South+Africa+-+Nicole+Dowalo

= The Debrief on Apartheid =

**Apartheid** was the policy of the National Party in South Africa, and began in the 1950's. The National Party was also made up of only white people, and ran an election in which only white people were allowed to vote. This is the segregation of South Africa. The word Apartheid is also the african word for "apartness." The people were split up into four groups - The Bantu (Blacks), Coloured (People with mixed races), Whites, and Asian (Indian and Pakistani People). Each were given their own land, and it was forbidden to live, work, or own land of another race, and you needed a pass in order to travel on another race's land. Each race was restricted to certain jobs, and social places were segregated, and most social laws forbade contact between races.

//**"**// //**I have seen very few countries in the world that have such inadequate educational conditions. I was shocked at what I saw in some of the rural areas and homelands. Education is of fundamental importance. There is no social, political, or economic problem you can solve without adequate education.**// //**"**//  Robert McNamara

South Africa and Apartheid During World War II, the South African National was brought onto the Allied side, this causing the Nation to become a part of the United Nations in 1945. However, the leader of South Africa at the time - Jan Christiaan Smuts - refused to sign the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, thus creating Apartheid. Black voters were already moved from the polls in 1936, and things continued to go downhill after this. Over the three decades, the National Party continued to rule, and nonwhites will be forced to move into nonwhite communities, and lived in poverty. In 1960, 70 peaceful protesters were killed. The ANC (African National Congress) - which was the main apartheid protest organization, along with the rival to the National Party - was banned, and its leader - **Nelson Mandela** - was sentenced to life imprisonment. Along with this, black protests became increasingly violent, and stronger. As an example, in 1976, a protest in the black community of Soweto left 600 dead. Thankfully though, the hold apartheid had on South Africa began to slip away in 1989, when F. W. de Klerk became president. He removed the ban on the ANC and released Nelson Mandela from prison, after 27 years of imprisonment.

Nelson Mandela Nelson was the leader of the ANC, and strongly opposed violence, until a massacre of black people in 1962, in which he began to advocate acts of sabotage against the government. That same year, he began his twenty-seven year life sentence. During his imprisonment, he became the symbol for the movement, and despite many attempts by government officials - he could be released as long as he renounced his violence - he remained imprisoned. In 1993, he was given the Nobel Peace Prize, along side F. W. de Klerk - South Africa's last white president. Together they brought a non-racial government to South Africa, and ended apartheid. Three years after his realese, he was voted the first black president of South Africa, in a poll which all races were allowed to vote. His government was known for how well they treated the whites of the nation. He married for a third time in 1998, and is now retired from the presidency since 1999.

South Africa Today
 * Jacob Zuma** has since then replaced **Kgalema Motlanthe** and **Thabo Mbeki** - who replaced Mandela. Three presidents were leaders of the ANC - excluding Motlanthe, who was a labor leader- and won with a high majority of the vote. Thabo - in his first term - had the skyrocketing crime rate, and HIV epidemic to deal with, but appeared to have delt with it poorly, saying AIDS and HIV were not connected. The ANC ousted him, and called in Jacob Zuma - which caused problems for Zuma had been accused of rape and bribery, but was later cleared just before Mbeki stepped down from the presidency. Though the steping down led to discord in the ANC, do to Mbeki and Zuma's infighting. Parliament then elected Kgalema Motlanthe. On his first day, he invited the modern medicine for AIDS and HIV into the nation, which Mbeki had failed to do. Zuma was again persacuted for the same charges, but they were again dropped only two weeks before elections, the same elections in which Zuma was elected president. Zuma is still president today.

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