Page 217 - Berkshire Encyclopedia Of World History Vol I - Abraham to Coal

102 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

This Namibia monument is for fallen SWAPO
soldiers who were killed by the South Africans
at the beginning of the independence process
on 1 April 1989.

well as many international organizations. Under the
leadership of Nelson Mandela, the ANC formed a mili-
tary wing in 1961, Umkonto we Sizwe (“Spear of the
Nation”) that resorted to violence in its resistance to
apartheid. In 1963 Mandela and seven others were
arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment.
(Xhosa) were granted “independence” by the govern- The government now banned nearly all opposition
ment, although no other government in the world ever organizations and placed many individuals either in
recognized these “nations.” KwaZulu, KwaNdebele, prison or under house arrest.Verwoerd was assassinated
Lebowa, KaNgwane, Gazankulu, and Qwa Qwa were in 1966, and under his successor, John Vorster (1915–
declared “self-governing” in the 1970s. None of the 1983), some aspects of petty apartheid were relaxed.The
homelands were ever economically viable. They con- government’s decision in 1976 to require mandatory
sisted mostly of poor, eroded land; few had any mineral instruction in Afrikaans in black schools, however,
deposits of note, urban areas, or industry. Families were sparked off riots, first in the black township of Soweto
left dependent on migrant laborers to send home their and then across the country. The following year South
earnings from work in white areas. All of the homelands African police murdered the Black Consciousness leader
were abolished in 1994 and the land reincorporated into Steve Biko (1946–1977). In 1978 P.W. Botha (b. 1916)
the Republic. became prime minister and, while continuing to relax
many apartheid policies, he took a tough stand against
Opposition any opposition to the government. He also began to tin-
Opposition to apartheid began immediately after the ker with the apartheid system, giving coloreds and Asians
1948 elections. Armed with the Suppression of Com- limited political rights. He hoped thereby to co-opt these
munism Act, which, despite its racist policies, earned two groups, appease world opinion, and allow whites to
South Africa support during the Cold War from the remain in power.
United States and Great Britain, the apartheid regime suc- Following Zimbabwe’s independence in 1981, South
cessfully crushed most resistance, however. The leading Africa and Namibia were the only remaining white-ruled
black opposition group was the African National Con- countries in Africa, and tremendous pressures were build-
gress (ANC), whose members included Albert Luthuli ing, both internally and externally, for change. South
(1898–1967; winner of the 1961 Nobel Peace Prize), Africa faced increasingly strict international economic
Walter Sisulu (1912–2003), Oliver Tambo (1917– sanctions, which included U.S. corporations’ divestiture
1993), and Nelson Mandela (b. 1918). In 1955 a Con- of their South African holdings. Internally, the need for
gress of the People adopted a Freedom Charter that more skilled labor led to the lifting of limits on black
called for a multiracial, democratic South Africa; the char- wages and the legalization of black labor unions with the
ter was adopted by the ANC. right to strike.These and other factors required more than
By the early 1960s, as dozens of African nations cosmetic changes to the apartheid system.
gained their independence, South Africa faced increasing
international condemnation. In 1961 South Africa left The End of Apartheid
the British Commonwealth rather than abandon In 1989 F.W. de Klerk (b. 1936) became prime minister
apartheid. In that same year the Dutch Reformed and immediately announced the release of many black
churches of South Africa left the World Council of political prisoners. In February 1990 he declared in Par-
Churches. South Africa also lost its vote in the United liament that apartheid had failed, that the bans on all
Nations and was banned from the Olympic Games as political parties would be lifted, and that Nelson Mandela