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Apartheid in South Africa

Development Issues 1

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Green Revolution and GMOs

Human rights and Apartheid

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Propaganda and the formation of the Aryan identity

Refugees and xenophobia

Social Conflict

The promotion of human rights through civil rights movements

What choices did people in Germany have

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World War 2 in context

World War 2

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Apartheid Laws for Grade 9 Learners

The apartheid system in South Africa was a complex and multifaceted institution, established primarily to enforce racial segregation and discrimination. This list is not exhaustive, but it provides a basic overview of some of the most significant apartheid laws implemented by the South African government. The aim is to help Grade 9 students gain a deeper understanding of this dark chapter in South Africa’s history.

Table of Contents

• Population Registration Act (1950) : This law required all South Africans to be classified into racial groups (Black, White, Coloured, or Asian). The classification was largely arbitrary but had significant repercussions for individuals’ daily lives.
• Group Areas Act (1950) : This law segregated residential areas by racial groups. Non-whites were forcibly removed from their homes to designated “group areas.”
• Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act (1949) : This act outlawed marriages between white South Africans and South Africans of other racial backgrounds.
• Immorality Act (1950) : This law banned sexual relationships between white South Africans and non-whites.
• Bantu Authorities Act (1951) : This established tribal “homelands” and regional authorities, giving traditional leaders administrative power but under the overarching control of the South African government.
• Suppression of Communism Act (1950) : Although not explicitly a racial law, this act was often used to suppress opposition to apartheid by labeling anti-apartheid activists as “communists.”
• Bantu Education Act (1953) : This act established a separate education system for Black South Africans designed to prepare them for lives as a laboring class.
• Reservation of Separate Amenities Act (1953) : This law mandated racial segregation in all public amenities, public buildings, and public transport with the aim of eliminating contact between whites and other racial groups.
• Natives (Abolition of Passes and Coordination of Documents) Act (1952) : Commonly known as the Pass Laws, this act required black South Africans to carry “pass books” at all times when outside designated areas, restricting their movement within the country.
• Native Labour (Settlement of Disputes) Act (1953) : This act prohibited black workers from striking and limited their capacity to negotiate for better labor conditions.
• Extension of University Education Act (1959) : This act prevented black students from attending white universities, except with government permission.
• Natives Resettlement Act (1954) : This act permitted the removal of blacks from any area within and next to the magisterial district of Johannesburg.
• Promotion of Bantu Self-Government Act (1959) : This act established separate government structures for blacks and was aimed at stripping black South Africans of their citizenship, making them citizens of their designated “homelands” instead.
• Urban Bantu Councils Act (1961) : This act aimed at creating “representative councils” for blacks within urban communities, though these councils had very little power.
• Terrorism Act (1967) : This act gave broad authority to the government to detain without trial any person deemed a threat to the state.

Understanding these laws and their implications can offer a comprehensive view of how apartheid permeated every aspect of South African society, laying the groundwork for the social and economic disparities that the nation continues to grapple with today.

Lesson Plan: Understanding Apartheid Laws in South Africa – Grade 9

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

• Understand what apartheid was and the social and political climate that led to its establishment in South Africa.
• Identify key apartheid laws and their impact on South African society.
• Analyze the resistance movements against apartheid.
• Recognize the significance of the end of apartheid and its ongoing impact on South Africa today.
• Engage in discussion and critical thinking about social justice, inequality, and human rights.

Materials Needed

• Whiteboard or projector
• Handouts on key apartheid laws
• Video clips showing interviews with people who lived during apartheid
• Maps of South Africa showing segregated areas
• Computers or tablets for research (optional)

Introduction (10 minutes)

• Briefly discuss what students already know about apartheid in South Africa.
• Introduce the main objectives of the lesson.

Activity 1: What is Apartheid? (15 minutes)

• Show a short video or presentation to introduce the concept of apartheid.
• Why was apartheid implemented?
• How did it affect the lives of South Africans?

Class Discussion (10 minutes)

• Ask students to share their initial thoughts and feelings about apartheid.

Activity 2: Key Apartheid Laws (20 minutes)

• Divide the class into small groups.
• Hand out information sheets on different apartheid laws like the “Population Registration Act,” “Group Areas Act,” and “Bantu Education Act.”
• What the law entailed
• How it affected South Africans
• Any resistance to it

Group Presentations (20 minutes)

• Each group will present their findings to the class.

Activity 3: Resistance to Apartheid (15 minutes)

• Discuss the different forms of resistance against apartheid.
• Show video clips or provide readings about key figures in the resistance such as Nelson Mandela, Albertina Sisulu, and Steve Biko.

Individual Activity: Reflective Writing (10 minutes)

• Ask students to write a paragraph reflecting on what they find most shocking or intriguing about apartheid and its resistance.

Conclusion and Homework (10 minutes)

• Summarize the key points of the lesson.
• Homework Assignment: Research one person who was influential in ending apartheid and write a one-page report on them.
• Participation in group activities and discussions
• Quality of group presentations
• Reflective writing assignment
• Homework assignment

This lesson aims to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of apartheid laws and their impact, as well as inspire thoughtful conversation and reflection on social justice issues.

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Grade 9 Apartheid South Africa

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• 5. Multiple Choice Edit 30 seconds 1 pt What did Deklerk and Nelson Mandela share together? Mandela's release Nobel Peace Prize Mandela being elected as President Mandela's new marriage
• 6. Multiple Choice Edit 30 seconds 1 pt What was the name of the party that came into power in 1948? National Party (NP) Nationalistic Party African National Congress
• 7. Multiple Choice Edit 30 seconds 1 pt The NP believed that if members of different race groups mixed there would be racial conflict.  True False
• 8. Multiple Choice Edit 30 seconds 1 pt In which year did the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act come into play? 1849 1949 1948 1940
• 9. Multiple Choice Edit 30 seconds 1 pt The Bantu Education Act meant that syllabi stayed the same, but blacks and whites were educated separately.  True False
• 10. Multiple Choice Edit 30 seconds 1 pt Black people were allowed equal economic opportunities during Apartheid. True False
• 11. Multiple Choice Edit 30 seconds 1 pt The PAC stands for: The Peoples Congress Pan African Congress People and the Constitution
• 12. Multiple Choice Edit 30 seconds 1 pt In which year did the Sharpeville Massacre occur? 1958 1948 1960 1962
• 13. Multiple Choice Edit 30 seconds 1 pt How many people were killed as a result of the Sharpeville Massacre? 20 69 65 180
• 14. Multiple Choice Edit 30 seconds 1 pt How many people were injured as a result of the Sharpeville massacre? 150 180 69 65

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Grade 9 - Term 4: Turning points in modern South African History since 1948

For this complex period to be studied, the Sharpeville massacre, Soweto uprising and the release of Nelson Mandela and unbanning of liberation movements have been selected to gain a deeper understanding of South African History. These key turning points in South African history are a depiction of the conflict between the Government and the Black/ African population of the country, where the Sharpeville massacre occurred due to the resistance by the black population against pass laws that were implemented by the government; the June 1976 student uprisings were against the introduction of the Bantu Education Act and 1990 provided a significant turning point with the release of Nelson Mandela and the unbanning of liberation movements.

Sharpeville massacre

At the annual conference of the African National Congress (ANC) held in Durban on 16 December 1959, the President General of the ANC, Chief Albert Luthuli , announced that 1960 was going to be the "Year of the Pass." Through a series of mass actions, the ANC planned to launch a nationwide anti-pass campaign on 31 March - the anniversary of the 1919 anti-pass campaign.

A week later, a breakaway group from the ANC, the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) held its first conference in Johannesburg . At this conference, it was announced that the PAC would launch its own anti-pass campaign.

Early in 1960 both the ANC and PAC embarked on a feverish drive to prepare their members and Black communities for the proposed nationwide campaigns. The PAC called on its supporters to leave their passes at home on the appointed date and gather at police stations around the country, making themselves available for arrest. The campaign slogan was "NO BAIL! NO DEFENCE! NO FINE!" The PAC argued that if thousands of people were arrested, then the jails would be filled and the economy would come to a standstill.

Although the protests were anticipated, no one could have predicted the consequences and the repercussions this would have for South African and world politics. An article entitled "PAC Campaign will be test," published in the 19 March 1960 issue of Contact, the Liberal Party newspaper, described the build up to the campaign:

The Pan Africanist Congress will shortly launch a nationwide campaign for the total abolition of the pass laws. The exact date on which the campaign will start is still unknown. The decision lies with the P.A.C. President, Mr. R.M. Sobukwe. But members say that the campaign will begin 'shortly - within a matter of weeks.'

At a press conference held on Saturday 19th March 1960, PAC President Robert Sobukwe announced that the PAC was going to embark on an anti-pass campaign on Monday the 21st. According to his "Testimony about the Launch of the Campaign," Sobukwe declared:

The campaign was made known on the 18th of March. Circulars were printed and distributed to the members of the organisation and on the 21st of March, on Monday, in obedience to a resolution they had taken, the members of the Pan Africanist Congress surrendered themselves at various police stations around the Country.

At the press conference Sobukwe emphasized that the campaign should be conducted in a spirit of absolute non-violence and that the PAC saw it as the first step in Black people's bid for total independence and freedom by 1963 (Cape Times, 1960). Sobukwe subsequently announced that: 

African people have entrusted their whole future to us. And we have sworn that we are leading them, not to death, but to life abundant. My instructions, therefore, are that our people must be taught now and continuously that in this campaign we are going to observe absolute non-violence.

On the morning of 21 March, PAC members walked around Sharpeville waking people up and urging them to take part in the demonstration. Other PAC members tried to stop bus drivers from going on duty and this resulted in a lack transport for Sharpeville residents who worked in Vereeniging. Many people set out for work on bicycles or on foot, but some were intimidated by PAC members who threatened to burn their passes or "lay hands on them" if they went to work (Reverend Ambrose Reeves, 1966). However, many people joined the procession quite willingly.

Early on the 21st the local PAC leaders first gathered in a field not far from the Sharpeville police station, when a sizable crowd of people had joined them they proceeded to the police station - chanting freedom songs and calling out the campaign slogans " Izwe lethu " (Our land); " Awaphele amapasti " (Down with passes); " Sobukwe Sikhokhele " (Lead us Sobukwe); "Forward to Independence,Tomorrow the United States of Africa."

When the marchers reached Sharpeville's police station a heavy contingent of policemen were lined up outside, many on top of British-made Saracen armored cars. Mr. Tsolo and other members of the PAC Branch Executive continued to advance - in conformity with the novel PAC motto of "Leaders in Front" - and asked the White policeman in command to let them through so that they could surrender themselves for refusing to carry passes. Initially the police commander refused but much later, approximately 11h00, they were let through; the chanting of freedom songs continued and the slogans were repeated with even greater volume. Journalists who rushed there from other areas, after receiving word that the campaign was a runaway success confirmed "that for all their singing and shouting the crowd's mood was more festive than belligerent" (David M. Sibeko, 1976).

By mid-day approximately 300 armed policemen faced a crowd of approximately 5000 people. At 13h15 a small scuffle began near the entrance of the police station. A policeman was accidently pushed over and the crowd began to move forward to see what was happening.

According to the police, protesters began to stone them and, without any warning, one of the policemen on the top of an armoured car panicked and opened fire. His colleagues followed suit and opened fire. The firing lasted for approximately two minutes, leaving 69 people dead and, according to the official inquest, 180 people seriously wounded. The policemen were apparently jittery after a recent event in Durban where nine policemen were shot.

Unlike elsewhere on the East Rand where police used baton when charging at resisters, the police at Sharpeville used live ammunition. Eyewitness accounts attest to the fact that the people were given no warning to disperse. Eyewitness accounts and evidence later led to an official inquiry which attested to the fact that large number of people were shot in the back as they were fleeing the scene. The presence of armoured vehicles and air force fighter jets overhead also pointed to unnecessary provocation, especially as the crowd was unarmed and determined to stage a non-violent protest. According to an account from Humphrey Tyler, the assistant editor at Drum magazine :

The police have claimed they were in desperate danger because the crowd was stoning them. Yet only three policemen were reported to have been hit by stones - and more than 200 Africans were shot down. The police also have said that the crowd was armed with 'ferocious weapons', which littered the compound after they fled.

I saw no weapons, although I looked very carefully, and afterwards studied the photographs of the death scene. While I was there I saw only shoes, hats and a few bicycles left among the bodies. The crowd gave me no reason to feel scared, though I moved among them without any distinguishing mark to protect me, quite obvious with my white skin. I think the police were scared though, and I think the crowd knew it.

Within hours the news of the killing at Sharpeville was flashed around the world. 

On the morning of 21 March Robert Sobukwe left his house in Mofolo, a suburb of Soweto , and began walking to the Orlando police station. Along the way small groups of people joined him. In Pretoria a small group of six people presented themselves at the Hercules police station. In addition other small groups of PAC activists presented themselves at police stations in Durban and East London. However, the police simply took down the protesters names and did not arrest anyone.

When the news of the Sharpeville Massacre reached Cape Town a group of between 1000 to 5000 protestors gathered at the Langa Flats bus terminus around 17h00 on 21 March 1960. This was in direct defiance of the government's country-wide ban on public meetings and gatherings of more than ten persons. The police ordered the crowd to disperse within 3 minutes. When protesters reconvened in defiance, the police charged at them with batons, tear gas and guns. Three people were killed and 26 others were injured. Langa Township was gripped by tension and in the turmoil that ensued, In the violence that followed an employee of the Cape Timesnewspaper Richard Lombard was killed by the rioting crowd.

The Langa March, 30 March 1960

On 30 March 1960, Philip Kgosana led a Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) march of between 30.000-50.000 protestors from Langa and Nyanga to the police headquarters in Caledon Square. The protesters offered themselves up for arrest for not carrying their passes. Police were temporarily paralyzed with indecision. The event has been seen by some as a turning point in South African history. Kgosana agreed to disperse the protestors in if a meeting with J B Vorster , then Minister of Justice, could be secured. He was tricked into dispersing the crowd and was arrested by the police later that day. Along with other PAC leaders he was charged with incitement, but while on bail he left the country and went into exile. This march is seen by many as a turning point in South African history.

On the same day, the government responded by declaring a state of emergency and banning all public meetings. The police and army arrested thousands of Africans, who were imprisoned with their leaders, but still the mass action raged. By 9 April the death toll had risen to 83 non-White civilians and three non-White police officers. 26 Black policemen and 365 Black civilians were injured – no White police men were killed and only 60 were injured. However, Foreign Consulates were flooded with requests for emigration, and fearful White South Africans armed themselves.

The Minister of Native Affairs declared that apartheid was a model for the world. The Minister of Justice called for calm and the Minister of Finance encouraged immigration. The only Minister who showed any misgivings regarding government policy was Paul Sauer. His protest was ignored, and the government turned a blind eye to the increasing protests from industrialists and leaders of commerce. A deranged White man, David Pratt , made an assassination attempt on Dr. Verwoerd , who was seriously injured.

A week after the state of emergency was declared the African National Congress (ANC) and the PAC were banned under the Unlawful Organisations Act of 8 April 1960. Both organisations were deemed a serious threat to the safety of the public and the vote stood at 128 to 16 in favour of the banning. Only the four Native Representatives and members of the new Progressive Party voted against the Bill.

In conclusion; Sharpeville , the imposition of a state of emergency, the arrest of thousands of Black people and the banning of the ANC and PAC convinced the anti-apartheid leadership that non-violent action was not going to bring about change without armed action. The ANC and PAC were forced underground, and both parties launched military wings of their organisations in 1961.

Soweto uprising

The June 16 1976 Uprising that began in Soweto and spread countrywide profoundly changed the socio-political landscape in South Africa. Events that triggered the uprising can be traced back to policies of the Apartheid government that resulted in the introduction of the Bantu Education Act in 1953. The rise of the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) and the formation of South African Students Organisation (SASO) raised the political consciousness of many students while others joined the wave of anti-Apartheid sentiment within the student community. When the language of Afrikaans alongside English was made compulsory as a medium of instruction in schools in 1974, black students began mobilizing themselves. On 16 June 1976 between 3000 and 10 000 students mobilized by the South African Students Movement 's Action Committee supported by the BCM marched peacefully to demonstrate and protest against the government’s directive. The march was meant to culminate at a rally in Orlando Stadium.

On their pathway they were met by heavily armed police who fired teargas and later live ammunition on demonstrating students. This resulted in a widespread revolt that turned into an uprising against the government. While the uprising began in Soweto, it spread across the country and carried on until the following year.

The aftermath of the events of June 16 1976 had dire consequences for the Apartheid government. Images of the police firing on peacefully demonstrating students led an international revulsion against South Africa as its brutality was exposed. Meanwhile, the weakened and exiled liberation movements received new recruits fleeing political persecution at home giving impetus to the struggle against Apartheid. 

Bantu Education Policy

The word ‘ Bantu ’ in the term Bantu education is highly charged politically and has derogatory connotations. The Bantu Educational system was designed to ‘train and fit’ Africans for their role in the newly (1948) evolving apartheid society. Education was viewed as a part of the overall apartheid system including ‘homelands’, urban restrictions, pass laws and job reservation. This role was one of labourer, worker, and servant only. As H.F Verwoerd, the architect of the Bantu Education Act (1953) , conceived it:

“There is no place for [the African] in the European community above the level of certain forms of labour. It is of no avail for him to receive a training which has as its aim, absorption in the European community”

Pre-apartheid education of Africans

It is mistaken however, to understand that there was no pre-apartheid educational marginalization of black South Africans. Long before the historic 1948 white elections that gave the Nationalist Party power, there was a system of segregated and unequal education in the country. While white schooling was free, compulsory and expanding, black education was sorely neglected. Financial underprovision and an urban influx led to gravely insufficient schooling facilities, teachers and educational materials as well as student absenteeism or non-enrolment. A 1936 Inquiry identified problems, only to have almost nothing done about these needs.

Bantu education and the racist compartmentalizing of education.

In 1949 the government appointed the Eiselen Commission with the task of considering African education provision. The Commission recommended 'resorting to radical measures' for the 'effective reform of the Bantu school system'.

In 1953, prior to the apartheid government's Bantu Education Act, 90% of black South African schools were state-aided mission schools. The Act demanded that all such schools register with the state, and removed control of African education from the churches and provincial authorities. This control was centralized in the Bantu Education Department, a body dedicated to keeping it separate and inferior. Almost all the mission schools closed down. The Roman Catholic Church was largely alone in its attempt to keep its schools going without state aid. The 1953 Act also separated the financing of education for Africans from general state spending and linked it to direct tax paid by Africans themselves, with the result that far less was spent on black children than on white children.

In 1954--5 black teachers and students protested against Bantu Education. The African Education Movement was formed to provide alternative education. For a few years, cultural clubs operated as informal schools, but by 1960 they had closed down.

The Extension of University Education Act, Act 45 of 1959, put an end to black students attending white universities (mainly the universities of Cape Town and Witwatersrand). Separating tertiary institutions according to race, this Act set up separate 'tribal colleges' for black university students. The so-called 'bush' Universities such as Fort Hare, Vista, Venda, Western Cape were formed. Blacks could no longer freely attend white universities. Again, there were strong protests.

Expenditure on Bantu Education increased from the late 1960s, once the apartheid Nationalist government saw the need for a trained African labour force. Through this, more African children attended school than under the old missionary system of education, albeit grossly deprived of facilities in comparison with the education of other races, especially whites.

Nationally, pupil:teacher ratios went up from 46:1 in 1955 to 58:1 in 1967. Overcrowded classrooms were used on a rota basis. There was also a lack of teachers, and many of those who did teach were underqualified. In 1961, only 10 per cent of black teachers held a matriculation certificate [last year of high school]. Black education was essentially retrogressing, with teachers being less qualified than their students.

The Coloured Person's Education Act of 1963 put control of 'coloured' education under the Department of Coloured Affairs. 'Coloured' schools also had to be registered with the government. 'Coloured' education was made compulsory, but was now effectively separated from white schooling.

The 1965 Indian Education Act was passed to separate and control Indian education, which was placed under the Department of Indian Affairs. In 1976, the SAIC took over certain educational functions. Indian education was also made compulsory.

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.

Oppression through inferior education and the 1976 Soweto uprising

An increase in secondary school attendance had a significant effect on youth culture. Previously, many young people spent the time between leaving primary school and obtaining a job (if they were lucky) in gangs, which generally lacked any political consciousness. But now secondary school students were developing their own. In 1969 the black South African Student Organization (SASO) was formed.

Though Bantu Education was designed to deprive Africans and isolate them from 'subversive' ideas, indignation at being given such 'gutter' education became a major focus for resistance, most notably in the 1976 Soweto uprising. In the wake of this effective and clear protest, some reform attempts were made, but it was a case of too little, too late. Major disparities in racially separate education provision continued into the 1990s.

When high-school students in Soweto started protesting for better education on 16 June 1976, police responded with teargas and live bullets. It is commemorated today by a South African national holiday, Youth day, which honors all the young people who lost their lives in the struggle against Apartheid and Bantu Education.

In the 1980s very little education at all took place in the Bantu Education system, which was the target of almost continuous protest. The legacy of decades of inferior education (underdevelopment, poor self-image, economic depression, unemployment, crime, etc.) has lasted far beyond the introduction of a single educational system in 1994 with the first democratic elections, and the creation of the Government of National Unity.

Strikes in the Schools

Presumably, not all students of the earlier generation 'worshipped the school authorities'! The first, recorded stoppages of lessons, (always called strikes in the South African newspapers), and the first riots in African schools occurred in 1920. In February, students at the Kilnerton training centre went on a hunger strike 'for more food'... read on

Cape Schools Join the Revolt

The school students in Cape Town reacted to the news they heard of events in Soweto. A teacher at one of the Coloured schools was later to write: 'We haven't done much by way of teaching since the Soweto riots first began. Kids were restless, tense and confused. 'There is no similar record of what the African children thought, but it is known that they were aware of the extra police patrols that were set up in the townships following June 16. After the first shootings in Cape Town, a teacher at one of the schools recounted... read on

The NUSAS Issue

Throughout the 1960's black students campaigned for the right to affiliate to the National Union of South African Students (NUSAS) and just as steadfastly, the move was vetoed by the campus authorities. NUSAS was also keen to welcome the colleges into their fold. Not only would this make it the largest student organisation in the country, but it would also bring into the liberal ''old all student opponents of the government's apartheid policy.... read on

Down with Afrikaans

Countdown to conflict: The main cause of the protests that started in African schools in the Transvaal at the beginning of 1975 was a directive from the Bantu Education Department that Afrikaans had to be used on an equal basis with English as one of the languages of instruction in the department's secondary schools... read on

The introduction of Afrikaans alongside English as a medium of instruction is considered the immediate cause of the Soweto uprising, but there are a various factors behind the 1976 student unrest. These factors can certainly be traced back to the Bantu Education Act introduced by the Apartheid government in 1953. The Act introduced a new Department of Bantu Education which was integrated into the Department of Native Affairs under Dr Hendrik F. Verwoerd. The provisions of the Bantu Education Act and some policy statements made by the Bantu Education Department were directly responsible for the uprisings. Dr Verwoerd, who engineered the Bantu Education Act, announced that “Natives (blacks) must be taught from an early age that equality with Europeans (whites) is not for them”.

Although the Bantu Education Act made it easier for more children to attend school in Soweto than it had been with the missionary system of education, there was a great deal of discontent about the lack of facilities. Throughout the country there was a dire shortage of classrooms for Black children. There was also a lack of teachers and many of the teachers were under-qualified. Nationally, pupil-to-teacher ratios went up from 46:1 in 1955 to 58:1 in 1967. Because of the lack of proper classrooms and the crippling government homeland policy, students were forced to return to “their homelands” to attend the newly built schools there.

The government was spending far more on White education than on Black education; R644 was spent annually for each White student, while only R42 was budgeted for a Black school child. In 1976 there were 257 505 pupils enrolled in Form 1 at high schools which had a capacity for only 38 000 students.

To alleviate the situation pupils who had passed their standard six examinations were requested to repeat the standard. This was met with great resentment by the students and their parents. Although the situation did not lead to an immediate revolt, it certainly served to build up tensions prior to the 1976 student uprising.

In 1975 the government was phasing out Standard Eight (or Junior Certificate (JC)). By then, Standard Six had already been phased out and many students graduating from Primary Schools were being sent to the emerging Junior Secondary Schools. It was in these Junior Secondary schools that the 50-50 language rule was to be applied.

The issue that caused massive discontent and made resentment boil over into the 1976 uprising was a decree issued by the Bantu Education Department. Deputy Minister Andries Treurnicht sent instructions to the School Boards, inspectors and principals to the effect that Afrikaans should be put on an equal basis with English as a medium of instruction in all schools. These instructions drew immediate negative reaction from various quarters of the community. The first body to react was the Tswana School Boards, which comprised school boards from Meadowlands, Dobsonville and other areas in Soweto. The minutes of the meeting of the Tswana School Board held on 20 January 1976 read:

 "The circuit inspector told the board that the Secretary for Bantu Education has stated that all direct taxes paid by the Black population of South Africa are being sent to the various homelands for educational purposes there. 

"In urban areas the education of a Black child is being paid for by the White population, that is English and Afrikaans speaking groups. Therefore the Secretary for Bantu Education has the responsibility of satisfying the English and Afrikaans-speaking people. Consequently, as the only way of satisfying both groups, the medium of instruction in all schools shall be on a 50-50 basis.... In future, if schools teach through a medium not prescribed by the department for a particular subject, examination question papers will only be set in the medium with no option of the other language".

Teachers also raised objections to the government announcement. Some Black teachers, who were members of the African Teachers Association of South Africa, complained that they were not fluent in Afrikaans. The students initially organised themselves into local cultural groups and youth clubs. At school there was a significant number of branches of the Students Christian Movements (SCMs), which were largely apolitical in character. SASM penetrated these formations between 1974 and 1976. And when conditions ripened for the outbreak of protests, SASM formed an Action Committee on 13 June 1976, which was later renamed the Soweto Student Representative Council (SSRC). They were conscientised and influenced by national organisations such as the Black Peoples' Convention (BPC), South African Student Organisations (SASO)and by the Black Consciousness philosophy. They rejected the idea of being taught in the language of the oppressor.

The uprising took place at a time when liberation movements were banned throughout the country and South Africa was in the grip of apartheid. The protest started off peacefully in Soweto but it turned violent when the police opened fire on unarmed students. By the third day the unrest had gained momentum and spread to townships around Soweto and other parts of the country. The class of 1976 bravely took to the streets and overturned the whole notion that workers were the only essential force to challenge the apartheid regime. Indeed, they succeeded where their parents had failed. They not only occupied city centres but also closed schools and alcohol outlets.

June 16 Soweto Youth Uprising

The release of Nelson Mandela and unbanning of liberation movements The announcement by President FW de Klerk to release Nelson Mandela and unban the African National Congress (ANC), Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), the South African Communist Party (SACP) and other liberation movements was  received with mixed feelings inside and outside Parliament. Black and White South Africans celebrated the news as they were optimistic that the country was taking a turn for the better.  In Cape Town , Archbishop Mpilo Desmond Tutu was at St George's Cathedral with his congregation ready to celebrate an event he considered as the Second Coming.

It is believed that de Klerk’s decision to release Mandela and to unban political parties was the result of the following factors. Firstly, South Africa had been isolated through international trade sanctions to the extent that the South African economy was severely handicapped.  Coupled with this, the multiple States of Emergency measures enacted by the Apartheid State had consistently failed to quell the uprisings. Lastly South Africa was almost totally isolated from the international community in terms of cultural and sporting events.

This milestone was followed by tension-driven negotiations aimed at transferring power from white minority to the majority of South Africans. Though it brought about democracy, this journey was not totally without obstacles. These ranged from intensification of political violence in some parts of South Africa to unilateral declarations by some groups to break away from South Africa and form their own homelands. Some scholars have argued that de Klerk narrowly avoided a civil war that would have been severely detrimental to the country and the region as a whole. The decision taken by de Klerk was not an easy one, as he faced opposition not only from the political opponents, but also from his own party ( National Party ).

https://mg.co.za/article/2015-03-21-south-africa-remembering-the-sharpeville-massacre | http://www.sahistory.org.za/topic/sharpeville-massacre-21-march-1960 | http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/langa-march-30-march-1960 | http://www.sahistory.org.za/topic/june-16-soweto-youth-uprising | http://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/fw-de-klerk-announces-release-nelson-mandela-and-unbans-political-organisations

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World History Project - 1750 to the Present

Course: world history project - 1750 to the present   >   unit 8.

• READ: End of Old Regimes
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• WATCH: Resisting Colonialism - Through a Ghanaian Lens

READ: Apartheid

• End of Empire

First read: preview and skimming for gist

Second read: key ideas and understanding content.

• What was apartheid?
• What were some apartheid laws and policies?
• In what ways does the author argue that apartheid was like Jim Crow in the US South?
• What did the Freedom Charter call for?
• How did the struggle against apartheid get caught up in the Cold War?
• What happened in 1976, in Soweto, that was so important?
• What kinds of international response did protests like these create?

Third read: evaluating and corroborating

• The end of apartheid was a group effort. What changes in “community” within South Africa helped end apartheid. What actions of global “networks” helped end the racist system? Why is it useful to view this important change through both frames?
• This article highlights the communities and networks that resisted apartheid. Can you explain any ways that global and local production and distribution were helpful in ending the system?

What is apartheid?

• Classifying all South Africans into racial categories: "white," "black," and "colored" (mixed race).
• Making it illegal for people to marry across those categories, or even to have sexual relations.
• Mandating segregation (separation of races) in schools and all public facilities.
• Moving all black South Africans into small areas referred to as "homelands" or Bantustans. In total, 30 million black South Africans—over 70 percent of the population—were moved onto 13 percent of South Africa's land.
• Restricting freedom of movement, requiring black South Africans to always carry a "pass book" showing their assigned race and "homeland." Being outside of one's "homeland" was cause for arrest.
• Forbidding black South Africans from owning land outside of the Bantustans.
• Forbidding black labor unions from striking.
• Making it illegal to protest, or to gather in groups large enough to start a protest.
• Denying black people the right to vote, except for local authorities in their Bantustans.

The anti-apartheid movement

A global response.

• Afrikaans is one of the official languages of South Africa. This language evolved from the Dutch, who settled in the area in the seventeenth century.
• Townships in South Africa are sections within urban areas that are usually underdeveloped and non-white.

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Apartheid South Africa 1940s to 1960s Essay for Grade 11

On this page, we guide grade 11 student on how to write “Apartheid South Africa 1940s to 1960s Essay”.

Table of Contents

Apartheid in South Africa was a system of institutionalised racial segregation and discrimination that existed from the late 1940s until the early 1990s. This period in South African history is marked by the enforcement of legal policies and practices aimed at separating the races and maintaining white dominance in all aspects of life. The years between the 1940s and the 1960s were critical in laying the foundations and entrenching the policies that would define this era. This essay will explore the implementation of apartheid laws , resistance movements , and international reactions to apartheid from the 1940s to the 1960s.

Implementation of Apartheid Laws

The formal introduction of apartheid can be traced back to the National Party’s victory in the 1948 elections . The party, which represented the Afrikaner nationalist interest, institutionalised apartheid as a means of securing white dominance. Key legislation enacted during this period included:

• The Population Registration Act (1950): This act classified all South Africans into racial groups – ‘white’, ‘black’, ‘coloured’, and ‘Indian’. This classification was a prerequisite for the implementation of other apartheid laws.
• The Group Areas Act (1950): This law geographically segregated South Africans by race , determining where different racial groups could live, work, and own property.
• The Suppression of Communism Act (1950): Though ostensibly aimed at combating communism , this act was frequently used to silence critics of apartheid, including non-communists.

Resistance Movements

Resistance against apartheid came from various quarters, including political parties, trade unions, and individual activists. The most prominent of these movements included:

• The African National Congress (ANC): Initially adopting a policy of peaceful protest, the ANC organised strikes, boycotts, and civil disobedience campaigns. Following the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960, the ANC shifted to a strategy of armed struggle .
• The Pan Africanist Congress (PAC): A breakaway from the ANC, the PAC also played a significant role in organising protests against apartheid, notably the anti-Pass Laws protest that led to the Sharpeville Massacre.
• Sharpeville Massacre (1960): A turning point in the resistance against apartheid, where a peaceful protest against pass laws in Sharpeville turned deadly, with police opening fire on demonstrators, resulting in 69 deaths.

International Reactions to Apartheid

The international community’s response to apartheid was initially muted, but as the realities of apartheid became more widely known, international condemnation grew. Significant aspects of the international reaction included:

• United Nations Condemnation: The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution in 1962 calling for sanctions against South Africa, urging member states to cease military and economic relations with the apartheid regime.
• Isolation in Sports: South Africa was banned from the Olympic Games and other international sporting events, highlighting the growing international isolation of the apartheid government.

Student Guide

When writing an essay on Apartheid in South Africa from the 1940s to the 1960s, focusing on clarity, depth, and evidence-based arguments is crucial. Here are some useful tips to enhance your essay writing:

• Start with a Strong Thesis Statement:
• Clearly state your essay’s main argument or analysis point at the end of your introduction. This sets the direction and tone of your essay. For example, “This essay argues that the apartheid laws enacted between the 1940s and 1960s not only institutionalised racial segregation but also laid the foundation for the resistance movements that eventually led to apartheid’s downfall.”
• Organise Your Essay Logically:
• Use subheadings to divide your essay into manageable sections, such as the implementation of apartheid laws, resistance movements, and international reactions. This helps readers follow your argument more easily.
• Use Evidence to Support Your Points:
• Incorporate specific examples and quotes from primary and secondary sources to back up your statements. For instance, reference the Population Registration Act when discussing racial classification or cite international condemnation from United Nations resolutions.
• Analyse, Don’t Just Describe:
• Go beyond simply describing events by analysing their impact and significance . For example, when discussing the Sharpeville Massacre, explore its effect on both the apartheid government’s policies and the tactics of resistance movements.
• Acknowledge Different Perspectives:
• While focusing on the factual history of apartheid, also acknowledge the various perspectives on apartheid policies and resistance efforts, including those of the government, opposition movements, and international bodies.
• Conclude Effectively:
• Summarise the main points of your essay and reiterate your thesis in the context of the information discussed. Offer a concluding thought that encourages further reflection, such as the legacy of apartheid in contemporary South Africa.
• Reference Accurately:
• Ensure all sources are accurately cited in your essay to avoid plagiarism and to lend credibility to your arguments. Follow the specific referencing style required by your teacher or educational institution.
• Proofread and Revise:
• Check your essay for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors. Also, ensure that your argument flows logically and that each section supports your thesis statement.
• Seek Feedback:
• Before final submission, consider getting feedback from teachers, peers, or tutors. Fresh eyes can offer valuable insights and identify areas for improvement.

By incorporating these tips, you can create a well-argued, informative, and engaging essay on Apartheid in South Africa that meets the expectations of a Grade 11 history assignment.

The period from the 1940s to the 1960s was pivotal in the establishment and consolidation of the apartheid system in South Africa. Through the enactment of draconian laws, the apartheid government institutionalised racial discrimination, which led to widespread resistance within the country and condemnation from the international community. This era laid the groundwork for the struggles and transformations that would eventually lead to the end of apartheid.

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The Struggle for Equality: Apartheid in South Africa

Author: Eilis Hood

Edward Heston School

Seminar: From Slavery to Civil Rights

Grade Level: 7

Keywords: Apartheid , History , Middle School , Nelson Mandela , social studies , South Africa

School Subject(s): Social Studies

This curriculum unit has been designed for use in a seventh grade Social Studies classroom.  While our middle school students usually have an understanding of the issue of civil rights in this country, it is important that they understand that racial struggles have affected other countries as well.  Because seventh grade students study Africa in Social Studies class, it is an appropriate time to introduce South Africa’s policy of apartheid as something that is similar to, but perhaps much more complex than the civil rights movement here in the United States.  Apartheid was government-sanctioned racism that encouraged, and often times put into law, the complete separation of the races.  Every aspect of a person’s life was determined by skin color.

This unit will start by briefly comparing and contrasting apartheid to civil rights.  It will then go on to cover the causes of apartheid and what life was like for those living in South Africa.  Students will look at video footage from South Africa during apartheid, including two demonstrations that took place to protest the policies of apartheid.  They will then determine events that led to the dismantling of apartheid.  Students will also spend time looking into the life of Nelson Mandela who became the worldwide face of the anti-apartheid movement during his 27 years in prison and his eventual election as the first black president of South Africa.

Download Unit: 13.01.05-unit.pdf

Did you try this unit in your classroom? Give us your feedback here.

Full Unit Text

Once slavery was outlawed in the United States, blacks gained citizenship and the right to vote, but they still had to fight long and hard to be treated the same as their white counterparts.  When the fight for equal rights reached it peak in the 1950s and 60s, people from all walks of life came together to demand change.  We saw people like Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks who had the courage to stand up for what they believed in.  The federal government finally took up the issue and passed the Civil Rights Act in 1964, which guaranteed basic civil rights to all Americans.  This is a subject fairly familiar to our middle school students.  But what many of them don’t know is that similar struggles of racial repression and inequality have taken place in other parts of the world.  They should understand that as recently as 1994, it was South Africa’s policy to keep the races totally separated and not even afford people of color basic rights of citizenship and voting.

Seventh grade students in the School District of Philadelphia study world cultures and geography, specifically the Eastern Hemisphere.  The continent of Africa is studied as well as the country of South Africa.  The history of apartheid is important to the study of South Africa and this unit is intended to enhance student understanding of the issue.  While we won’t go in depth to specifically lay out similarities between apartheid and civil rights in the United States, students will be able to see the parallels between South Africa and the United States in so far as their similar struggles with race and equality.  In addition, students should understand the importance of Nelson Mandela, who in spite of facing almost unbeatable odds, was able to help defeat apartheid and become the first black president of South Africa.  It is important for students to see that people who work hard can triumph despite facing discrimination and other seemingly insurmountable odds.

When the 13 th , 14 th , and 15 th amendments to the United States Constitution were passed to end slavery, grant citizenship, and extend voting rights to men regardless of color, it seemed that the federal government had perhaps done its job to end hundreds of years of black oppression.  What lurked in America for decades afterwards, however, was a sinister approach to undermine those amendments in the form of Jim Crow laws.  Hidden under the guise of “separate but equal” was the reality of segregation and racism that made blacks use different bathrooms and drinking fountains, go to different schools, and ride in the back of the bus.  When Congress finally passed the Civil Rights Act in 1964, the federal government said that no one could be denied basic rights on the basis of color.

All that time however, blacks were considered citizens of the United States.  They were allowed to vote.  And while the Jim Crow South made life miserable for many, the official position of the government was made clear in those 13 th , 14 th , and 15 th amendments to the Constitution.  Now imagine a country where the government’s official policy was one that refused to recognize the citizenship of any person deemed to be black or colored based on an arbitrary test of race.  Imagine a government that enacted a policy of total separation of the races that decided where people could live, work, and who they could marry.  In 1962 L.E. Neame wrote that “in other parts of the world the question of discrimination on the ground of the colour of the skin is being gradually, and in the main peacefully, resolved…They hold that every race is entitled to govern the land in which it lives, or at least share in its administration…The Republic of South Africa refuses to fall into line.  Its White rulers are not prepared to share authority with Non-Whites.  They insist upon the political, social, industrial, and residential separation of Europeans and Non-Europeans (9).”  This was apartheid.  And it lasted until 1994.

While there does not seem to be a consensus on who first used the term, the word apartheid was intended to be taken literally and was a fitting name for the policy that began in 1948.  Apartheid, or when translated, “apart-hood”,  “controlled every aspect of black people’s lives in South Africa.  Strictly enforced legislation prescribed who could live in which parts of the country and the type of work they might do.”  This led to a “radically uneven and unjust distribution of space, resources and opportunity according to a hierarchical and arbitrary system of racial groupings (Kellet, Mothwa, and Napier 35).”  Apartheid ensured the superiority of the whites over the blacks by relegating them to work in select low-paying jobs, live in certain areas, and remain separate from the whites living in South Africa.

Although South Africa’s official policy of racial segregation began in the early-20th century, the country had experienced countless years of racial discrimination before that.  In the 1600‘s, colonialism brought Dutch and British settlers to South Africa, and despite being widely outnumbered by black South Africans, the whites soon displaced local tribes.  When the Union of South Africa was formed in 1909 under the British Empire, most political rights were taken away from black South Africans.  Although at that time there was no strict policy governing where Africans could live, reserves called “homelands” were created for that purpose.  Blacks lost the right to strike as well as the certifications necessary for working in the mines.  As mining was a main source of income for South Africa’ s economy, many blacks were forced out of the only job they had ever worked.  Then in 1948, with the narrow victory of the National Party, came the adoption of the apartheid laws, mainly the Population Registration Act, the Mixed Marriage Act, and the Group Areas Act.  These three laws sought to control and oppress the black population of the country.  Soon after that South Africans were forced to live in communities according to their color.  Blacks who made up 80% of the population were forced to move onto only 10% of the country’s land—those so-called “homelands” that had been set up years before.  This kind of treatment went on for decades despite being fought by South Africans and others from all over the world.  Not until the early 1990s was apartheid repealed for good and blacks given the right to vote in their first democratic election.

The desire for white dominance began all the way back in the mid-1600s when the Dutch needed a pit stop along their long trade routes to the East.  They needed a place to restock water, meat, and vegetables and the southern tip of Africa was just the place.  This soon became the first white colony in South Africa.  The Boers or Afrikaners, as these Dutch settlers were known, spoke a language called Afrikaans.  In the early 1800s, the British took over this Dutch colony and South Africa became a part of the British Empire. (BBC, “Problems in South Africa”)  Not long after this came the discovery of gold and the floodgates opened once the black South Africans, Dutch, and British all realized the wealth that would come of it.  White settlers fought blacks for land rights.  The Boers fought the British and demanded their own country.  Eventually, there had to be a decision: should the “white ‘nation’, made up of Boer and Brit, consist of ‘one stream’ or ‘two streams’?” (Welsh 3).  After many years of back and forth, the Brits and Boers were able to streamline their ideas just enough to ensure a surprise National Party win in the 1948 elections.  This is when African oppression ceased to just be the method that whites used to protect their individual interests.  It became the law of the land.  The government had no shame in making apartheid official.

Even before 1948 there were policies in place that aimed at limiting the rights of Africans.  In 1936 about 14% of land in South Africa was set aside for blacks.  This restricted their ability to purchase land elsewhere and ensured the territorial separation of “Native and non-Native” (Welsh).   There were labor concerns, too.  Whites wanted to restrict Africans’ access to the best labor markets so they enacted pass laws that limited their right to move from place to place to look for better jobs.  Even though the government ensured these pass laws were meant to prevent vagabondage and crime, in reality they restricted Africans’ access to urban areas where industry and commerce jobs were more lucrative and relegated them to the lower paying jobs of agriculture and mining in more rural areas.  This led to anger and irritation among blacks, and it only got worse after 1948.

Blacks who moved to towns and cities looking for better jobs were considered “temporary” and were not considered legitimate landowners.  Because most had no right to vote as the requirements for voting were obscure and difficult to meet, nor did they have representation in Parliament, townships in urban areas with high concentrations of blacks were ignored.  Malnutrition, illness, and maladjustment “due to broken families” ran rampant in these parts of town (Welsh).  The idea was to make life in the cities as bad as possible for blacks so they would move out to their “homelands.”  The government phased out hospitals, subsidized housing, and old age homes among other services. The bad situation only got worse when poor whites who also faced bad conditions, but who could vote, voted for politicians who advanced their cause at the expense of the Africans.

The Population Registration Act of 1950 aimed to classify every South African according to race.  Every person was to be identified as belonging to one of four racial classifications—White or European, Colored, Indian (or Asian), and African—and judgments were to be based upon “appearance, general acceptance, and repute” (Welsh 54).  The system was also meant to be inflexible, a principle that would create difficulty for those who might pass as white or who may look different than others in their self-described racial category.  When introducing this new law, a government official offered the rationale that “the determination of a person’s race is of the greatest importance in the enforcement of any existing or future laws in connection with separate residential areas” (54).

The Group Areas Act of 1950 involved the total residential and business segregation of different color groups in every town.  The government claimed that these measures were designed to “eliminate friction between the races…because we believe that all points of contact between the races must be avoided…Contact brings about friction, friction brings about heat, and may cause a conflagration” (55).  Now the impact of racism, that perhaps had for long only really been felt by black Africans, was also felt by those in the Indian and colored sub-groups.  Some believed that this act was a reaction to the success of Indians in South Africa and the desire to acquire their properties and wealth.  The act was highly discriminatory, and although black Africans had been required to live separately from others since the 1920s, Indians and colored people were now also able to live only in certain areas.  Between 1950 and 1984, over 83,000 colored people and 40,000 Indians were moved.

As time went on “separateness” extended to every aspect of daily life for South Africa.  In 1956, the Separate Representation of Voters Act abolished any voting rights for any person of color.  There were separate restaurants, beaches, and public facilities.  Groups used different modes of transportation.  Whites and blacks could not marry.  Mixed race sports were prohibited.  Even cemeteries and blood donations were kept racially separated. ‘Whites Only’ signs were everywhere and they “reminded blacks of their subordinate status and reinforced the humiliation that was an intrinsic part of it” (Welsh and Spence 13).  In 1959 universities were no longer able to admit colored students.  The pass system required Africans to carry reference books at all times for what was called “influx control” by the government. All black men and women were required to carry these reference books, which included personal information like name and employer.  This was a particularly contentious policy because it allowed for the harassment of Africans by police and other officials who claimed they were confirming that blacks were lawfully in a particular area.  Pass book violations were prosecuted on a large scale and by some reports led to millions of convictions.

In 1912, the African National Congress (ANC) was founded.  The group, who was first known as the South African Native National Congress, was originally founded to meet a couple of times a year to discuss the situation of Africans in South Africa.  The group began to fight for the rights of black South Africans when apartheid was established and the continued rule by the white minority and repression of blacks succeeded in further galvanizing the party.  They strived to for several goals: to be a watchdog for African interests, to educate white representatives about the interests of Africans, to remove the color bar, and to push for the equal representation of Africans in parliament.  After World War II there was a big change in how the group voiced their demands.  Where they once took a more submissive role in voicing their demands, they became much more assertive.  Their demands moved towards African nationalism and African interests and away from black and white cooperation and identical interests.  The ANC, and the Pan-African Congress (PAC) which later broke away from the ANC, would prove to be key players in the fight for the end of apartheid.

As time went on, more and more individuals and groups gathered to protest the atrocities of the apartheid policies.  Things came to a head on March 21, 1960 at the Sharpeville police station.  A crowd of 5,000 to 7,000 people had gathered to protest pass book laws which they felt were solely designed to restrict the movement of blacks in white areas.  The law said that anyone found without their required book could be arrested and detained for up to thirty days ( Sharpeville Shootout ).  The plan was to have black people show up at the police station without their reference books for a non-violent protest they hoped would help force change in the law.  The aim was for so many blacks to be arrested for not carrying their books that the prisons would be overcrowded, there wouldn’t be enough workers, and that without those workers the economy would grind to a halt.  A few hours into the demonstration, for reasons that remain unclear, the police opened fire on the crowd.  69 blacks were killed and over 180 wounded.  It is said that many were shot in the back while fleeing (Welsh and Spence 27).  The massacre resulted in a shockwave of other protests across the country where as many as 80 others were killed.

While the massacre at Sharpeville did serve to heighten international condemnation of the apartheid policies in South Africa, it also resulted in a swift and severe crackdown by the government.  They declared a state of emergency to ensure that the government’s grip on the situation did not loosen whatsoever.  Police forces detained 11,500 people and the ANC and PAC were banned.  The security branch of the police was increased and they were trained to use new weapons including machine guns in order to curb any potential gatherings by protesters.  No longer were any rights to be afforded to anyone in police custody—police could use torture, solitary confinement, and prolonged detention without trial at will.  Deaths in detention became commonplace (Welsh 73).  By 1967, the period that suspects could be detained without trial was indefinite, up from 12 days in 1961, 90 days in 1963, and 180 days in 1965 (Welsh and Spence 30).  The Terrorism Act, which made indefinite detention a legal practice, also entitled police to act as if in a state of war. Because of these extreme measures, by 1990, 73 detainees had died in custody at the hands of interrogators.

In June of 1976 in Soweto, another large gathering turned deadly, this time a march of some 6,000 Africans protesting new education policy.  The new policy mandated schools to teach in Afrikaans instead of English, which was the main language spoken by blacks.  Any deviation from this directive needed to be approved by government officials.  This outraged Africans and tensions began to rise.  When the small police force tried, and failed, to use teargas to disperse the crowd, they turned to violence.  Two protesters were shot and killed by police, and by the end of the day 15 had been fatally wounded.  The repercussions of this deadly protest were felt all around as “sympathy demonstrations” took place across the country.  Between June and February of 1977, police reported 575 deaths throughout the country as a result of these demonstrations.  Some feel that this was a deliberate undercount and that the numbers were really closer to twice that number (Welsh and Spence 41).

Although the ANC started as a watchdog group for the rights of Africans, it became increasingly clear that passive negotiations would not make much of a difference.  In response to the recent political crackdown on protests by blacks, ANC officials decided a more radical approach was necessary to advance their goals and a military wing called Spear of the Nation was established in 1961.  Nelson Mandela was a co-founder.

Nelson Mandela was born Rolihlahla Mandela in South Africa in 1918 and was later given the name “Nelson” by a teacher at school.  In 1942 he became a lawyer.  Frustrated by the treatment of blacks in South Africa, Mandela joined the ANC in 1944.  Mandela, along with his friend Oliver Tambo, opened South Africa’s first black law firm and worked to protect poor black people from the oppressive apartheid policies.  In this way, he led many young people towards the ANC.  He was arrested and charged with treason along with 155 others in 1956 but was acquitted in 1961.  Around this time and in the wake of the Sharpeville massacre, many members of the ANC, including Mandela, realized that their style of peaceful negotiating was not going to accomplish anything.  A militarized faction called the “Spear of the Nation” was formed.  Of this change he said, “It would be wrong and unrealistic for African leaders to continue preaching peace and nonviolence at a time when the government met our peaceful demands with force. It was only when all else had failed, when all channels of peaceful protest had been barred to us, that the decision was made to embark on violent forms of political struggle” (Nelson Mandela, History).

In 1962, Mandela was arrested again, this time accused with plotting sabotage against South Africa.  He was charged along with several others, found guilty, and given a life sentence.  Even behind bars, Mandela remained the face of the anti-apartheid movement which had spread to countries around the world.  Foreign governments imposed embargoes, South African athletes were not permitted to enter the Olympics from 1964-1992, and South African soccer was banned from FIFA play.  The cracks in the apartheid system started to show in the late 1980s.  In 1989, F.W. de Klerk was elected president and declared that South Africa should be a non-racist country.  He lifted the ban on the ANC.  In February 1990 de Klerk ordered that Mandela be released from prison after spending 27 years behind bars.

Over the next couple of years, the National Party and the ANC negotiated about how apartheid could best be dismantled.  De Klerk and Mandela won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 and the following year South Africa held its first free elections in which people of all colors could vote.  Nelson Mandela was elected the nation’s first black president.  Apartheid had officially ended.  He is credited with improving race relations and establishing programs to improve the lives of poor Africans.  While it can be argued that conditions are still not equal in South Africa between blacks and whites, it cannot be doubted that lives are better without the government sanctioned racism that lasted for almost 50 years.

The objective for this unit is for students to gain an understanding of the racial struggles that took place in South Africa during apartheid and how apartheid affected the lives of everyone in South Africa.  Students will learn what caused apartheid laws to be established in South Africa and how they affected the lives of people who lived there, specifically non-whites.  Students will determine the events that finally led to the dismantling of the policy.  In addition, students will learn about the life of Nelson Mandela, from his early years as the head of the African National Congress working for equality, to his 27 years spent in jail, to his eventually becoming president of South Africa.

This unit will include a variety of strategies for students to learn about apartheid as well as demonstrate their understanding of the topic.  The unit will start with video clips that discuss similarities and differences between apartheid and the civil rights movement to help put apartheid into context for the students.  They will then view another video clip to get a introductory look at apartheid practices in South Africa.  They will also identify key vocabulary for the unit.  Students will later read an article and use graphic organizers to identify causes and effects of the apartheid policies as well as causes of the downfall of apartheid.  They will view video clips about two protests that turned violent, the Sharpeville massacre and the Soweto uprising.  The last two days of the unit will be spent doing research on Nelson Mandela to create a mock Facebook page for him.  The unit will conclude with an assessment and the completion of their Nelson Mandela Facebook project using the online tool “Fakebook”.

Classroom Activities

These activities are designed to take place in a 60-minute social studies class period.  Although they have been designed to be used in a 7th grade classroom, they can be adapted for use in other grades.  Teachers can also feel free to differentiate for their students where necessary.  Furthermore, these lessons were designed with the technology available to my class in mind, specifically the use of a Promethean board and laptops.  These lessons can be adapted if these materials are not available to you.

Objectives:

Students will identify one similarity and one difference between apartheid in South Africa and the Civil Rights movement in the United States.  They will define key terms that are important for the understanding of apartheid.  Students will also watch various video clips that will give them a glimpse into what life was like for blacks during apartheid.

Display on the board: What do you know about the civil rights movement?  List what you know about the struggle that blacks in this country went through to gain real equality.

Introduction:

Share out do now responses.  Explain to students that racial inequality is a problem that has been felt around the world for centuries, and in some cases still exists today.  We know a lot about what blacks went through in this country, but it is important to know what they went through in other parts of the world.  One country that has had an ugly past regarding race relations is South Africa.  The government there started a policy that wanted to kept blacks and whites completely separated.

Activities:

• Hand out video worksheet (found in the appendix). Play video clips called “Apartheid and Civil Rights” and “The Enforcement of Apartheid” from Project Explorer ( http://projectexplorer.org/ms/za/apartheid.php ). As students watch they should pay special attention when the man explains the difference between the civil rights movement and apartheid and the conditions in which blacks and other colored people lived in.  They will need to record this information on the t-chart at the top of the paper.  After the videos, discuss what students wrote on their chart. They will then use their t-chart to determine one similarity and one difference between the civil rights movement and apartheid and record their findings at the bottom of the worksheet.
• Introduce the following terms to students that will help them in their understanding of apartheid: apartheid, Afrikaners, colonialism, African National Congress, segregation, National Party, Nelson Mandela, and F.W. de Klerk. Present the definitions of the words in a manner you see fit for your class (i.e. PowerPoint, overhead, etc.) Students will complete the chart on the back of worksheet #1 with the definitions of these key terms.
• Show a segment from “Witness: South Africa and Apartheid 1948-1994” ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfNNaW1bR_Q ) from 1:30-7:30. Students should pay attention to how non-whites are being described and how they are treated and record what they see during the video on the worksheet.

Conclusion:

Ask students to share what they saw in the video.  Discuss what they think it would be like to live in South Africa during apartheid.

Students will read about the history of South Africa and apartheid.  They will determine at least three causes of apartheid and describe effects of the policy on the people of South Africa.  Students will record causes and effects of apartheid on a graphic organizer.

Briefly review what the class learned in day one.  Explain that apartheid is the term for the policies in South Africa that required blacks and whites to live in different places, have different jobs, and also established a sense of white superiority in South Africa.

• Provide students with the cause and effect graphic organizer (found in the appendix) and the Scholastic article “Apartheid in South Africa” about apartheid in South Africa found at http://teachershare.scholastic.com/resources/13534 under the assets tab. Direct students to write the word ‘apartheid’ on the arrow in the middle of the graphic organizer.  In pairs, students will read pages 1-2 of the article. They will determine three causes of apartheid and record them on the left side of the graphic organizer.  They will then record three effects of apartheid on the people of South Africa.  Causes might include: Dutch and British settlers colonized South Africa; when South Africa became independent, most of the leaders were white; whites wanted control of the land and minerals found in South Africa.  Effects may include: all people had to be identified as white, Asian, colored, or black; forced to live in areas according to race; blacks were prevented from working in certain jobs and attending certain schools; people were forced to carry passes that contained their personal information; etc.
• Go over chart together as a class. Display the cause and effect chart on Promethean board and invite students to the board to fill in both causes and effects.

Choose one of the effects of apartheid from the chart.  Imagine how this would affect your own life and discuss in a short paragraph.

Lesson Three

Students will read a passage and then identify events that took place that led to the end of apartheid.  They will describe the demonstrations at Sharpeville and Soweto and the international pressure put on South Africa to change their policies.

Explain to students that after a while Africans began to protest the laws of apartheid.  During many of these demonstrations that were usually peaceful, police responded with violence, killing many innocent people.  This got the attention of governments from around the world that said that it was time South Africa ended apartheid.  Finally, apartheid was ended in 1991.

• Show two video clips. First a clip about the Sharpeville massacre from “Witness (South Africa and Apartheid 1948-1994)” found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfNNaW1bR_Q . Watch from 17:30-25:23.  Then show a short video about the Soweto uprising from PBS found at http://video.pbs.org/video/2185498596/.
• Hand out cause and effect chart (found in appendix). Students will write “apartheid ends” in the effect box.  Students will then read pages 3-5 of the article they started yesterday.  They will look for four events that led to the end of apartheid.  They will describe these events on the graphic organizer.  Events may include Sharpeville massacre, Soweto march, international pressure and embargoes, election of F.W. de Klerk who repealed some of apartheid’s harshest laws, and the election of Nelson Mandela in 1994 that officially ended apartheid.

Lesson Four

Conduct research on Nelson Mandela.  Complete the “Facebook” project template with information about Mandela’s life.  Write two “status updates” from the point of view of Nelson Mandela and one “wall post” from another person.

Introduce Nelson Mandela as perhaps the most famous face of the anti-apartheid movement.  Show the video “Nelson Mandela’s Life Story” ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgQBoXsxr8w )

• Students can work individually or in pairs to conduct research on Nelson Mandela. They will access the following website, < http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/famouspeople/nelson_mandela/> , and read through each of the six tabs on the left side of the screen. As they read, they will fill in the information on the front side of the “Facebook” project template (in appendix).
• When finished the front side of the worksheet, students will complete the back side of the worksheet individually . “Status updates” need to be written in the first person point of view from the perspective of Nelson Mandela.

Discuss why Nelson Mandela is known as a hero worldwide.

Lesson Five

Students will complete a unit assessment on apartheid.  Students will create a “facebook” page for Nelson Mandela.

• Complete the assessment (found in appendix).
• Share the “Facebook” Project requirements and instructions with students (found in appendix). Students will use Fakebook ( http://www.classtools.net/fb/home/page ) to create a page for Nelson Mandela using the information they gathered the previous day.  They will need to follow the step by step directions.  When they finish they must make sure they save their page according to directions.  They need to make sure the web address is written exactly how it appears in the address bar so it can be accessed later.

Collect project sheets from students for future access to their facebook page.  Pages can be graded directly from the internet or printed and displayed.

Annotated Bibliography

PBS Masterpiece. “Apartheid Timeline.” http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/endgame/timeline.html

This website has an extensive, interactive timeline of important events before, during, and after apartheid.  It begins with early history of South Africa which does a lot to show the beginnings of racial struggle.

Kellett, Peter, Mary Mothwa, and Mark Napier. “No Place Like Home: Recording the Struggle for Housing and Work Under Apartheid.” Oral History 30.2 (2002): 35-48. JSTOR. Web. 30 Mar. 2013.

Provides a particularly clear and concise description of what apartheid is and how it discriminates in the first paragraph of the article.

Giliomee, Hermann. “The Making of the Apartheid Plan, 1929-1948.” Journal of Southern African Studies 29.2 (2003): 373-92. Print.

This article about the beginnings of apartheid in South Africa explains the word origins for ‘apartheid’ and suggests some of the first uses of the term.

“A Tribute to Madiba – Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela.” Web. 01 Apr. 2013. <http://www.ezakwantu.com/Gallery Nelson Mandela – Madiba.htm>.

While this website includes a biography of Nelson Mandela from birth to today, I am more interested in the photographs.  Of particular interest to me are the photographs taken of Mandela throughout his life, especially during his trial, imprisonment, and release.  There is also a link to a PDF document of the statement Mandela made during his trial in 1964 in which he explains his struggles working for equality with different organizations and how that work was misconstrued as terrorism.  His statements on pages 2 and 3 are the most interesting and useful for this unit.

“BBC 2 Programme Called “Witness (South Africa and Apartheid 1948 – 1994)” (Entire Programme).” YouTube . YouTube, 29 July 2012. Web. 22 Apr. 2013

Great video showing footage from South Africa during the apartheid era.  Will be useful in introducing the topic to students and giving them an idea of how blacks and other people deemed “colored” or “Indian” lived.

Neame, Lawrence Elwin. The History of Apartheid. London: Pall Mall Pr. [usw., 1962. Print.

Neame gives a great description of how South Africa was completely behind the ball with respect to race relations.

Welsh, David. The Rise and Fall of Apartheid. Charlottesville: University of Virginia, 2009. Print.

This book serves to educate its reader about the events that led to the adoption of apartheid in South Africa, the three main phases of the policy, and the events that eventually led to its downfall.  Welsh does a great job at looking at apartheid from all angles and giving different perspectives.

“African National Congress (ANC).” South African History Online. Web. 1 June 2013.

Website that is particularly helpful in understanding the history of the African National Congress.

Welsh, David, and J. E. Spence. Ending Apartheid. Harlow, England: Longman/Pearson, 2011. Print.

This book focuses more on the process by which apartheid came to an end rather than the conditions that it caused in South Africa.

“1960: Scores Die in Sharpeville Shoot-out.” BBC News. BBC, 21 Mar. 1960. Web. 11 June 2013.

Part of the BBC’s “On This Day” series, this is presented as a newspaper article that succinctly outlines the massacre at Sharpeville on March 21, 1960.  This will also be a useful website for students.

“Nelson Mandela.” History.com. A&E Television Networks. Web. 11 June 2013. <http://www.history.com/topics/nelson-mandela>.

A brief outline of Nelson Mandela’s life.  I used the quote where he explains why he started the “Spear of the Nation.”

Reading List for Students

BBC News. Primary History—Famous People.  “Nelson Mandela.”   <http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/famouspeople/nelson_mandela/>.

This website provides a timeline of events in Nelson Mandela’s life from his early years to adulthood, as well as descriptions of what was happening in South Africa during the apartheid years.

Annotated List of Materials

“Resources.” Apartheid in South Africa. Web. 27 May 2013. <http://teachershare.scholastic.com/resources/13534>.

A PDF file can be downloaded from under the “assets” tab on this website to be used in day two of the unit.  This PDF is a great essay about apartheid broken down into sections that discuss the history of South Africa leading up to apartheid, conditions in South Africa under apartheid, and the dismantling of the system.  It is labeled as a resource for grades 9-12, but with direction it can be used in the middle school classroom.

“Video: The World Witnesses the Soweto Uprising | Watch Independent Lens Online | PBS Video.” PBS.org.  Web. 1 June 2013. <http://video.pbs.org/video/2185498596/>.

This is a short video about the Soweto uprising that does a great job illustrating how quickly the student march went from a peaceful protest of new education policies to a violent riot when police started shooting.

“The History of Apartheid.” Yebo, South Africa! Web. 22 Apr. 2013. http://projectexplorer.org/ms/za/apartheid.php

A website that has great descriptions of some of the important ideas in the study of apartheid.  The website also has two videos—“Apartheid and Civil Rights” and “The Enforcement of Apartheid”–that will be used to introduce the topic of apartheid to the class.   The first video does a good job explaining how the civil rights movement in the US and apartheid in South Africa, while both concerning racial equality, are actually quite different.

This website provides a timeline of events in Nelson Mandela’s life from his early years to adulthood, as well as descriptions of what was happening in South Africa during the apartheid years.  It is interactive and the website has several pictures, videos, and links that serve to enhance the students’ understanding of Nelson Mandela.

Name _____________________________________________________                                   Civil Rights vs. Apartheid

Date ___________________________ Room ___________________

Video Worksheet

As you watch the video clips called “Apartheid and Civil Rights” and “The Enforcement of Apartheid” write down details about the civil rights movement and apartheid in the chart below.

Describe one way the civil rights movement and apartheid were similar .

Describe one way the civil rights movement and apartheid were different .

The following terms will be helpful in our study of apartheid.  Complete the chart with definitions of the key terms.

As you watch the clip of “Witness: South Africa and Apartheid 1948-1994” record what you see.  How do the whites describe the Africans and other colored people in South Africa?  How do you see Africans being treated?

Facebook Project Template: Nelson Mandela

Name _____________________________________

Write two “status updates” from the point of view of Nelson Mandela.  Each must be from a significant day in his life (ex. sent to prison for life sentence; released from jail; elected as first black president of South Africa) Be sure to include the correct date of each event and use details from what you learned.

Write at least one “wall post” from a significant person in Nelson Mandela’s life or from yourself.  It should have to do with the struggle to end apartheid in South Africa.

Nelson Mandela “Facebook” Project

This “facebook” activity will be the culminating project in our study of apartheid.  You will be creating a facebook page for Nelson Mandela using the research you conducted. 

The facebook page will include biographical information about Nelson Mandela (that is, information about his life), two “status updates” and a “wall post”. 

After completing the fact sheet, you will then use the Fakebook feature on classtools.net to create your page. 

• 1 . Start with the name of Nelson Mandela. Select a profile picture for them.  One will automatically come up when you type in his name, but you can search for a different picture if you wish.
• Add at least four “friends” of Nelson Mandela. These can include family members, friends, coworkers, or groups he was involved in.
• Click on “Click here to Edit Profile.” Enter information about Mandela’s life.  You must include all starred information (his name, birth name, date of birth, hometown, education, occupations (before and after prison), interests/beliefs, relationship status, children) **When you write in the information box, you must put the category (ex. relationship status), an equals sign, a space, and then the detail.  Example: relationship status= married to…
• Write two “status updates” and one “wall post”. These must be in chronological order and must meet the requirements on the facebook template.  All posts must be in complete sentences.
• When finished, click the save button on the right side of the page. It will ask you to put in a password (use your first name) and then it will save your page as a real website!  Record the address to your new website exactly how it is written here:

www.classtools.net/fb/__________________________________________________________________

All spelling and grammar must be correct in order for this to be accepted.

All information and status updates need to be written from the first person point of view since technically Nelson Mandela would be making this Facebook page himself.

Once the Facebook page is created, we will save and print out your creation.  This is designed to be a fun project, so be creative, but also remember that this is a grade!

Name ___________________________________________________                                                     Quiz: Apartheid

Date _________________________ Room ___________________

• What was apartheid ? Where did this take place?
• List at least three effects apartheid had on peoples’ lives.
• What were people protesting when they went to the Sharpeville police station in 1961? What was the result of this protest?
• Who is Nelson Mandela? What was his role in ending apartheid?
• How did apartheid officially come to an end? Explain.

This unit meets Pennsylvania Common Core standards for History and Social Studies.  The unit will also satisfy two objectives from the School District of Philadelphia’s planning and scheduling timeline: trace the history of colonization and settlement in South Africa and describe the impact of apartheid on the country.

Standards addressed in this unit:

CC.8.5.6-8.A: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.

CC.8.5.6-8.D: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary specific to domains related to history/social studies.

CC.8.5.6-8.G: Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other information in print and digital texts.

CC.8.5.6-8.F: Identify aspects of a text that reveal an author’s point of view or purpose (e.g., loaded language, inclusion or avoidance of particular facts).

CC.8.6.6-8.B: Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/ experiments, or technical processes.

CC.8.6.6-8.G: Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.