Essay/Term paper: South africa

Essay, term paper, research paper:  History

South Africa is a place of hurt, heart, and change.



Over the years, South Africa has either been through rough



times in the traditional tribal part, or being descriminated



because of their color of skin.



South Africa has two major tribal groups; The



Nguni/South Ndebele, and the khoi/San. The South Ndebele,



together with the Zulu, Xhosa and Swazi, belong to the South



Nguni ethnic group. In the case of the South African Ndebele



group, the area is the Southern part of South Africa. Here,



they have lived, worked on farms, and hunted for



generations. They are a very communal tribe. They work



together, share together, help each other out, and hunt with



each other. This group is very dependent on all of their



"family."



On the other hand the Khoi/San group is the complete



opposite of the Nguni/South Ndebele. They live in the



Kalahari Desert, they are Nomadic, and rely on livestalk to



live. They might be more Independent then the Nguni, but



they still get alittle help from their "families" too. Like



they go hunting together. Unlike the Nguni the Khoi/San use



poisoned arrows to kill their livestalk.Little did these



groups know what they were going to be going through the



next 300 years; colonialism.



In 1652 South Africa was forever changed when Dutch



established a "rest stop" in South Africa.Apartheid also



unofficially started. At that time, the area was occupied by



the Khoi/San clans. The pressure on the Khoi/San increased



as more Dutch and French settlers arrived. By the 18th



century, most Khoi/San had lost their land to these European



settlers.



Cape Town became a major port as a way station for the



Europeans. The colonists were mostly farmers and cattle



herders. They became known as the Boers. They developed



their own culture and language (Afrikaans). In the 1770's,



the Boers encountered the Bantu, who were migrating. The



Nguni Bantu clans settled between the Drakensberg Mountains



and the sea. The Sotho clans settled in the interior, north



of the Cape Colony. The 19th century competition for land



led to the conflict between the Bantu clans, which led to



the boer war, 1899-1902. Hundreds and thousands died during



the wars, entire clans disappeared and it resulted in the



creation of many Bantu nations. Now they are unable to



communicate with each other, and now they don't have any



power to stop the Europeans. British forces twice occupied



the Cape region, in 1795 and 1806. In 1814, toward the end



of the Napoleonic Wars, Great Britain purchased the Cape



Colony from the Dutch for 6 million Britidh pounds. After



1820 thousands of British colonists arrived in South Africa,



and they demanded that English law be imposed. English



became the official language in 1822. The Khoi/San were



given protection, and slavery was abolished in 1833. When



the Dutch, or the Afrikanns found out that slavery was



ebolished they got angry, because they thoght that the



Bilble said that black people were supposed to be slaves,



which then created the Boer war.



It is now 1948, the Europeans



have now taken over South Africa. Four Years earlier a man



named Nelson Mandela became a lawyer, and joined the A.N.C.



so he could help the salvaging African people. Even though



he played a very important roll in Apartheid, colonialism,



and their human rights, that still didn't stop the Europeans



from torturing them for the next 46 years. Nelson Mandela



was a nice man, but in 1956 Mandela went on trial for



treason, but was acquitted in 1961. During this time he



married Nkosikazi Nomzamo Madikizela. He was again arrested



in August of 1962, he was sentenced to five years in



prison. While in prison, Mandela, along with several others,



was convicted of sabotage and treason and in June 1964 was



sentenced to life imprisonment. During this period Mandela



became a worldwide symbol of resistance to white domination



in South Africa. In prison he acted nice to everybody. When



an Officer told him to do something, he politely answered



"Yes sir," but he did this for a reason. He did that so the



officers could feal the guilt for what they have been doing



to all the black people. The goverment soon got pressured by



the people to let Mandela out of prison. They did so,because



they thought that they would start huge riots, and "take



over the land." In February 1990 president F. W. de Klerk



released Nelson Mandela under some certain circumstances.



Mandela assumed leadership of the ANC and led negotiations



with the government for a new constitution that would



grant political power to the country's black majority



population. In 1991 the government repealed the last of



the laws that formed the legal basis for apartheid. But



then something bad happened, Mandela found out that his



wife Winnie Mandela has not been truthful to him. They



then seperated. In 1993 Mandela won the NobelNobel Peace



Prize for their efforts in establishing democracy and



racial harmony in South Africa. In 1994 Africas history



was changed forever, they got to vote. Mandela ran for



presiden that year and won.



Although their were many other



leaders that helped, Mandela was the most effective and



responsive to the peoples wishes, like letting the truth



and reconciliation have people that did unlawful things



to the Africans to appologise to who they did it to, or



to the peoples family. The Truth and Reconciliation did a



great job, healing many lifes with holes. They helped the



needy and helped Africa heal one step at a time.