South Africa's Historical Complexity

987 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Effects of apartheid on the lives of South Africans

South Africa's Historical Complexity

After having studied Cape Town, South Africa for the past months, I have had the opportunity to come face to face with a place whose culture and history outdoes most other places in the world. Their respect for their historical past and their want to preserve it is remarkable. In 1948, the South African government began to limit the freedom of black Africans. In fact, it was at this point in history that the government officially launched a system of apartheid. Given the fact that Cape Town is at the tip of continent of Africa, not only is the climate is very mild, similar to that of San Diego in the United States but it is actually bordered by two Oceans. On the left side of the city the Atlantic Ocean rests, and on the left hand side, the Indian Ocean. The temperatures between the two differ noticeable and this is even more shocking to believe because the distance between both coasts is within 5 driving minutes.

As a result of this new system, under the leadership of Albert Lutuli and Johannesburg law partners Oliver Tambo and Nelson Mandela, the African National Congress organized a passive resistance campaign against the apartheid and issued the Freedom Charter. The government suppressed the movement and began to arrest the ANC leaders. In 1959 the parliament passed new laws extending racial segregation by creating separate homelands for South Africa ’s major black groups. With that being said, as a consequence, the two different Ocean coast catered to two different crowds. The Atlantic Ocean coast, with its perfect weather, beautifully white sandy beaches and sky blue water was available only to the white people. On the Indian Ocean side, even though the water was warmer, the bea...

... middle of paper ...

...ica as a whole, we have been able to see the effects of change. The country has seen its share of troubles and yet they have come back on track and have improved as a country. What was once a racist divide within beaches has now become a safe haven for all people. And so in this case, climate and society work hand in hand. There was a time where the temperature of the air dictated who attended which beach. It is nice to see how time has the power to change all things and that despite the plateau of the weather in Cape Town, things change around it and set new perimeters with it.

Websites

The Weather Underground

The Official Cape Town Website

References

http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~cale/cs201/apartheid.hist.html

http://vlib.iue.it/history/africa/south_africa.html

http://www.fyvie.net/photos/Travel/South%20Africa%20July%202004/content.html

Show More
Related

  • Effects Of Imperialism In South Africa

    1179 Words  | 3 Pages

    South Africa was positively affected in the way that before the Dutch and British, South Africa had been split up into many different tribes, who though they were free were not united. Through the centuries of hardship South Africa came out of apartheid very strong and the ANC has maintained a popularity of 60% popularity for all the elections since 1994. Economically South Africa has blossomed and is the 2nd largest economy in all of Africa and has managed to triple its GDP even though it has been less than 30 years since it has left apartheid, established democracy and freed itself from many international sanctions. South Africa’s economy still has many issues though for it is still an underdeveloped country which suffers from lack of education, employment, and crime. Socially South Africa remains strong as it is united under one goal of making its nation once again great, and it has maintained its heritage and culture. In fact, a quick look at a South African site will show many articles and memorials, of days in the past remembering the struggle for freedom. Politically, South Africa has remained strong and united with the ANC still carrying the vast majority of the votes and uses a governmental system quite similar to ours with a separation of powers and a thriving democratic system. Luckily, political diversity has also started to appear with many other groups appearing making the most out of South Africa’s democracy and all of which pledge freedom and are led by native

    Read More

  • The Two Societies of Africa

    677 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, something is always contrasted against something else. Within the title itself, the contrast of light and dark is made. Throughout the book, the contrast is made between good and evil, between the pilgrims and the cannibals that Marlow encounters. Using the ironic opposition of the pilgrims and the cannibals will present a way into a post-colonial analysis of the book.

    Read More

  • The Establishment of Apartheid

    857 Words  | 2 Pages

    Apartheid was a system of separation of the races both politically and socially in South Africa in the second half of the twentieth century. This system was said to be one of the last examples of institutionalized racism, and has been almost universally criticized. These Apartheid rules and restrictions were put in place by the National Party which had power over South Africa during this time period. The purpose of Apartheid legislation was to bring the Afrikaner ethnic group to a higher power in South Africa, and accomplished just that. The Afrikaner group was made up of descendants from Dutch colonists who settled in South Africa in order to make a refreshment station, a sort of rest stop, for the Dutch East India Company. The longer people stayed in Africa, the more they started to associate with it as their home. With the enslavement of many Africans, it is easy to see how these Afrikaners would associate themselves as above them and would feel entitled to power over them. This entitlement it how Apartheid rules were born.

    Read More

  • Apartheid In South Africa

    1362 Words  | 3 Pages

    For nearly forty-six years whites ruled South Africa with licit supremacy under Apartheid laws. With roots in its history, the segregation of races reigned from its colonization by the Dutch to the late 1900's when it was weakened by social unrest and financial burden, and finally abolished by Nelson Mandela. The impact of apartheid stood after apartheid's abolition, as non-whites still had unresolved feelings towards those who supported apartheid, but with Mandela's election and the renouncement of apartheid laws, the country could move forward toward creating a "rainbow nation."

    Read More

  • The Abolition Of Slavery Act

    704 Words  | 2 Pages

    Slavery was a barbaric practise but as forbidding as it was, it is a testimony of the resilience of the spirit of the slaves which is why more than three hundred years later, we still honour their contributions to Cape Town

    Read More

  • An Active Role in Shaping History

    1591 Words  | 4 Pages

    Political developments and endeavors throughout the second half of the twentieth century by the African and African-descended were mainly for the purpose of instigating change. Gomez discussed the political upheaval that occurred in Europe and Africa through the fight for independence by the mainly British and French colonies. Although some of the transitions were peaceful, many led to violence and war like with Algeria. Aimé Césaire elucidated many reasons and horrendous effects of colonialism on the Africans in his Discourse on Colonialism, but he pointed out that the overarching reason that the Africans wanted and needed change was because of the dehumanizing effect it had on both the colonizers and the colonists. The New York Times further disclosed the political developments that occurred in South Africa through Nelson Mandela on his quest to eradicate the divide between white privileged minority and the i...

    Read More

  • An Outline for a Speech on The Life of Nelson Mandela

    697 Words  | 2 Pages

    Nelson Mandela’s commitment to politics and the ANC grew stronger after the 1948 election victory of the Afrikaner dominated National Party, which formed a formal system of racial classification and segregation “apartheid” which restricted non whites basic rights and barred them from government.

    Read More

  • The Battle Against Apartheid

    1012 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... that Mandela had abandoned his commitment because of who he was and the way he stress and preached non-violence. Despite this, both demonstrators were abused emotionally and physically, but still managed to improve the laws and mentality towards the black South African race in a peaceful way that is recognized today.

    Read More

  • Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods

    1696 Words  | 4 Pages

    Coster, P., & Woolf, A. (Eds.).(2011). World book: South Africa’s Anti-Apartheid Movement, (pp. 56-57). Arcturus Publishers: Chicago.

    Read More

  • The Legacy of Apartheid in South Africa

    1631 Words  | 4 Pages

    Bureau of African Affairs. (2011). Background Note: South Africa. Retrieved March 28, 2011, from http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2898.html

    Read More

  • South African Apartheid

    1513 Words  | 4 Pages

    Apartheid consisted of a set of unequal laws that favored the whites (“History of South Africa in the apartheid era”). The Race Classification Act, which divided everyone into four race groups, whites, blacks, coloreds, and Indians were the first of many major laws (Evans, 8). Hundreds of thousands of black South Africans were forced to leave their homes and move into special reservations called “homelands” or Bantustans that were set up for them (Evans, 8). There were twenty-three million blacks and they were divided into nine tribal groups, Zulu, Xhosa, Tswana, North and South Sotho, Venda, Tsonga, Swansi, and South Ndebele, and each group were moved into a separate homeland (Evans, 8). Another major law was the Groups Area Act, which secluded the twenty-three million blacks to 14 percent of land, leaving 86 percent of the land for the 4.8 million (Evans, 9). Under apartheid laws a minority ...

    Read More

  • The Soweto Uprising of 1976 an education Related Outcry by Students

    1250 Words  | 3 Pages

    A system of legal separation amongst races dominated the Republic of South Africa, namely apartheid between 1948 until 1993. Apartheid led to the separation and discrimination between whites against people of colour. Not only was this racism commonly accepted between whites against blacks, but it was also legally enforced as white’s maintained priority in terms of housing, education, political power and jobs. I will be examining a particular event, The Soweto Uprising of 1976 which was an education related outcry by students. This event carries with it a great deal of importance as it was a very powerful thing to impact South Africa and help in the deconstruction of the Apartheid government.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Apartheid In J. M. Coetzee's Disgrace

    995 Words  | 2 Pages

    Old South Africa is best described by Mark Uhlig, “The seeds of such violent conflict in South Africa were sown more than 300 years ago, with the first meetings of white settlers and indigenous black tribes in an unequal relationship that was destined one day to become unsustainable” (116).

    Read More

  • The South African Educational System

    1900 Words  | 4 Pages

    The apartheid was a very traumatic time for blacks in South Africa. Apartheid is the act of literally separating the races, whites and non-whites, and in 1948 the apartheid was now legal, and government enforced. The South African police began forcing relocations for black South Africans into tribal lines, which decreased their political influence and created white supremacy. After relocating the black South Africans, this gave whites around eighty percent of the land within South Africa. Jonathan Jansen, and Nick Taylor state “The population is roughly 78 percent black, 10 percent white, 9 percent colored, and l...

    Read More

  • City Johannesburg Reflections And Interrogation

    1200 Words  | 3 Pages

    In this essay I will be discussing how Johannesburg has shaped me; in relation to the theme of danger and opportunity. Johannesburg has made me alert, because I do not feel safe when I walk around Johannesburg. I also feel like I am vulnerable to crime. It has also made me not to trust people because Johannesburg is a place where people seek opportunities and success. They come to the city with the mentality that they will do anything to get to the top or succeed. This has made me perceive Johannesburg as a pitiless and fearful space. I will be proving this by comparing my experiences to the following texts, Welcome to our Hillbrow, City Johannesburg and Yesterday. I have chosen to use these texts because they portray the danger and the opportunities in Johannesburg.

    Read More

More about South Africa's Historical Complexity

Open Document