Abstract
This report shows timeline of South Africa and also describes how historical events have shaped the country today. A particular emphasis has been placed on explaining the outcomes of apartheid and racial conflicts on economic conditions.
South Africa preserves one of the earliest and most complete records of human evolution, dating back to 3 million BC.
4th century – Migration of humans, joining indigenous Khoikhoi and San people.
1497 - Vasco da Gama’s crews lands on Natal coast in South Africa.
1652 – Jan van Riebeeck, Dutch East India Company, set up the Cape Colony.
(See Appendix A - Early Migrations)
1795 - British seize the Cape Colony.
1860-1911 – Thousands of traders and laborers arrive from India
1880-81 – European farmers (Boers) spark the first Anglo-Boer War.
1886 – Discovery of gold in Transvaal.
(See Appendix A – British Expansion)
1899 – British forces gather on the Transvaal border and the second Boer War begins.
1902 – Treaty of Vereeniging ends the second Anglo-Boer War.
(See Appendix A – The South African War)
1910 – The Union of South Africa is established, depriving blacks of almost all political and property rights.
(See Appendix A – South Africa Union)
1912 – Native National Congress (later - The African National Congress) founded.
1913 – Land Acts enacted, restricting black from buying land outside reserves.
1914 – National Party founded.
1934 – The Union of South Africa parliament introduces the Status of the Union Act.
(See Appendix A – Nationalist Movements)
1948 – Policy of separateness adopted upon taking power by the National Party.
1950 - Classification of population by race. Nelson Mandela starts a campaign against the apartheid.
1961 – Mandela launches a sabotage campaign after becoming a head of ANC’s military wing.
1964 – Mandela is sentenced to life imprisonment.
(See Appendix A – Apartheid)
1989 – FW de Klerk replaces PW Botha as president. After his meeting with Mandela, many ANC activists were freed.
1990 – Mandela released having spent almost 27 years in prison.
1994 – ANC wins first democratic elections. Mandela becomes president. South Africa becomes present in UN General Assembly.
(See Appendix A – End of Apartheid)
1996 – Parliament enacts new constitution.
1996-1998 – Truth and Reconciliation Commission begins hearings on the subject of human rights. Apartheid is considered a crime against humanity. ANC is found to be in violation of human rights.
2002 - 2003 – New policies to treat Aids, establishing a network of drug-distribution centres and introducing HIV preventive measures.
(See Appendix A – New Constitution)
2004 – Third democratic elections. Thabo Mbeki begins a second term as president.
2006 – South Africa becomes first African country allowing same-sex unions.
2008 – Launch of a new party in Bloemfontein.
2009 – ANC wins general election. Jacob Zuma is elected as president.
2012 – Jacob Zuma becomes a head of the ANC.
2013 – At the age of 95 dies Nelson Mandela.
(See Appendix A – Transition Period)
(“South Africa profile - Timeline - BBC News.”, n.d., para. 1)
Appendix A
Early migrations. Racial conflicts date from arrival of the Dutch at the Cape of Good Hope, when Dutch East India Company found a resupply station. Although the company employed European farmers, it used primarily slave labor to work on the lands seized from local population, as the majority of farmers were against the company’s authoritarian rules (Worger, n.d., para. 1).
Arrival of Europeans. The racial divide between whites and blacks was intensified during British acquisition of the Cape Colony. The discovery of diamonds in 1867 and gold in 1880’s had a great impact on the economic situation of South Africa and its political structure, which widened the division not only between European farmers (Boers) and British, but also white and black (Worger, n.d., para. 1).
The South African War. The ownership of the gold industry remained in the control by the British, with the Boers being kept away from the profits and ownership of investment capital. Most profits ended up in Europe and the Americas, which did not contribute to economic growth in South Africa. Struggles for the control of gold between the British and the Boers brought the South African War (Worger, n.d., para. 1).
The South Africa Union. The Union of South Africa restricted all political and property rights to whites. The Mines and Works Act enacted in 1911 ensured that Africans would have to seek employment from whites and that they would be paid the lowest salaries available. They also did not have the right to vote and participate in the political process (Worger, n.d., para. 1).
Nationalist Movements. Most of Afrikaners lived in the conditions of poverty and were frustrated by the outcome of the South African War. African National Congress (ANC) appealed to Afrikaners and addressed inequality suffered by blacks (Worger, n.d., para. 1).
Apartheid. The laws divided population into racial groups, such as black, white, Indian and coloured. The National Party further developed a policy by legally assigning every person in South Africa to whites, Asians or coloured. Leaders of ANC and PAC were arrested, Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1964 (Worger, n.d., para. 1).
The government’s efforts in fighting its enemies led to an economic boom between 1963 and 1972. World Bank’s Growth Capital Formation (based on constant local currency) shows annual percentage growth of capital formation in fixed assets of the economy of South Africa 3.2% in 1962, 8.3% in 1965, 12.3% in 1969, 14.3% in 1973 (“World Development Indicators| World DataBank”, n.d., para. 1).
End of Apartheid. In addition to growing opposition to apartheid, in 1976 began protests of high-school students against the Afrikaans language that was considered to be oppressive. This caused violent clashes, demonstrations and boycotts throughout the region for a long period of time. Many investors fearful of the outcomes began withdrawing their long-term investments, slowing down the economic growth and making the economy sluggish. More than 5.8 million of work days were lost in strikes in 1987. Most apartheid’s critics wanted not to reform apartheid, but to eliminate it entirely (Worger, n.d., para. 1).
New Constitution. Legal racial discrimination for almost half a century left most blacks uneducated and poor, while there was a need to fulfill economic potentials of South Africa. Labor unions demanded for immediate economic improvements. Eventually, the new constitution addressing those challenges was approved by the Constitutional Court (Worger, n.d., para. 1).
Transition Period. While millions of people were thrown away from their lands during apartheid, land reforms were not able to fully address the injustices. Striking numbers of warzones and murders added to racial tensions (Worger, n.d., para. 1).
According to UN’s studies the discrimination gap in education spending and achievement in South Africa remained wide in 1993. (Ross-Larson, 2015, p. 97). In 1998 unemployment among African males was almost 29% (Ross-Larson, 2015, p. 5). At the same time, among white citizens it was only around 4%. In 1998 South Africa ranked 113 on Human Development Index, while in 2014 it ranked 114 which may show certain improvement (“Human Development Reports”, n.d., para. 1). In 2014 public sector corruption index estimated by Transparency International for South Africa was 44 on a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). In contrast, the UK’s index was 78 (“How corrupt is your country?”, n.d., para. 1).
World Development Indicators (“World Development Indicators| World DataBank”, n.d., para. 1).
References
Worger, W. H., & Byrnes, R. M. (n.d.). History of South Africa. Retrieved February 13, 2016, from http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/History/South-Africa-history.htm
South Africa profile - Timeline - BBC News. (n.d.). Retrieved February 13, 2016, from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-14094918
How corrupt is your country? (n.d.). Retrieved February 13, 2016, from http://www.transparency.org/cpi2014/results
Ross-Larson, B. (Ed.). (2000). Human Development Report 2000 (Rep.). Retrieved February 13, 2016, from http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/reports/261/hdr_2000_en.pdf
Human Development Reports. (n.d.). Retrieved February 13, 2016, from http://hdr.undp.org/en/composite/HDI
World Development Indicators| World DataBank. (n.d.). Retrieved February 13, 2016, from http://databank.worldbank.org/data/reports.aspx?source=world-development-indicators
