On your Left Side:

• Write down what you already know about South Africa and/or apartheid.

• Where do you know this information from?– Book you read– Movie you saw– TV program you saw

2012 Apartheid and South Africa

On your Left Side:

• Diagram or draw out a timeline and write down the main events from the next couple of slides.

South Africa• In the 18th century

Dutch settlers, who called themselves Boers, began expanding toward the north and east.

• Believed they were predestined by God to claim this land.

• Gradually began pushing onto the interior.

Early HistoryA Time Line

• 1806 – British seize Cape of Good Hope• 1867 – Discovery of Gold• 1886 – Discovery of Diamonds• 1889 – 1902 – The Boer War (British and

Dutch settlers)• 1902 – The beginning of apartheid• 1990’s – The end of apartheid

South Africa• British gained possession of Cape

Colony in 1815; abolished slavery in 1833.

• Boers felt British policy destroyed their traditional social order, based on racial separation,

• Also believed it would undermine white predominance, which they saw as God's own will.

• British intrusion precipitated the “ Great Trek.”

• Starting in 1835 10,000 Boers (voortrekkers) moved northeast into interior and ultimately established Orange Free State and Transvaal.

1835: The “Great Trek”Feeling the British policy

destroyed their political and social order, based on racial separation and that white dominance was “God’s own will,”10,000 Boers, or Voortrekkers, left Cape Town to escape British rule on a 1,000 mile migration inland, known as the“Great Trek.”

South Africa• At time of white settlement of the Cape, Xhosa

groups were living far inland.• Since around 1770, they had been confronted with

the Trek Boers or Voortrekkers who approached from the west.

• Both Boers and Xhosa were stock-farmers. The competition for grazing land led first to quarrels between the two groups, and eventually it came to a number of wars.

• In the middle of the 19th century, all land formerly inhabited by Xhosa was in the hands of white settlers.

South Africa• Towards the end of 18th century, all over southern

Africa small tribal groups were amalgamating into larger communities.

• Not a peaceful process, but result of protracted wars. • Rise of Zulu Kingdom falls into this period. • Through incredible atrocities and cruelties Zulu

warrior Shaka gained control over a number of Zulu clans.

• Expanded his territory systematically as his warriors raided Zulu villages and burnt them down.

• Women and children gored to death; young men called up and chiefs tortured and forced into allegiance.

South Africa• Voortrekkers failed to

negotiate with Zulus secession of land for settling and grazing.

• They had endured a number of catastrophic assaults.

• Assembled at the Ncome River for a decisive battle on December 16, 1838.

• 464 Boers under command of Andries Pretorius defeated 10,000 Zulu warriors.

• Became known as the Battle of Blood River.

South Africa• Boers did not ascribe military

victory to technically superior armaments; interpreted it instead as a sign from God.

• Before battle, they prayed and made a vow that if God would grant them victory over Zulus, they would commemorate the event annually.

• Afterward they believed even more strongly that white predominance over blacks is God's own will.

Voortrekker Monument, outside Pretoria

South Africa• Port Natal (later re-named Durban) was a frequent port-

of-call for sailors and merchants and in 1823 a settlement started to develop.

• Zulus regarded Natal as their territory; tolerated white settlers, because port was useful as a trading post.

• When Voortrekkers came to Natal in 1836 fierce battles with Zulus occurred.

• Short-lived peace after Zulu defeat at Battle of Blood River in 1838.

• Soon British and Voortrekkers battled for Natal. • Ultimately, the British prevailed and in 1844, Natal

became a Crown Colony; the Voortrekkers retreated.

A Series of Boer Struggles

1838: Boers defeat the Zulu nation in the Battle of Blood River in their fight to obtain land the Zulu tribe was occupying.

1843: British take over Natal.

1852-1854: Boers travel further north and establish the Orange Free State and Transvaal as independent republics.

1870-1886: Diamonds deposits are discovered in Kimberley and gold deposits are discovered in Transvaal causing an influx of British immigrants and black Africans searching for work and fortune.

1880-1881: Anglo-Boer Wars

More struggles1899: Boer War erupted as a result of Afrikaaners

upset over Continual British migration inland to the mining regions.

1899-1902: British established Afrikaner civilian camps where epidemics broke out and killed 26,000 prisoners.

1902: Boers surrendered to British rule

1910: British award independence to South Africa. They believed only white to be capable of self-government. Blacks were barred from voting and Afrikaans was made the official language.

A Country Divided• White South Africans made up only 21.5% of the

total population and of these, an English-speaking minority dominated government and business in the cities.

• Most whites were Afrikaans-speaking Boers, mostly farmers and still bitter about the war

• The majority black population, 67%, included many different groups of people including Zulu and Xhosa of the Transkei region. Other groups were much smaller.

• By 1910, black Africans owned less than 10% of a country their ancestors completely controlled.

• 1913, the South African Parliament passed a Native Land Act that limited the blacks’ ownership of land even more.– Apartheid placed restrictions on how people

could live. For example, black South Africans were made to live in tiny clusters of homes called townships.

Other Ethnic Groups

oColoureds: 9% of the population.

o Indian immigrants: 2.5% of the population.

Both groups had varying rights in the Cape, but were not treated as equals by most whites

The Native Homeland Actseparated different

Africantribes into segregated areas. This act set aside7.3% of the country’s

landAside as reservations andbanded black Africans from buying land outsidethese areas.

Road to Apartheid

In 1912, the South African Native NationalCongress (later known as the ANC – 1923)was founded to unite black Africans anddefend their interests.

In 1913, the Afrikaaner Nationalist Party was established.

ANC

• African National Congress (ANC) was created to aide in the civil rights movement.

Peaceful Protest

• 1912, a young Indian Lawyer living in Cape Town named Mohandas K. Gandhi became outraged after being thrown off the train for sitting in a “white’s only” seat.

• He organized a peaceful protest march, inspiring some black South Africans to form a civil rights organization.

Whites Asserting Control

• In 1924, the Labour Party defeats the South African Party.

• Led by James Hertzog, South Africa became more independent of British control and favored the interests of whites, especially Afrikaners.

• Afrikaans is confirmed as an official language along with English.

South Africa: Divided by Race

• Decolonization in South Africa was tainted by the clash between white and black citizens of the newly free country.

• The government that declared freedom from Britain was controlled by the white minority, largely descended from the Dutch Boers.

• These Afrikaners practiced the policy of apartheid (extreme racial segregation).

• South Africa is one of the world’s richest sources of gold and diamonds.

• Between the 60’s and 90’s, the white government of South Africa turned the country into the wealthiest, most modern, and most industrialized on the continent.

Apartheid laws banned interracial marriages, and placed further restrictions on African ownership of land and businesses.

In the early 1900s South Africa was run by white Afrikaners—descendants of the original Dutch settlers. Even though South Africa had received independence from Great Britain in 1910, nonwhites in South Africa were not free under the Afrikaner government.

• 1948, racial discrimination heightened when Afrikaner-dominated National Party began to run South African government

• Instituted policy of apartheid, “apartness” in Afrikaner language

Apartheid

South Africa

• Apartheid policy divided into four racial groups: White, Black, Colored (mixed ancestry), Asian

• Attempted to create greater separation between whites, nonwhites, impose harsh controls

Racial Separation

Apartheid

• a method of “divide and rule” to counteract the so-called "black danger" Afrikaner rulers saw Africans as threatening to overrun or engulf them by their sheer numbers.

• Brutal racism: imprisonment, police killings and murder

Apartheid• “Apartheid” is a word meaning “Separateness”• Black South Africans, who made up 75% of the population, and other non-whitePeople lived under governmentinstitutionalized racial segregation from1948 to 1994.• Non-whites were stripped of citizenshipand necessities such as medical care andeducation.

What is Apartheid?

• Apartheid= separateness

• A policy of racial discrimination • Began in 1948 by South Africa’s

government• Black South Africans (more than

75% of pop.) were forced to live under strict segregation

HendrikVerwoerd

•Prime Minister of South Africa from 1958 until his assassination in 1966•“Architect of Apartheid”

On your Left Side:

• Imagine you are one of the black non-citizens of South Africa.

• How would you feel about what is happening in your country? Why?

• What would you do about it? Why?

• Under apartheid, only white South Africans could vote, hold political office

• Blacks made up nearly 75 percent of population, were denied South African citizenship

• Restricted to certain occupations, very little pay

Citizenship Denied• Apartheid laws especially harsh

on blacks in South Africa

• Required to carry passes, identity books

• Also faced imprisonment if police found them in an area for more than 72 hours without pass

Laws Harsh on BlacksApartheid Laws

Looking into Apartheid…1948-Racism institutionalized

-Marriage between blacks and whites prohibited

-”white-only” jobs sanctioned

1950-Population Registration Act-Divided South Africans into white, black (Africans), and colored (mixed descent)

-Based on appearance, social acceptance, and descent

-Blacks-forced to carry “pass books” holding fingerprints, photograph, and information on access to non-black areas

The History of Apartheid in South Africa

• Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act 55 of 1949, prohibiting marriages between white people and people of other races

• Blacks were not allowed to run a business in the areas that were meant for white South Africans.

Apartheid- Marriages and business

Some Rules of Apartheid

• Africans had to be legally classified (Black, White, Colored, Indian)

• Africans were not allowed to have interracial marriages

• Africans had to carry registration cards with their race indicated

• Africans had to be separated publicly (restaurants, hospitals, beaches, theaters, pools, restrooms, etc)

• Africans also had separate educational systems (lower standards for blacks)

Images of Apartheid

Apartheid No Rights for Non-whites

• No right to vote• No ownership of land• No right to move freely• No right to free speech• No right to protest the

government

Apartheid separated the whites from

the non-whites

What does Kaffir mean?

• The word Kaffir is an ethnic slur that is mostly used in Jamaica and South Africa.

• Referring to someone from Jamaica or South Africa as Kaffir would be the same as referring to an African-American person as the “N-word.”

• This usage and “strength” of Kaffir is fading away.

A Journey of Inequality1939-Representation of Voters Act weakened the political rights for Africans and allows them to vote only for white representatives.

1946-African mine workers are paid twelve times less than their white counterparts. Over 75,000 Africans go on strike in support of higher wages. Over 1000 workers are injured or killed before police violence forces them to end the strike1948-The Afrikaner Nationalist Party gains control of the government and passed the first of 317 Apartheid laws, separating whites from blacks. 1951-The African National Congress (ANC), a political organization for Africans, encourages peaceful resistance to Apartheid Laws. The government reacts by arresting more people.

1950-1953-Multiple Apartheid laws are passed restricting the movement and rights of blacks and requiring pass books. From 1948-1973, over ten million Africans were arrested because their passes were not in order

APARTHEID:

A POLICY OF SEPARATENESS

AFRIKANER:A EUROPEAN DESCENDANT OF THE DUTCH

IN SOUTH AFRICA

COUNTERPARTS:PEOPLE ON THE SAME LEVEL, DOING THE

SAME WORK

Mine Workers in South Africa

Working conditions were terrible in the mines, with miners earning only a few dollars a day and being forced to be separate from their families

for months or years at a time.

Medical care and other public services and provided black people with service inferior to those of Whites

Practical separation of residential areasSeparation of public institutions e.g. schools and

hospitals.Separation of jobs, ”jobs for whites only”Separate use of facilities like toilets, chairs, bus stops,

stair-cases etc.Black buses stopped at black bus stops and white buses

at white ones. Trains, hospitals and ambulances were segregated

Apartheid-Public facilities and jobs

On your Left Side:

•Which of these laws makes you most angry? Why?

• On your Left Side:• What is the main

point the cartoonist is making about apartheid?

• How can you tell?

By Mzoli Mncanca

1951 Bantu Authorities Act• Created basis for ethnic government in African reserves or “homelands”

• Blacks had no rights in South Africa. Their rights were restricted to the so called “homelands”.

• The White Government had complete control over the homelands.

Townships• Apartheid placed limits on

where blacks could live• Required to live in impoverished

areas of cities called townships

Citizenship• Did not include good farmland,

resources• Used homelands as excuse for

depriving blacks of citizenship

Further Segregation• Restricted businesses allowed

in townships, kept people poor• 1950s, created rural

“homelands” for tribes, groups

Aliens• Men forced to migrate without

families to work in mines, factories, farms

• Homeland policy made millions resident aliens in own country

Homelands

Homelands• “Reservations” or

“Bantustans”• Verwoerd established 9

African groups• Each was to become a

nation within its own homeland

• Africans had rights and freedoms

• Outside the homelands, treated as aliens

• Poor quality land with erosion

• Completely incapable of supporting large populations

Typical Homestead

Homelands

• Covered 13% of South Africa’s land area for 75% of its population.

• Economic development was outlawed.• The only work was in the white areas• Blacks were forced to live apart from their

families to work in the white areas where they had to carry Passes at all times.

Rural vs. Urban

• Group Acts of 1950 & 1986

• 1.5 Million Africans were forced from urban areas to rural reservations

• 1961 – Pressure from UN caused South Africa to withdraw from the Commonwealth of Nations

Houses in Soweto, a black township.

Typical Squatter’s Camp

Umbulwana, Natal in 1982.

Called "a black spot" because it is in a "white" area. Eventually demolished and the inhabitants forced to move to identically numbered houses in "resettlement" villages in their designated "homelands.“ Millions of black South Africans were forcibly "resettled" in this way.

On your Left Side:

• Using the previous pictures, imagine what a day living in the homelands would be like from getting up to going to bed.

• Explain.

Pass Checks• Checks were

performed at random of any/all black Africans.

• Those without Pass were arrested and fined. If they couldn’t pay the fine, they were sent to work camps.

Courtesy of www.unitedstreaming.com

Checking Passbook

The Pass Book

• Needed special permits to live outside of reservations, but not with family

• Lived in Townships (the city’s perimeter)• Curfew regulations• Passbook raids• Failure to meet curfew or have

passbook = subject to arrest

1953- Public Safety Act and Criminal Law Amendment Act

• Gave government power to declare states of emergency, increasing punishments for protesting against or supporting repeal of a law: fines, imprisonment, whippings

• 1960-Government declared state of emergency when large group of blacks in Sharpeville refused to carry their passes– Emergency lasted for 156

days, 69 people dead and 187 people wounded

Photo and History: The History of Apartheid in South Africa

Repression (a general intro):• 1950s- more than 500,000 pass-law arrests

annually• 1950s- more than 600 inhabitants jailed as

communists; nearly 350 people “banned”• Increasingly ruthless methods used

starting in 1960s including routine torture, political assassination, house arrests, etc.

• Around 10,000 people arrested in early 1960s for political offenses, etc.

On your Left Side:

• Are there any rules we have today that you can relate to apartheid? What are they?

• Why do you think these types of rules keep on being created in various countries?

Bantu Education Act• The 1953 Bantu Education Act was one of

apartheid's most offensively racist laws. • It brought African education under control of the

government and extended apartheid to black schools. 

• Previously, most African schools were run by missionaries with some state aid.

• South Africans were to receive an education designed to provide them with skills to serve their own people in the homelands, to work as maids, or to work in labouring jobs under whites.

Separate Unequal Education

Bantu Education Act of 1953• HF Verwoerd : “Natives (blacks) must be taught from an

early age that equality with Europeans (whites) is not for them.”• Student/teacher ratio

46:1-1955, 58:1 -1967• Overcrowded classrooms,

poor facilities, under-qualified teachers

By Mzoli Mncanca

Apartheid EducationBantu Education Act (1953) gave the central

government control over African education

"Native education should be controlled . . . in accord with the policy of the state . . . If the native in South Africa today in any kind of school in existence is being taught to expect that he will live his adult life under a policy of equal rights, he is making a big mistake . . . There is no place for him in the European community above the level of certain forms of labor." -Hendrik Verwoerd, Prime Minister

Education Under Apartheid

• Black people were not to receive an education that would lead them to aspire to positions they wouldn't be allowed to hold in society.

• Instead they were to receive education designed to provide them with skills to serve their own people in the homelands or to work in labouring jobs under whites.

Education Under Apartheid

• Bantu Education did enable more children in Soweto to attend school than the old missionary system of education, but there was a severe lack of facilities.

• Nationally public to teacher ratios went up from 46:1 in 1955 to 58:1 in 1967.

• Overcrowded classrooms were used on a rote basis. • There was also a lack of teachers, and many of those

who did teach were under-qualified. • In 1961, only 10 percent of black teachers held a

matriculation certificate [last year of high school].

Effects from Bantu Education Act• The government controlled the non-whites' lives.• Blacks could not choose where to go to school,

where to live, what job to have, and they couldn't get medical care (or if they did, it wasn't good health care).

• When walking around town, blacks had to have passes to prove that they lived there and had a job.

With your partner on your Left Side:

• Compare and contrast the treatment of blacks in American before the abolishment of Jim Crow Laws to that of blacks in South Africa under Apartheid.

Education and Soweto• Because of the government's homelands policy, no new high

schools were built in Soweto between 1962 and 1971 -- students were meant to move to their relevant homeland to attend the newly built schools there.

• Then in 1972 the government gave in to pressure from business to improve the Bantu Education system to meet business's need for a better trained black workforce.

• 40 new schools were built in Soweto.• Between 1972 and 1976 the number of pupils at secondary

schools increased from 12,656 to 34,656.• One in five Soweto children were attending secondary

school.

Young school children in a classroom in the squatter camp of Cross Roads, South Africa, in 1979. (UN Photo# 143373 by Peter Magubane)

Conclusion: Key Facts• The Bantu Education Act was one of

apartheid's most offensively racist laws. • During this time the government controlled

the non-whites' lives.• In high school, blacks had to learn a language.• The riot in Soweto started off as a peaceful

march, but then changed into a violent riot.• Students in the 1970's and 80's were referred

to as the lost generation of South Africa because many blacks lost their education.

Education and Soweto• So when the Department of Education issued its decree that

Afrikaans was to become a language of instruction at school, it was into an already volatile situation.

• Students objected to being taught in the language of the oppressor.

• Many teachers themselves could not speak Afrikaans, but were now required to teach their subjects in it.

• When the 1976 school year started, many teachers refused to teach in Afrikaans.

• But generally students were disparaging of the attitude of their teachers and parents.

• One student wrote to The World newspaper: "Our parents are prepared to suffer under the white man's rule. They have been living for years under these laws and they have become immune to them. But we strongly refuse to swallow an education that is designed to make us slaves in the country of our birth."

Lost Generation of South Africa• Students of the 1970's and 80's are

referred to as the lost generation of South Africa. 

• They are often called this because the 1970s and 80s was the time period that a lot of black South Africans lost their education. 

 

On your Left Side:

• With your partner, compare and contrast issues and problems with the American education system to that of education under apartheid.

Most black men had to leave their homeland to find work in mines or factories.Women raised whatever crops they could.

Economics of Apartheid

• Cheap (black) African labor force for work in mines

• Protection of skilled jobs for whites

• Enormous income discrepancies

http://www-users.york.ac.uk/%7Ead15/SApolitics.htm

Resistance and ProtestsApartheid is Challenged

On your Left Side:

• If you were a black non-citizen in South Africa, how would you resist and protest against apartheid? Explain.

• Or would you not resist and just accept and endure? Explain.

The Sharpeville Massacre was a turning point in anti-apartheid movement. http://www.watchknowlearn.org/Video.aspx?VideoID=32205&CategoryID=835

8

• 1950s–1960s, many former European colonies ruled by dictators• Some nations fell into civil war• 1990s brought renewed hope with the return of democracy; end of the

apartheid system in South Africa

• Early 1900s, African National Congress formed in South Africa

• ANC petitioned government, held peaceful protests against apartheid

• 1940s, younger, radical members joined, including Nelson Mandela

Protesting Apartheid

Political Challenges

• 1952, Mandela organized campaign urging blacks in South Africa to break apartheid laws

• 1960, changed from peaceful philosophy after police killed demonstrators in Sharpeville

Change of Philosophy

Early resistance: 1912-1948

• 1912 African National Congress founded (original name: South African Native National Congress)

• Legal protests led by African elites

Delegation from the South African Native National Congress that went to England in 1914 to convey the objections of the African people to the 1913 Land Act

Nelson Mandelactivism• Joined African National Congress in

1944

• Formed Youth League with Oliver Tambo– Secretary of ANCYL in 1947

• National Party won election of 1948– New ANC president approved by ANCYL

• President of ANCYL in 1951

• Banned from ANC in 1952– Prohibited from attending meetings or

holding an office

– Confined to Johannesburg area

• ANC operated underground

The Treason Trial• 156 nationalists arrested

December 5th, 1956 – Included Mandela and Albert

Luthuli, President of ANC

– Leaders of Congress Alliance

• Combination of five major anti-apartheid organizations

• Charged with high treason– Punishable by death

• Acquitted in March of 1961

Human Rights – Nelson Mandela• Protest was outlawed. Anyone caught organising a demonstration,

reading banned newspapers or speaking against the Apartheid system was in danger of being detained without trial, tortured, imprisoned, even sometimes murdered.

• However, Mandela’s group, the African National Congress committed itself to using non-violent means to protest against this system

• That is, until the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960.

The Pan Africanist Congress• Formed by more radical members of ANC

– Rivalry between ANC and PAC

• 69 demonstrators killed at Sharpeville on March 21, 1960

• Both groups formed military wings in 1961

• Umkhonto we Sizwe (“Spear of the Nation”)

– Mandela appointed first commander of MK

• PAC’s Poqo and MK prepare sabotage

Travel and Arrest• Mandela left country in secret in 1962

• Attended Conference of Pan-African Freedom Movement of East and Central Africa– Conference of African nationalist leaders in Addis Ababa

– Provided with Ethiopian passport by Haile Selassie

• Traveled to Algeria for military training – Guerilla warfare

• Next to London to visit Tambo– Arrested upon return

The Rivonia Trial• Charged for leaving country

– Sentenced to five years in prison

• MK HQ at Lilieslief raided onJuly 11th, 1963 – Arrested leaders charged with

221 counts of sabotage

• Mandela delivered four hour statement – “I am Prepared to Die”

• Sentenced to life imprisonment plus five years

On your Left Side: What does Mandela mean by this speech?

“ During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to

this struggle of the African people. I have fought

against white domination, and I have fought

against black domination. I have cherished the

ideal of a democratic and free society in which all

persons live together in harmony and with equal

opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for

and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which

I am prepared to die.”

MK attacks

• 1960s MK relatively quiet– Problems: no internal support

structure• Dramatic increase in actions in late ’70s

and ’80s– Reasons: new regional bases, new

internal support structures• Main repertoires: from sabotage to

bombings– 190 acts of sabotage between October

1961 and July 1963. – 1976-1982: 150 attacks– 1980s- 100s of bombings

• 1983- MK bombs air force headquarters.

• 19 people killed and more than 200 injured.

MK Targets:

• “"(e) Selection of targets to be tackled in initial phase of guerrilla operations with a view to causing maximum damage to the enemy as well as preventing quick deployment of reinforcements. In its study the Committee should bear in mind the following main targets:

– Strategic road, railways and other communications.

– power stations – police stations, camps and military

forces – irredeemable Government

stooges."

(1969)

• Mandela went on the run after the ANC was banned. He was arrested in 1962, after secretly returning to South Africa, and was imprisoned for five years for organizing strikes.

• In 1963, Mandela was linked to a sabotage campaign in Rivonia near Johannesburg. He was sentenced for life.

• 1973, Mandela was offered a shorter sentence if he would support the bantustan program – he refused!

• In 1974, South Africa was banned from the United Nations General Assembly.

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela peacefully fought to end apartheid. He served 27 years in prison for such “treason.”

Thousands of other South African non-whites were imprisoned and executed for their resistance against apartheid.

On your Left Side: What does Mandela mean?

“I was made by the law, a criminal, not because of what I had done, but because of what I stood for, because of what I thought, because of my conscious. Can it be any wonder to anybody that such conditions make a man an outlaw of society?” Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela in Prison• Would you be

willing to spend 27 years in jail for a cause?

• Why or why not?

Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in solitary confinement in this cell.

Human Rights – Nelson Mandela• “During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to the struggle of the

African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”

• Nelson Mandela’s speech from the dock, Pretoria Courthouse, 1964

The shanty towns became centers for black groups who resisted the white government.Thousands resisted apartheid by refusing to work, refusing to buy white products, going into “white only” areas, and marching in nonviolent demonstrations.

The Protest of March 21,1960: Sharpeville

• Black Protestors • Protested against pass laws

 • Wanted possession of passbooks unrequired

 • Passbooks are booklets that contain your ID 

 • Were discriminated by race

 • Treated like second class citizens

1960: Sharpeville Massacre

• March 21 -- At least 180 black Africans were injured and 69 killed when South African police opened fire on approximately 300 demonstrators, who were protesting against apartheid pass laws, at the township of Sharpeville in the Transvaal.

• The event came to be known as the Sharpeville Massacre. In response to Sharpeville, the government outlawed the African National Congress (ANC).

March 21,1960: Sharpeville Massacre

A large crowd of Black South Africans assembled in front of theSharpeville police station to protest the pass laws imposed byapartheid.

The Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC), led by Robert Sobukwe, togetherwith Nelson Mandela's African National Congress (ANC), organizedthe protest for the nation's blacks to join together to demonstratepeacefully against apartheid.

Rarely in South Africa before 1960 had so many black peopledemonstrated their defiance of the laws in any way. The police werehighly apprehensive, not knowing what to expect. Suddenly, tensionswere released: the crowd pelted the policemen with stones, and theedgy policemen retaliated with gunfire.

In the end, sixty-nine protesters were killed and one hundred and eightywere wounded (some shot while trying to flee)

1960 Sharpeville Massacre

• In 1960, during a peaceful protest in the city of Sharpeville, 69 people were killed

• This massacre ignited additional demonstrations and protests against the unfair treatment of non-whites

Black vs. WhiteBlack

• Protested

• Did not want pass laws •  Threw stones

 • Mostly Black People

White 

• Police controlled situation 

• Did not think blacks deserved same rights as whites

 •  Shot at blacks

 • White Government

Sharpeville Uprising

Government

• Declared state of emergency • Detained 18,000 people

 • Changed from passive resistance to armed

 • More security for enforcing racist laws

 • Sharpeville was a turning point in South Africa 

After the Sharpeville Massacre, the government

banned (exile) all black African political

organization, including the ANC and the PAC.

Reaction to the Sharpeville Massacre

• Countries gave South Africa sympathy • UN condemned the government

 • Called for Resolution 134

 • Resolution is a plan to make both government and the

citizens happy • Stated start of racial harmony throughout South Africa 

Conclusion•  The Sharpeville Massacre was the start of a new beginning

for South Africa, although it came with the loss of many innocent people.

• The bravery displayed by the blacks is outstanding.• The protests, the riots, the strikes all led up to the racial

harmony throughout South Africa. • With the help of the UN, other countries, and brave

government officials, the Sharpeville Massacre was the start of a new chapter in South Africa.   

Cause of the Riot in Soweto in 1976• When black students went to high school, they had

to learn a language.• Most students wanted to learn English because it

was a general language that people spoke.• However, the government forced the students to

learn Afrikaans, the language of Apartheid.• The blacks were angry, so they boycotted the classes

and went to protest in Soweto.

Bantu Education“There is no place for [the Bantu] in the European community above the

level of certain forms of labour ... What is the use of teaching the Bantu child mathematics when it cannot use it in practice? That is quite absurd. Education must train people in accordance with their

opportunities in life, according to the sphere in which they live.”- Henrik Verwoerd, Minister of Education, 1958

"We shall reject the whole system of Bantu Education whose aim is to reduce us, mentally and physically,

into 'hewers of wood and drawers of water'."Soweto Students Representative Council, 1976

Apartheid in South Africa

• Soweto Riots- 1976–Township near Johannesberg with

over 1 million blacks–Centered around the teaching of

Afrikaans–Started with class boycotts, led to

largest riots in South African history

The riot in Soweto• The march in Soweto spread to

other towns in South Africa. • The march in Soweto was

meant to be peaceful and nonviolent.

• However, it wasn't taken as a march to make a point nonviolently. 

• Many people were killed, including thirteen year old children. 

The Soweto Uprising• Young people had been forced to learn Afrikaans in school, the language

of the Dutch settlers. • They were not allowed to speak or learn in their own language. • June 16, 1976, school-children protesting the right to be taught in their

own language were shot by police. 69 school-kids died. The day is now commemorated in South Africa as Youth Day.

• People around the world were outraged. But it was to be almost 20 years until the Apartheid system collapsed.

• At the time, Nelson Mandela was serving his time in prison for what the government called ‘terrorist’ activities.

1976: Soweto

When high-school students in Sowetostarted protesting for better education on June 16, 1976,police respondedwith teargas and live bullets. In theaftermath, the plan for schooling inAfrikaans was dropped and the UNbanned sales of weapons to South Africa in 1977.

Riot in Soweto

Soweto Student Uprising

• "It was a picture that got the world‘s attention: A frozen moment in time that showed 13-year-old Hector Peterson dying after being struck down by a policeman's bullet. At his side was his 17-year-old sister. ” (source)

Student Uprising: 1976Black students were

forced to learn in Afrikaans.

Protests against Afrikaans started.

More than 500 black students killed by white policemen.

More than a thousand men, women and children wounded.

By Mzoli Mncanca

1976: Soweto Riots• On June 16 Between 15,000 and

20,000 high-school students in Soweto marched in protest, calling for better education for blacks.

• Police responded by releasing attack dogs and firing teargas and live bullets into the crowd.

• Students threw rocks and started setting fires to symbols of apartheid, such as government buildings and beer halls.

• Army helicopters and Anti-Urban Terrorism units arrived.

• The battle between students and police continued into the night.

• Some estimated the death toll at 200.

• Many more were injured. • The rioting spread to other towns

and the government closed the schools

Effects of Soweto• June 1976 – Soweto uprisings ignited new wave of

activism – call to make South Africa ‘ungovernable’– International solidarity– Divestment and Sanctions– Free Mandela Campaign

Artwork re. Anti-Apartheid movements & Race Relations: Ironic Ad

On your Left Side:• If you were a

black student in South Africa, would you have taken part in either of the protests?

• Why or why not?

• If you were alive and a high school or college student in America and saw the reports of the two protests on the news, what would you think and why?

Organizing From Within:Black Consciousness Movement

• Emerges from black-only universities

• Establishment of South African Students Union (SASO)

• Influenced by black power in the U.S., black theology

• Black African empowerment through internal strength

• Self-reliant struggle: black Africans must lead their own emancipation movement

• Means: community re-organization, self-reliance, student activism

“The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.”  - Steve Biko, a leader of the Black Consciousness Movement

His activities as a leader

Biko`s leadership abilities were perceptible from hisinvolvement with different black activist groups:

• the Student`s Representative Council• National Union of South African Students• University Christian Movement• South African Students Organisation• Black Community Programs• The Black Consciousness Movement

Biko was a leader in all of these groups.

Biko`s ambitions and attitudes• Steve Biko is remembered today for the hope and inspiration he gave to all of South Africa• One of Biko‘s ambitions was “to have a new attitude towards and a new way of life that promoted black pride“• He believed that “the black man`s main problem was his attitude of inferiority and he believed that if black men thought more of themselves, white men would have a harder punishing the blacks under the rule of Apartheid

• Another belief was if black men united the battle of oppression would be an easier battle

• Biko said: “Black Consciousness is an attitude of mind, a way of life“

Black Consciousness

• In the context of the struggle against apartheid, Biko argued that the first step towards liberation was to reshape the way in which black Africans understood their own situation

Black Consciousness

“Black Consciousness is an attitude of mind and a way of life, the most positive call to emanate from the black world for a long time. Its essence is the realisszation by the black man of the need to rally together with his brothers around the cause of their oppression -- the blackness of their skin -- and to operate as agroup to rid themselves of the shackles that bind them to perpetual servitude.”

Black Consciousness• Blacks must reclaim their identity and redefine it on

their own terms, rather than in those set by the white oppressors.

• “The philosophy of Black Consciousness therefore expresses group pride and the determination of the black to rise and attain the envisaged self. Freedom is the ability to define oneself with one’s possibilities held back not by the power of other people over one but only by one’s relationship to God and to natural surroundings.”

Black Consciousness• How do we effect that change? Education• Biko draws attention to the corrupting effects of

education when it is in the hands of, and done for the benefit of, the oppressor.

• White educators try to impart “civilization” and “culture” and in doing so are -- explicitly or not -- denigrating native black culture

• In the process, traditional African mores and beliefs are ripped apart and discarded

• Biko argues that blacks need to resist the indoctrination and rediscover their own history

Black Consciousness

• Note that in celebrating black consciousness and black identity, Biko is careful to point out that this itself is not just another form of racism“Racism does not only imply exclusion of one race by another -- it always presupposes that the exclusion is for the purposes of subjugation. Blacks have had enough experience as objects of racism not to wish to turn the table”

Biko's Silence

• Jailed several times for his strong protestso Against government 

• Kept in prison for yearso Detention cells 

• Chained by his hands and feet, and wrapped in urine soaked sheetso Jail officialso Police officers 

• Beaten to death by police 

Steve Biko

• He was “banned” by the government in 1973, which meant he was not permitted to travel across the country.

• He was arrested on 21 August 1977 and, while in police custody in Port Elizabeth, sustained a massive head injury.

• Police reports indicated he was behaving erratically and uncooperative.

• Left lying naked and shackled to a metal grille in cell.

Biko‘s Murder• A banning order was set, so leaving King William`s Town would be illegal• While traveling to Cape Town, he was stopped by white police officers• The police took him in custody• In prison Biko was beaten with a hose, and then pushed into a wall•The police officers began the beating during the interrogation because “he tried to sit down while being questioned“• Biko`s head was pushed into the wall so severely that they shifted the inside of his brains• He was found six days after the killing, naked, lying dead in his jail cell

Steve Biko

• Three doctors on duty disregarded the injury.

• On September 11, another police doctor recommended medical attention, but instead he was driven 600 miles to Pretoria (about 12 hours), a trip which he made lying naked in the back of a Land Rover.

Steve Biko

• After arriving at the Pretoria Central Prison he was left naked on a floor and unattended, awaiting transfer to the hospital.

• A few hours later, on 12 September, alone and still naked, lying on the floor of a cell in the Pretoria Central Prison, Biko died from brain damage.

• At first when questioned about this murder the police officers told the public: “there was no beating or torture connected to his death“• Aother statement by the police was: “ Biko got a head injury when we had to restrain him after he went berserk to arrest the police officers the comission required a confession of this brutal crime, but they had to wait long only recently did the police confess the truth but full reponsibility was not taken As a result of Biko`s death in 1977, all Black Consciousness Organizations were banned

Biko’s Murder

Steve Biko A young Black leaderGrave in King Williams Town, South Africa.Died in police detention in 1977. During the inquest into his death, strong evidence was presented that he suffered violent and inhumane treatment during his detention.

His honourable funeral• Thousands of Africans showed up at Biko´s funeral along with representatives from thirteen Western States to share in the mourning of such a nobel leader´s death• People say that he was a husband, a friend and a leader• His wife Wendy once said: “we are honored to have been among the friends of a man born with unusual leadership qualities and an unrelenting dedication to the liberation of his people.“

Death of Steve Biko in police custody, 1977

Steve Biko

• In 1985, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (created after the fall of apartheid) found that:"The Commission finds that the death in detention of Mr Stephen Bantu Biko on 12 September 1977 was a gross human rights violation. Magistrate Marthinus Prins found that the members of the SAP were not implicated in his death. The magistrate's finding contributed to the creation of a culture of impunity in the SAP. Despite the inquest finding no person responsible for his death, the Commission finds that, in view of the fact that Biko died in the custody of law enforcement officials, the probabilities are that he died as a result of injuries sustained during his detention."

Robben Island

• prisoners crushing rocks at Robben Island

United Democratic Front

This organization helped get the word out to the world about apartheid.

The struggle against apartheid

• In the 1980s, the United Democratic Front was a a multi-racial coalition of community-based groups, trade unions, church groups, students, that launched a grassroots struggle against apartheid.

• In 1985, the Congress of South African Trade Unions was formed (COSATU).

The United Democratic Front (UDF)

• est. 1983, ANC-supported• Primary goal: to coordinate

activities of anti-apartheid orgs, and to resist state’s recent constitutional reforms

• Organized as a federation of regionally based fronts – Umbrella federation for more

than 600 local orgs• Prominent church leaders, civic

leaders, former ANC reps, students

• (mostly) Espoused nonviolence

Framing…Repertoires…

Meeting Violence with Violence• Mandela, other ANC leaders decided to meet violence with violence• Government banned ANC, jailed Mandela• 1976, major student protest movement in township of Soweto

Trade Sanctions• Police crushed uprising, but over 600 killed, 4,000 wounded• ANC fought to end apartheid; violence erupted in many black townships• International community imposed trade sanctions on South Africa

Soweto Uprising• Soweto Uprising set off by decree for black schools to teach Afrikaans—language of

white South Africans• Police killed protesting student; peaceful march turned into revolt

Protesting Apartheid

The government implemented a series of reforms that allowed black labor unions to organize and permitted some

political activity by the opposition.

The 1984 constitution opened parliament membership to Asians and Coloreds, but it continued to exclude black

Africans, who made up 75% of the population.

Many countries, including the United States, imposed economic sanctions of South Africa. More urban revolts

erupted and, as outside pressure on south Africa intensified, the government’s apartheid policies began to unravel.

Mid 1970’s – Mid 1980’s

Apartheid in South Africa

• International Response–Divestment- Cease business

relationships with companies that do business in South Africa

–Sanctions (1985)- United States imposed limited sanctions on the South Africans; many other European nations followed

On your Left Side with your partner:

• What does the cartoonist mean or is trying to prove with each political cartoon?

• How do you know?

• What would be a good sarcastic caption for each political cartoon?

• Explain

http://www.wku.edu/library/onlinexh/sanders/pages/world/apartheid.html

http://www.wku.edu/library/onlinexh/sanders/pages/world/south_africa_us_policy.html

South Africa• During the 1980s the

charismatic Anglican bishop, Desmond Tutu, rallied western support with a call for boycott of South Africa, primarily through economic sanctions.

• In 1984 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of "the courage and heroism shown by black South Africans in their use of peaceful methods in the struggle against apartheid". Desmond Tutu

Truth and Reconciliation Commission

•  The commissions purpose was to investigate crimes that happened during apartheid.

 • The commission let

victims and perpetrators of violence be heard and forgiven. 

 

Truth and Reconciliation Commission Cont. 

• The idea behind the commission was that if perpetrators spoke up they would be given amnesty. 

• Amnesty makes a person innocent and forgivin for their crimes.

 • People from all different groups

could speak out.  • Tutu was the leading force behind

the commission. 

1985 Demonstration• In 1985 an

International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination was organized.

• The demonstration was held at Langa Township in Uitenhage.

• The day commemorates the anniversary of the March 21, 1960 massacre.

1985 Demonstration

• The message was simple:“Freedom in

Our Lifetime!”

On your Left side with your partner:

•Come up with a slogan and a symbol that are against apartheid.

Momentous Meetings

• In May 1988, the United Nations called for Mandela’s release without conditions.

• In July 1989, President Botha met with Mandela. • Both men pledged a “support for peaceful developments.”

• Both resigned due to health reasons and was succeeded as president by F.W. de Klerk.

• Determined to break the “cycle of violence,” de Klerk ordered the release of eight political prisoners.

South Africa• In 1989 Frederick W. de Klerk

took over as President from P.W. Botha, who had suffered a stroke.

• Much more liberal than Botha, de Klerk soon openly admitted the failure of apartheid policies.

• Important reason for collapse of old regime was effects of many years of economic and trade embargo.

• Sanctions enacted by many nations led to a desolate state for the South African economy.

FW de Klerk

• De Klerk and Mandela met in December.

• Mandela declared de Klerk to be “the most honest and serious white leader” he had ever met.

• On February 2, 1990, de Klerk announced the end of the bans on the ANC, the PAC, and over 30 other anti-apartheid organizations

Democracy in South Africa

• 1990, President F.W. de Klerk legalized ANC, began negotiations to enact new constitution, end apartheid– Released Mandela from prison

– Lifted long-standing ban on African National Congress

• De Klerk also abolished homelands, held South Africa’s first democratic elections

– ANC swept elections

– Mandela became first black president of a democratic South Africa

Free At Last!On February 11, 1990, after 27 years inprison, Nelson Mandela was released.

“Today the majority of South Africans, blackand white, recognize that apartheid has nofuture.” – Nelson Mandela

Nobel Peace Prize

• Mandela and De Klerk both won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for their efforts to end Apartheid.

• Accepting the award on December 10, 1993, Mandela declared: “We live in the hope that as she battles to remake herself, South Africa will be like a microcosm of the new world that is striving to be born.”

On your Left Side:

• If we were to create a Wanted Poster for Nelson Mandela, what would be on his list of crimes?

• If we were to create a Hero Poster for Nelson Mandela, what would be on his list of achievements?

1994

• Reservations abolished and territories reabsorbed into the nation of South Africa

• Apartheid caused major economic hardships on South Africa• International sanctions• Decreased labor force• Cut investments from countries like U.S.A.

• First multiracial election• Nelson Mandela elected president of South

Africa (1994 – 1999)

A New Government

Nelson Mandela casts the first vote for the new government of South Africa.

On April 27,1994, Nelson Mandela became South Africa’s FIRST black

president!

On April 27, 1994, Nelson Mandela was electedthe first black president if the first free election.

“We are moving from an era of resistance, division, oppression, turmoil, and conflict and starting a New era of hope, reconciliation, and nation-building. Isincerely hope that the mere casting of a vote . . . will givehope to all South Africans.”- Nelson Mandela

On your Left Side:

• What does the cartoonist mean with the following political cartoon?

• What would be a good overall sarcastic caption to use to emphasize this message?

Presidency• Inaugurated May 10th, 1994• First black president of South Africa• Aimed to improve social and economic

conditions for black majority– Large scale redistribution of wealth

• Truth and Reconciliation Commission– Human rights violations from old regime– Improved living standards of black

population• Better housing and education

• Violence control– Afrikaner Resistance Movement

• Extremists opposing new government using terrorism

• Legislation to protect workers– Workplace safety, overtime pay, minimum

wage

Retirement• Decided not to run for

reelection in 1997

• Supported Thabo Mbeki– Inaugurated June 16, 1999

• Retired from public life in 2004

• Committed to fight against HIV/AIDS epidemic– Son Makgatho Mandela

died of AIDS on January 6th, 2005

On your Left Side: What is the main message of this speech?

“ We have at last achieved ourpolitical emancipation. We pledgeourselves to liberate all our peoplefrom the continuing bondage ofpoverty, deprivation, suffering,gender, and other discrimination. . . Never, never, and never againshall it be that this beautiful landwill again experience theoppression of one by another. . .Let freedom reign.”

Life after Democracy • 1994 – 1997 Nelson Mandela became the first

Black President, FW De Klerk the first Deputy President and Thabo Mbeki the second.

• 1997 – 2006 then Thabo Mbeki become the second Black President and Jacob Zuma was a Deputy President.

On your Left Side with your partner:

• What is the message of each political cartoon?

• How can you tell?

• What would be a good sarcastic caption for each?

Cont

• 2009 Jacob Zuma become the fourth Democratic President up until today after the Acting President Ralima Motlhale.

IMPACT OF APARTHEID

Political South Africa• The political structure of our

nation has been shaped directly by the influences of the Apartheid era.

• Political parties, politicians and our very constitution have been shaped by the struggle.

• Consequently policies and legislation today attempt to redress the imbalance that was a characteristic of the Apartheid era

Pol itic s a nd its lin k w ith hi sto ry

IMPACT OF APARTHEID

Politics 1: Political PartiesAfrican National Congress:

A popular party partly because it took a pivotal role in the overthrow of Apartheid

New National Party:Struggles with its past as the party that implemented Apartheid. Not popular but has supporters amongst some Coloured and Whites

Democratic Alliance:The remnants of the liberal parties of the Apartheid era (PFP, DP etc). Continues to safeguard principles of democracy but looks to protect economic privilege

Par tie s a nd the ir l ink w ith his tor y

IMPACT OF APARTHEID

Politics 1: Political Parties

Inkatha Freedom PartyA tribal based party (Zulu) was formed out of the divisions sponsored by the policy of Separate Development

Freedom FrontLast stand of the Afrikaaner movements. Tends to have realistic outlook but wants to protect Afrikaaner values

Pan African Congress:Important player in struggle but Africanist stance limits appeal to other racial groups. Small but influential group

Par tie s a nd the ir l ink w ith his tor y

IMPACT OF APARTHEID

Politics 2: Our Politicians

Thabo Mbeki’s father, Goven, was head of the ANC during the exile years

Nelson Mandela played a critical role in the struggle and was imprisoned on Robben Island

Peo ple an d the ir l ink wi th his tor y

Former President

President

IMPACT OF APARTHEID

Politics 3: The Constitution• The concerns raised by the injustices of

Apartheid have resulted in the formularization of our democratic constitution. This document is the envy of numerous nations who do not have the freedoms we have.

• Your right to freedom in terms of:– Race– Sex– Religion– Sexual Orientation– Gender… are all protected in terms of the South

African Constitution

RETURN TO MENU

IMPACT OF APARTHEID

Economic South Africa

The economic structure of our nation has also been shaped directly by the influences of the Apartheid era. Political power might now rest with the black majority but economic power still rests with the white classes who hold important positions within nearly all sectors of the economy. Affirmative action is one such strategy designed to try and change this.

IMPACT OF APARTHEID

Economics 1: Corporate PowerCorporate power rests with the

historically advantaged classes and therefore is still dominated by English and Afrikaans speaking families. Foreign investors too influence the goings on in the corporate world. Foreign based companies such as Anglo America, Anglo Gold etc. are big economic players

IMPACT OF APARTHEID

Economics 2: Social Classes

RETURN TO MENU

The economic divisions are obvious to us today. Schooling is just one area where most blacks and many whites still experience the disadvantages or benefits derived from their economic class

Challenges facing SA today• High rate of unemployment

• Inequality with a racial overlay

• Lastly, poverty especially to those who were disadvantaged before democracy.

In schools :• Endemic to rural areas including overcrowding, poor school

infrastructure (including collapsing ceilings and broken windows), high student to teacher ratio, long walk to get to school and lastly, the lack of teaching and learning resources.

On your Left Side:

• What challenges or problems facing South Africa today is the political cartoon addressing?

• Explain.

Building the New South Africa

• After the 1994 elections, South Africa faced the challenge of integrating the former White, Colored, Indian, and African departments of government.

• Provinces that included former homelands had the added burden of integrating those departments as well.

• The Province of the Eastern Cape, with two homelands, integrated 6 separate departments into one unified Department of Education

Status of Education in SA

• The most recent government report:– # of overcrowded schools has fallen from 51%

(1999) to 42% (2006)– School electrification has risen from 11,174 (1996)

to 20,713 (2006)– Schools without water has dropped from 8,823

(1996) to 3,152 (2006)– Schools without on-site toilets dropped from

3,265 (1996) to 1,532 (2006)

Status of Education in SA

• Current areas of debate– Mother-tongue instruction; when is English

introduced?– Outcomes Based Education; how to be successful

when the tools needed are not available– No-fee Schools; ensuring these schools are

centers of excellence – Instituting Standards for School Principals; setting

qualifications and course work

Opening Education to All

• 1994 - universal access to single system of education

• 1996 - Constitution extended compulsory education to grades 1 – 9 (ages 6 – 15)

• 1999 Tirisanot Programme of Action focused on improving the quality of secondary schools

Economic Equity in Education

• Fee-free schools– Up to 40% of all schools in 2007

National Nutrition Program

• Feeds 1.6-million schoolchildren every day• Nearly 2000 school gardens

with federal, local and NGO support

Ongoing Education Issues in South Africa

• Violences in schools is increasing, Special needs and problems resulting from the HIV/ AIDS pandemic, social problems such as substance abuse.

• Non-governmental organisation are the main providers of children’ social welfare services and working along with the government.

ABOUT THE POET

Tatamkhulu Afrika (1920–2002) was born in Egypt to a Turkish mother and

an Arab father, but was orphaned as an infant and adopted by white SouthAfricans. His poetry and writing conveyed his opposition toapartheid.

CONTENT

This is an AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL poem written in the FIRST PERSON about a man’s journey to a district that has changed in recent years. The area

is DISTRICT SIX which was an area

ONLY for WHITE people during apartheid.

CONTENT The poem begins with the poet visiting District Six after apartheid ended andanybody, black or white is allowed to

go there. He describes how the area is being redeveloped with new houses and fashionable restaurants.

CONTENTHOWEVER, at the time the poem waswritten many black people would not

have been able to afford to go there or were not made to feel welcome. This makes the poet ANGRY as he feels that it as

if apartheid is still in existence.

On your Left Side:

•Make notes about the poem left side of your Interactive Notes.

NOTHING’S CHANGED

Small round hard stones click under my heels,

seeding grasses thrust bearded seeds into trouser cuffs, cans,

trodden on, crunch in tall, purple-flowering,

amiable weeds.

He describes the area as being neglected and

desolate

Alliteration of the ‘c’ sound

creates a harsh tone.Friendly

The poet returns to the wasteland that was once his home, andrelives the anger he felt when the area was first destroyed.

NOTHING’S CHANGED

District Six. No board says it is:but my feet know,

and my hands, and the skin about my bones,

and the soft labouring of my lungs, and the hot, white, inwards turning

anger of my eyes.

Repetition of ‘and’ 4 times emphasises the poets rising ANGER.

Although apartheid is

officially over Afrika still

feels that there are divides.

NOTHING’S CHANGED

Brash with glass, Name flaring like a flag,

it squats in the grass and weeds

Incipient Port Jackson trees:New, up-market, haute cuisine,

guard at the gatepost,whites only inn.

Here he describes a high-class fashionable restaurant. ‘Brash’ suggest it is big and flashy.

‘Squats’ is an unattractive verb. It suggests that it does not belong there.

Simile

Just beginning to develop.

Despite apartheid

being abolished it is still a ‘whites

only’ restaurant and

even has a guard to

ensure this.

NOTHING’S CHANGED

No sign says it is: but we know where we belong.

He is speaking directly

to the reader.

There is no official segregation but inequality still exists in South Africa.

NOTHING’S CHANGED

I press my nose To the clear panes, know,

before I see them, there will becrushed ice white glass,

linen falls, the single rose.

He is looking in at the exclusive ‘whites only’ restaurant.

Exquisite images emphasise the splendour of the ‘whites only inn’

Assonance to stress the character’s anger.

NOTHING’S CHANGED

Down the road, working man’s café sells

bunny chows. Take it with you, eat

it at a plastic table’s top,wipe your fingers on your jeans,

spit a little on the floor:it’s in the bone.

The café where black people dine.

Here we have a juxtaposition of the lives of white and blackpeople. White people dine in a beautiful environment. Whilst IN CONTRAST black people dine in a basic ‘working man’s café’.

‘Bunny chow’ is a South African colloquialism meaning low-quality fast food.

NOTHING’S CHANGED

I back from the glass, boy again,

Leaving small mean Oof small, mean mouth.

Hands burnfor a stone, a bomb,

to shiver down the glass. Nothing’s changed.

‘Boy’ in South Africa is an insulting

name for a black male.

Metaphor showing that he is ANGRY and wants to take revenge!

Repetition

‘Nothing’s Changed’ – The poem’s

ending is the same as its

title showing the cyclical nature of

segregation. He feels it

will continue despite the

end of apartheid.

Social injustice still remained. Largely confined to poorly-

paid manual jobs, black people formed an economic

underclass.

POETIC TECHNIQUES

1. CONTRAST – between the luxurious setting of the smart restaurant and the cheap café.

2. SYMBOLISM – District Six (the most famous community from which black and

mixed-race citizens were evicted) represents apartheid.

POETIC TECHNIQUES

3. ALLITERATION - the harsh ‘c’ sound, e.g. ‘into trouser cuffs, cans’, expresses the poet’s ANGER

4. ANGRY DICTION – expresses how the poet is feeling e.g. ‘anger of my

eyes’, ‘mean mouth’, ‘a bomb to shiver down

the glass’.

POETIC TECHNIQUES

5. ONOMATOPOEIA – e.g. ‘click’, ‘crunch’, ‘spit’. These words help us to follow the man on his journey through

the district, literally and metaphorically.

STRUCTURE

• The poem is written in 6 stanzas of 8 lines each. This regularity illustrates that the poet is in control of his emotions and feelings, rather than

flying into a rage.

STRUCTURE• Each stanza has sentences of varying length, some with only 2 words:

E.g. ‘District Six.’

• The short sentences convey his bitterness and anger at the unjust situation.

MAIN THEMES IN THE POEM

• Cultural Identity • ANGER at discrimination and racial

prejudice. • Frustration caused by unfairness in

society. • Alienation and feeling excluded,

‘….we know where we belong.’