Apartheid, the system against which the tireless Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the moral conscience of South Africa, who died this Sunday at the age of 90, was a political regime of racial segregationism that lasted for nearly half a century and ended in 1991.
– Racial separation –
Ignoring the black majority, contemporary South Africa was born “among whites” in 1910, the result of the union of British settlers and the “Afrikaners”, or Boers, of Dutch origin
Apartheid, or “development separate from the races” in Afrikaner, systematized, from 1948 onwards, the segregation practiced since the 17th century by the first Dutch settlers.
Established by the National Party (PN), which dominated the country’s political life from 1948 to 1994, this system rested on three pillars: the law on population classification; the law of separate housing; and the law over the land.
The inhabitants were classified, since their birth, in four categories: white, black, mestizo and Indian.
In everyday life, there were signs to book buses, restaurants, ticket offices and even beaches for the white population. Mixed marriages and interracial sex were prohibited. Blacks had access to lower quality education and health.
Almost all territory (87%) was reserved for whites. About 3.5 million people were forcibly evicted, and blacks relegated to “townships”, dormitory towns, and “bantoustans”, ethnic reserves.
Until 1986, blacks were required to travel with an identity card that told them where they were allowed to go, otherwise risking imprisonment or paying fines.
– Resistance –
The establishment of apartheid provoked resistance. The African National Congress (ANC) party first adopted non-violent methods such as strikes, boycotts and civil disobedience campaigns.
In 1960, police opened fire on protesters in Sharpeville and killed 69 blacks. The ANC and the Communist Party were banned, and the government established a state of emergency.
Born in hiding, the CNA opted for armed struggle. In 1964, its then leader, Nelson Mandela, was sentenced to life in prison for sabotage. In 1977, Black Consciousness Movement founder Steve Biko died in prison after being beaten by police. It has become a worldwide symbol of the struggle against apartheid.
International sanctions against South Africa were piling up: exclusion from the Olympic Games, expulsion from UN bodies, arms embargo. Several world stars took a stand against the regime at a big show at Wembley Stadium (London) in 1990.
– The first free elections –
In February 1990, President Frederik de Klerk, who had been in power for five months, surprised everyone by legalizing black opposition. Nelson Mandela was released on February 11 after spending 27 years in prison. A year and a half later, apartheid was abolished.
The democratic transition was laborious. The process was interrupted by anti-change people within the white security services and the bloody rivalry between ANC and Zulu Inkhata (IFP) militants.
Pressure was also exerted by white extremists (especially the Afrikaner Resistance Movement) and black extremists (the Africanists of the Azânia People’s Liberation Army) who carried out attacks.
In April 1993, the country approached civil war when a far-right white activist assassinated Chris Hani, general secretary of the Communist Party, an ally of the ANC.
In April 1994, South Africa organized the first multiracial elections and turned the page on apartheid.
“Finally free,” Nelson Mandela said when he was elected president.
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