of water the average American uses today.

The Dutch

Colonizers of South Africa who established laws and regulations that separated white settlers and native Africans.

South African Students' Organization (SASO)

Formed in the 1960s by students to combat Apartheid. It is today known as the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM).

Democracy, Freedom, Equality

Nelson Mandela's ultimate dream for South Africa

Sharpeville Massacre (1960)

Police open-fired against protestors on March 21, 1960, killing 69 and wounding 180. It was the turning point at which Nelson Mandela decided to fight against Apartheid with violence.

Day Zero

That's the day, when Cape Town says it will be forced to shut off taps to homes and businesses because reservoirs have gotten perilously low—a possibility officials now consider almost inevitable. all will have to live on far less—about 25 liters a day

1994

The historic year in which Apartheid in South Africa was ended and Nelson Mandela was elected South Africa's first black president.

F. W. De Klerk

The last white president of South Africa who, under pressure from the international sanctions, who ended Apartheid and segregation, legalized the ANC, released Mandela and allowed there to be elections in 1994 in which all adult South African voters could participate.

The Group Areas Act (1950)

The law that was the core of Apartheid; 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 1970's would be called homelands.

Apartheid

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 meant "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.

African National Congress (ANC)

The political movement that was founded in 1912 to challenge Apartheid that was banned by the government and forced underground where they began violent campaigns of resistance. It later became the political party of Nelson Mandela and his successors.

D.F. Malan

The prime architect of Apartheid; His 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.

White South Africans

They were given better living conditions by the white government during Apartheid, including the fact that they owned most of the land, earned the most money, had better access to medical care and had better access to education.

Black South Africans

They were segregated by the Apartheid laws and could only live in their designated township, go to their designated public buildings, were forced to carry ID cards, and were given dangerous jobs and where paid less.

The British

Took control of South Africa in 1795 and continued the policies of the Dutch, which led to the channeling of Africans into specific areas that would later constitute their so-called homelands.