30 years of freedom: How South Africa tore apart the shackles of apartheid

With 21-gun salutes and hundreds of multi-coloured flags waving, South Africa marked 30 years since the end of the draconian apartheid regime and the birth of its democracy. The country’s current president Cyril Ramaphosa presided over a grand ceremony to commemorate the historic day.

However, the celebration of the momentous anniversary was conducted amid growing discontent with the current administration. Addressing a crowd at the gardens of the government buildings in Pretoria, Ramaphosa spoke as the leader of the African National Congress (ANC) party.

The ANC which is widely credited for liberating blacks in the country has been in power ever since the first democratic, all-race election of 27 April 1994, the vote that officially ended apartheid. However, this Freedom Day fell against the backdrop of the fading popularity of the ANC.

For the first time since 1994, recent polls are indicating that the party have a chance to lose the upcoming elections which are scheduled to take place next month.

“Few days in the life of our nation can compare to that day when freedom was born,” Ramaphosa said in a speech centred on the nostalgia of 1994 when black people were allowed to vote for the first time in the country’s history.

“South Africa changed forever. It signalled a new chapter in the history of our nation, a moment that resonated across Africa and across the world. On that day, the dignity of all the people of South Africa was restored," the South African president furthered.

Before we understand how South Africa broke out of the shackles of the apartheid regime, it is important to understand the concept of apartheid that was in practice in the country.

What was apartheid? 

To put things in a concise manner, in 1948, the Afrikaner National Party (NP) government which was in power at that time, formally codified apartheid as government policy in South Africa. The word “apartheid” was translated from Afrikaans – a language first spoken by Dutch and German settlers.

The literal translation meant “apart-hood” or “separateness”.  The concept embodied the ways of ruling in which minorities sought to separate themselves from the black or non-white majority, socially, politically and even spatially.

The policy divided the country’s populations into different categories – White, Coloured (multiracial), Indian, and Black. These groups had to live separately and while they were living in the same country, it was next to impossible for one group to mix with another.

The separation also led to the gross prevalence of inequality among different strata of the societies. The rules were particularly worse for the black section of the population. Not only they were relegated to the bottom, but there were laws that limited their movements and restricted them to only a small section of land with little to no amenities.

Meanwhile, the whites in the country continued to enjoy the rich resources Africa had to offer. They kept the lion’s share of land, resources and amenities for themselves. This unequal treatment among different sections of the population contributed to the growing resentment among the coloured section of the population which was in the majority.

How did apartheid come to an end?

If we have to understand how the policy of apartheid came to an end one can focus on the following three factors.

• The growth of the resistance movement 

In the 1950s, shortly after apartheid was codified into law, Black South Africans across the country resisted the arbitrary policy. The biggest challenge to NP’s supremacy was three political groups that were leading the popular resistance against the regime: The Communist Party (which was immediately banned in 1950 in the backdrop of the Cold War), the African National Congress (ANC) and a splinter group named Pan-Africanist Congress.

As the political struggle continued to intensify the ruling regime banned all three political groups. ANC in particular launched a Defiance Campaign in which the black South Africans broke the apartheid law by entering white areas, using white facilities and refusing to carry “passes”— domestic passports the government used to restrict the movements of coloured people in their own country.

As a result of this, the government banned the ANC in 1960 and arrested its prominent leader Nelson Mandela in August 1962. This led to a rise in resentment among black Africans and the arrest of Mandela also inspired many black students to protest against the ruling regime. However, these demonstrations were brutally and violently countered by the government and law enforcement agencies.

• The Soweto shooting 

One of the biggest incidents when the world became aware of the dark side of apartheid was in 1976 when thousands of black children in the Soweto township held massive demonstrations. These students took to the streets and protested against the government policy mandating that all classes be taught in Afrikaans.

The country’s police responded to the protests with violence, killing at least 176 people and injuring 1,000 more. The massacre immediately drew global attention with activists all around the world calling for the end of the apartheid regime.

Campaigns for economic sanctions against South Africa gained steam in the 1980s. However, then-US President Ronald Regan and UK PM Margaret Thatcher both resisted these calls. Both Reagan and Thatcher condemned Mandela and the ANC. They even called them “communist terrorists”. However, the leaders of the West’s two most powerful countries couldn’t stop the calls.

• The beginning of the end 

Many experts believe that the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 actually helped South Africans to get freedom from apartheid. The fall of the wall marked the symbolic end of the Cold War, with the victory of one ideology over another. Hence, painting the ANC and Mandela as Communists was no longer an option.

This led to the NP facing growing international pressures from human rights groups and even Western nations to release Mandela or deal with embargos. As a result, one of the biggest advocates of the apartheid, then-President F.W. de Klerk, surprisingly signed a historic legislation to make the end of the policy.

The leader of the movement, Mandela finally walked free on February 11, 1990, and negotiations for the future formally commenced. These negotiations lasted for four years and ultimately led to the historic 1994 elections.

On April 27, 1994, South Africa held its first multiracial, democratic election and Nelson Mandela was elected as the country’s first Black President with 63 per cent of the vote. The man who ordered his release — only won 20 per cent of the votes.

If we look at the whole history of the beginning and end of apartheid, it is interesting to see that the draconian policy came to an end, not because of a change of heart, but due to the need for the white minority to sustain itself amid growing international pressure.

But did things really change? 

When we look at the recent figures, it can be observed that South Africa’s black majority, which makes up more than 80 per cent of the population of 62 million, are still overwhelmingly affected by severe poverty.

The official unemployment rate of 32 per cent is the highest in the world, and the rate for young people between the ages of 15 and 24 is higher than 60 per cent, the Associated Press reported. 

Even the World Bank has maintained that South Africa continues to remain the most unequal country in the world in terms of wealth distribution, with race being a key factor. The ANC is also criticised for its failure to curb violent crime, corruption and the near-collapse of basic services such as electricity and water.

South Africans who were born after 1990 — “Born Frees” — are now eligible to vote. However, since they never experienced the horrors of the apartheid regime, many fear that they will not consider it a big factor while voting.

“They don’t know what happened before 1994,” said Seth Mazibuko, an older supporter of Rise Mzansi and a well-known anti-apartheid activist in the 1970s. “Let us agree that we messed up,” Mazibuko said of the past 30 years as youngsters continue to navigate through the worst youth unemployment rate in the world behind Djibouti.

Hence, the elections next month are being touted as one of the most crucial polls after 1994.

With inputs from agencies.