Here is a summary of what we learned about apartheid:
When the Dutch East India Trading Company ("VOC" in Dutch) established Cape Town, they were short of labor. They freed a number of Dutch indentured servants and allowed them to establish farms to supply grain, fruits, vegetables, etc.
When the VOC still did not have enough labor, they brought in slaves from Indonesia, India, Madagascar, East Africa, etc. Interestingly, the Dutch did not enslave the locals.
The freed Dutch and the slaves soon began to commingle. The resulting population, which is quite ethnically diverse, became referred to as Coloureds. In contrast, the now-local whites who did not "commingle" with other races are referred to as Afrikaans (white Africans).
In 1948, the conservative National Party won the general elections for the first time on the platform of apartheid (literally, "apartness"). The purpose of apartheid was separation of the races: not just Whites from non-Whites, but Coloureds from Blacks and, among the Blacks, one group from another.
The system of apartheid was ingenious – while Whites had far more rights than Coloureds or Blacks, Coloureds had more rights and privileges than Blacks. This helped to keep Coloureds and Blacks divided and fighting among themselves, instead of fighting the Whites.
Under apartheid, Coloureds and Blacks were not allowed to live in certain areas, such as within Cape Town itself. If Coloureds or Blacks lived in a White area, they had to move. If they refused to move, they were either forcibly removed or their home was bulldozed -- even with them in it.
The areas the non-Whites were forcibly relocated to were called townships. The problem was, when people had lived in the city, they had been able to find work and they could get to work. Once they were forced outside of the city, people could not find work or they could not get to work! Thus, the townships became slums.
Even worse than the townships were the "independent homelands". These are the areas the Blacks were moved to -- the equivalent of our Indian reservations.
During apartheid, over 3 million people were forcibly removed from their homes and relocated to townships or independent homelands.
Under apartheid, not only were Coloureds and Blacks not allowed to live in certain areas, they were not even allowed to be present in certain areas (again, such as Cape Town itself), unless they had a pass allowing them to be there. A Black who worked in the city could get a pass that spelled out the exact times he was allowed to be in the City. If he was in the city during times not specified in his pass, he would be arrested. If he was in the city and did not have a pass – or did not have his pass with him – he would be arrested.
Anyhow, in the 1960's, black political groups began openly opposing apartheid with a variety of tactics, including violence, strikes, demonstrations, and sabotage. These strategies met with severe reprisals by the government. By 1970, the African National Congress (aka the Black Congress) had been outlawed and virtually all of the leaders of the resistance movement, including Nelson Mandela, were imprisoned.
Slowly, during the 1970's and 1980's apartheid was denounced by the international community. In 1985, the United States and Great Britain imposed economic sanctions on South Africa in protest of apartheid. Throughout the late 1980's, anti-apartheid pressure mounted, both within and outside South Africa, fueled by celebrities brought unprecedented publicity to the issue. During this same time, Africa experienced its most violent protests, with great violence bloodshed.
Finally, the National Party buckled to the pressure and, starting in February 1990, began to dismantle apartheid. In 1990, the black congresses was (re)legalized and the long-imprisoned black leaders, including Nelson Mandela, were released. In 1994, general elections in which all races could vote were held for the first time, Nelson Mandela was elected as South Africa's first black president, and the last vestiges of the apartheid system were finally outlawed.
Sorry for the history lesson, but we found the history of the area fascinating. There is so much we did not know - and so much we still have to learn!
