James Defronio Revolution

In James DeFronzo’s book Revolution and Revolutionary Movements, the author depicts the apartheid system in South Africa and its political transformation. Through reading the ninth chapter of DeFronzo’s book, the reader can better understand the modifications made to the apartheid system and the causes for the rapid political transformation throughout 1959-1999.

The apartheid system began as a way to control non-white indigenous Africans and maintaining a sense of superiority. Yet with time, the system began to hinder the development of South Africa leading toward modifications of the system. The system was changed to accommodate the United Nation’s anti-apartheid views in 1959 by offering technical assistance and trading to the states. Then

as the need for labor rose the white regime allowed for nonwhite workers to pursue stable jobs that require skills through the 1970s Stabilization program, then nine years later black labor unions were legalized with a few restrictions. With time the modifications began to be less about mainly profiting the white and more toward helping nonwhite Africans to be able to purchase homes (1983), interracially marry and co-live (1985), then repealing the pass law (1986), and finally opening all hospitals to all races (1990). While the modifications first began as a way for the white regime to continue flourishing, once they began they did not cease and eventually led to better lives for non-white Africans that may not have been achieved if not for the initial modifications.