After a little over a week in South Africa, one of the major trends I have observed is remaining aspects of the apartheid days still prominent in the nation’s culture. First and foremost, there are many physical structures that harken back to the days of apartheid. Additionally, as a white male, many of these trends are displayed through a sort of “racial deference” where I experience certain preferential treatment due to the color of my skin. One of the primary examples of this is in the way I am treated in just about any interaction with a black or colored individual. On the whole, there is a tone of deference, where I am always addressed as “sir” and treated incredibly well. As a white male, this is how I experience South Africa. In fact, I have noticed a distinct difference between my interactions with black South Africans and white South Africans. I am curious about how this experience compares to the experience of a black male or woman within the country.
A final way in which the nation’s history regarding apartheid is on display is in the problems that still exist within the nation. Though apartheid has fallen, in talking with South Africans and through qualitative data it is apparent that themes existent during the apartheid era still exist within the country. The government is still incredibly corrupt and often makes decisions that are not in its people’s best interest. The economy is very weak and the currency undervalued, especially on the world market. The areas of the cities (Cape Town) also remain extremely segregated. Even as apartheid has been abolished, the demographics and the areas where they reside still remain. There is no doubt there are still “black areas” and “white areas”, just as there were (by law) during apartheid.
For my group’s particular focus on sports and communications within the nation, it is no surprise that sports remain unofficially segregated, with rugby and cricket generally considered “white sports” and soccer still considered a “black sport”, echoing the trends of the apartheid days. Reflecting on all of this, the physical evidence, racial deference in social situations, and through cultural issues within the nation, it is clear that South Africa’s history with apartheid still has a profound impact on the current situation of the nation. It is no surprise that the country is in its current state, given a history that is long and eventful (as exhibited by the timeline below).
South Africa Timeline (From Class Readings)
4th century – Bantu speaking groups settle, joining the indigenous San and Khoikhoi people.
1480s – Portuguese navigator Bartholomeu Dias is the first European to travel round the southern tip of Africa.
1497 – Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama lands on Natal coast.
1652 – Jan van Riebeeck, representing the Dutch East India Company, founds the Cape Colony at Table Bay.
1795 – British forces seize Cape Colony from the Netherlands. Territory is returned to the Dutch in 1803; ceded to the British in 1806.
1816-1826 – Shaka Zulu founds and expands the Zulu empire, creates a formidable fighting force.
1835-1840 – Boers leave Cape Colony in the ‘Great Trek’ and found the Orange Free State and the Transvaal.
1852 – British grant limited self-government to the Transvaal.
1856 – Natal separates from the Cape Colony.
Late 1850s – Boers proclaim the Transvaal a republic.
1867 – Diamonds discovered at Kimberley.
1877 – Britain annexes the Transvaal.
1879 – British defeat the Zulus in Natal.
1880-81 – Boers rebel against the British, sparking the first Anglo-Boer War. Conflict ends with a negotiated peace. Transvaal is restored as a republic.
Mid 1880s – Gold is discovered in the Transvaal, triggering the gold rush.
1899 – British troops gather on the Transvaal border and ignore an ultimatum to disperse. The second Anglo-Boer War begins.
1902 – Treaty of Vereeniging ends the second Anglo-Boer War. The Transvaal and Orange Free State are made self-governing colonies of the British Empire.
1910 – Formation of Union of South Africa by former British colonies of the Cape and Natal, and the Boer republics of Transvaal, and Orange Free State.
1912 – Native National Congress founded, later renamed the African National Congress (ANC).
1913 – Land Act introduced to prevent blacks, except those living in Cape Province, from buying land outside reserves.
1914 – National Party founded.
1918 – Secret Broederbond (brotherhood) established to advance the Afrikaner cause.
1919 – South West Africa (Namibia) comes under South African administration.
Apartheid set in law
1948 – Policy of apartheid (separateness) adopted when National Party (NP) takes power.
1950 – Population classified by race. Group Areas Act passed to segregate blacks and whites. Communist Party banned. ANC responds with campaign of civil disobedience, led by Nelson Mandela.
1960 – Seventy black demonstrators killed at Sharpeville. ANC banned.
1961 – South Africa declared a republic, leaves the Commonwealth. Mandela heads ANC’s new military wing, which launches sabotage campaign.
1960s – International pressure against government begins, South Africa excluded from Olympic Games.
1964 – ANC leader Nelson Mandela sentenced to life imprisonment.
1966 September – Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd assassinated.
1970s – More than 3 million people forcibly resettled in black ‘homelands’.
1976 – More than 600 killed in clashes between black protesters and security forces during uprising which starts in Soweto.
1984-89 – Township revolt, state of emergency.
1989 – FW de Klerk replaces PW Botha as president, meets Mandela. Public facilities desegregated. Many ANC activists freed.
1990 – ANC unbanned, Mandela released after 27 years in prison. Namibia becomes independent.
1991 – Start of multi-party talks. De Klerk repeals remaining apartheid laws, international sanctions lifted. Major fighting between ANC and Zulu Inkatha movement.
1993 – Agreement on interim constitution.
1994 April – ANC wins first non-racial elections. Mandela become president, Government of National Unity formed, Commonwealth membership restored, remaining sanctions lifted. South Africa takes seat in UN General Assembly after 20-year absence.
Seeking truth
1996 – Truth and Reconciliation Commission chaired by Archbishop Desmond Tutu begins hearings on human rights crimes committed by former government and liberation movements during apartheid era.
1996 – Parliament adopts new constitution. National Party withdraws from coalition, saying it is being ignored.
1998 – Truth and Reconciliation Commission report brands apartheid a crime against humanity and finds the ANC accountable for human rights abuses.
1999 – ANC wins general elections, Thabo Mbeki takes over as president.
2000 December – ANC prevails in local elections. Recently-formed Democratic Alliance captures nearly a quarter of the votes. The Inkatha Freedom Party wins 9%.
2001 April – 39 multi-national pharmaceutical companies halt a legal battle to stop South Africa importing generic Aids drugs. The decision is hailed as a victory for the world’s poorest countries in their efforts to import cheaper drugs to combat the virus.
2001 May – An official panel considers allegations of corruption surrounding a 1999 arms deal involving British, French, German, Italian, Swedish and South African firms. In November the panel clears the government of unlawful conduct.
2001 September – Durban hosts UN race conference.
2001 December – High Court rules that pregnant women must be given Aids drugs to help prevent transmission of the virus to their babies.
2002 April – Court acquits Dr Wouter Basson – dubbed “Dr Death” – who ran apartheid-era germ warfare programme. Basson had faced charges of murder and conspiracy. ANC condemns verdict.
2002 July – Constitutional court orders government to provide key anti-Aids drug at all public hospitals. Government had argued drug was too costly.
2002 October – Bomb explosions in Soweto and a blast near Pretoria are thought to be the work of right-wing extremists. Separately, police charge 17 right-wingers with plotting against the state. 2003 May – Walter Sisulu, a key figure in the anti-apartheid struggle, dies aged 91. Thousands gather to pay their last respects.
2003 November – Government approves major programme to treat and tackle HIV/Aids. It envisages network of drug-distributon centres and preventative programmes. Cabinet had previously refused to provide anti-Aids medicine via public health system.
2004 April – Ruling ANC wins landslide election victory, gaining nearly 70% of votes. Thabo Mbeki begins a second term as president. Inkatha Freedom Party leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi is dropped from the cabinet.
2005 March – Investigators exhume the first bodies in a Truth and Reconciliation Commission investigation into the fates of hundreds of people who disappeared in the apartheid era.
2005 May – Geographical names committee recommends that the culture minister should approve a name change for the capital from Pretoria to Tshwane.
Zuma sacked
2005 June – President Mbeki sacks his deputy, Jacob Zuma, in the aftermath of a corruption case.
2005 August – Around 100,000 gold miners strike over pay, bringing the industry to a standstill.
2006 May – Former deputy president Jacob Zuma is acquitted of rape charges by the High Court in Johannesburg. He is reinstated as deputy leader of the governing African National Congress.
2006 June – Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visits and promises to limit clothing exports to help South Africa’s ailing textile industry.
2006 September – Corruption charges against former deputy president Zuma are dismissed, boosting his bid for the presidency.
2006 December – South Africa becomes the first African country, and the fifth in the world, to allow same-sex unions.
2007 April – President Mbeki, often accused of turning a blind eye to crime, urges South Africans to join forces to bring rapists, drug dealers and corrupt officials to justice.
2007 May – Cape Town mayor Helen Zille is elected as new leader of the main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA).
2007 June – Hundreds of thousands of public-sector workers take part in the biggest strike since the end of apartheid. The strike lasts for four weeks and causes widespread disruption to schools, hospitals and public transport.
2007 December – Zuma is elected chairman of the ANC. Prosecutors bring new corruption charges against him.
2008 – Zuma is elected President of South Africa
