South Africa - From Apartheid to democracy

by

 Felix Kaemmerer

Table of Contents

1. Introduction 3

2. South Africa after the foundation of the Union  4

2.1. South Africa in the 1910s  4
2.2. Election of 1924 and the economic crisis  5
2.3. South Africa during World War II  7
2.4. South Africa’s black population 8

3. Apartheid  10

3.1. The elections of 1948  10
3.2. Rigid segregation: the establishment of Petty and Grand Apartheid 10
3.3. Resistance against the Apartheid regime 13
3.4. Homeland Policy 16
3.5. The Black Consciousness Movement 18
3.6. Reforming the Apartheid State  19
3.7. The end of Apartheid in South Africa 20
3.8. South Africa’s first democratic elections  22

4. Conclusion  24

The further development of South Africa 24

5. Appendix  25

1. Introduction

“This is for all South Africans, an unforgettable occasion. It is the realisation of hopes and dreams that we have cherished over decades. The dreams of a South Africa which represents all South Africans. 

It is the beginning of a new era. We have moved from an era of pessimism, division, limited opportunities, turmoil and conflict. 

We are starting a new era of hope, reconciliation and nation building. 

We sincerely hope that by the mere casting of a vote the results will give hope to all South Africans and make all South Africans realise this is our country. We are one nation.”i 

Ten years after Nelson Mandela’s statement after the first democratic elections in South Africa, the nation is going to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the first elections on April 27, 2004. 

I am trying to expound South Africa’s development from the foundation of the Union of South Africa to the elections of 1948 and the establishment and consolidation of the Apartheid regime to the peaceful revolution in the early 1990s in the following.

2. South Africa after the foundation of the Union

2.1. South Africa in the 1910s

After the foundation of the South African Union, politics were mainly determined by British-Afrikaner antagonism, as well as the questions of South African independence and the equality of the Dutch language respectively Afrikaans and English. The first elections after the foundation of the South African Union, in which only white men were allowed to vote, were held in 1910. The elections were won by the South African Party (SAP) under the leadership of Louis Botha, who was, like Hertzog and Smuts, a famous general of the South African War. The SAP was a party which fought for Afrikaner interests, but there were also English-speaking members in the first government.ii The party members tried to create a feeling of unification after the foundation of the South African Union among white South Africans. The outbreak of World War I was perceived, at least by a small proportion of the Afrikaner population, as an opportunity to achieve the Union’s independence from the British Empire. Following an order from London, South African forces invaded German South West Africaiii. They also fought in Northern France and German East Africa, which was later given to South Africa as a consequence of the Treaty of Versailles.

A small group of Afrikaner and their generals who openly rebelled were a challenge to the Administration led by Smuts and Botha, but did not threaten the government to the same extent as did the separation of J.B.M. Hertzog from the South African Party . Hertzog, who was a member of the Union’s first cabinet, decided to resign and formed his own neo-republican National Party since he and Louis Botha had divergent ideas concerning South Africa’s independence. White South African nationalism’s primary aim was to exclude and subordinate people of colour. The difference between the South African nationalism of Hertzog and Afrikaner nationalism was slight, if there was one at all. The establishment of the Natives Land Act of 1913 was the first step towards segregation, and one of the most important and far-reaching laws. The Natives (later Blacks) Land Act clearly divided the country into land of two different categories: African reserves on the one hand, white farming land on the other hand. The coexistence of black and white people was clearly determined. It was prohibited for black people to live outside the areas that were defined by the government as reserves and white people were not allowed to possess or acquire property within the boundaries of the reserves. The Act also included the impossibility of shifting one area into another, but was not accepted by the courts of the Cape Province because it was made impossible for coloured people to acquire land, which was necessary to be allowed to vote.

Even though 70% of the population was black, initially only 7% of the land was given to them. In 1936 this percentage was increased to 13%iv . The Natives Land Act also put an end to a well-established method known as sharecropping, which allowed Blacks to use land of white owners for a compensation except for labour. In 1915, the Union’s second elections took place, in which Hertzog’s National Party took advantage of the unpopularity of Smuts’ decision to enter the war, while the South African Party’s support among the population was on the decline. Four years later, Jan Smuts seized control over the SAP after Louis Botha’s death. In order to preserve power, Smuts fused the SAP and the Unionists, a party mainly supported by South Africans who were loyal to England. However, the Labour Party managed to gain further votes by acting in favour of the white industrial workers of the Witwandersrand. In 1918, the so-called Afrikaner Broederbond was founded; an organisation which remained more or less insignificant until the 1930’s. Its objective was to promote Christian National culture.

The end of World War I coincided with an economic period of recession and later depression. In order to reduce their costs, mining companies decided to replace white workers with those of colour. The steps carried out by the powerful Chamber of Mines engendered anger and protests among white middle class workers and their wives, who saw their jobs and standard of living threatened. This led to a strike in the gold mines in 1922, known as the Rand Revolt. The revolt was crushed by the military forces, killing approximately 150 people and wounding more than 600. The discontent about the harsh actions was directed towards the Unionists who now belonged to Smut’s SAP.

2.2. Election of 1924 and the economic crisis

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ii http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/history/mandela/1994/sp940427.html
ii Hagemann, p. 59
iii Hagemann, p.60