Apartheid
In 1948 the National
Party was elected to power, and began implementing a series of harsh
segregationist laws that would become known collectively as apartheid. Not
surprisingly, this segregation also applied to the wealth acquired during
rapid industrialisation of the 1950s, '60s, and
'70s. While the White minority enjoyed the highest standard of living in
all of Africa, often comparable to "First World" western nations,
the Black majority remained disadvantaged by almost every standard,
including income, education, housing, and life expectancy. However, the
average income and life expectancy of a black, Indian or "Coloured" South African compared favourably to most other African states.
Apartheid became
increasingly controversial, leading to widespread sanctions and divestment
abroad and growing unrest and oppression within South Africa. A long period
of harsh suppression by the government, and at times violent resistance,
strikes, marches, protests, and sabotage by bombing and other means, by
various anti-apartheid movements, most notably the African National
Congress (ANC), followed.
Move
to democracy
In 1990 the National
Party government took the first step towards negotiating itself out of
power when it lifted the ban on the African National Congress and other
left-wing political organisations, and released
Nelson Mandela from prison after twenty-seven years' incarceration on a
sabotage sentence. Apartheid legislation was gradually removed and first
multi-racial elections were held in 1994, which the ANC won by an
overwhelming majority. The ANC has been in power ever since.
Despite the end of
apartheid, millions of South Africans, mostly black, continue to live in
poverty. This was at first attributed to the legacy of the apartheid system
but is increasingly now seen as the failure of the current government to
tackle social and economic issues. In the ten years since the ANC
government took power, South Africa's United Nations Human Development
Index has fallen dramatically, while it was steadily rising until the
mid-1990s. Much of this could be attributed to the AIDS pandemic and the
government's failure to take steps to address it.
© 2008
Progressive Initiative. The
Progressive Initiative rejects all forms of discrimination, embraces
democracy and encourages transparent politics. The views expressed in this
site are those of its members.