Conflict Resolution Of South Africa

As a result of racial segregation in both the United States and South Africa, the coloured people’s resistance escalated. In truth, this time of division strengthened nationalism – their weapon that “[transformed their] common suffering into hope for the future” (Mandela, Notes to the Future 2012, 84). Moreover, the American Jim Crow Laws and South African apartheid led to discrimination, activism, reform and most importantly reconciliation.

This paper will be outlining the basic structure of the laws that segregated the black population of South Africa throughout the 1900’s. It will also be explaining important people involved in the dismantling of apartheid and the foreign nations that helped to influence South Africa’s government to change. However, the primary goal for this paper is to inform the reader about the reasoning behind apartheid, the events leading up to it, and how it was reformed.

The convergence of racial unity and inroads towards the non-classification of race has been compromised by the accumulation of rights, privileges, and perceptions of the “whites”, and the life experiences, inequalities and societal impediments of the ‘non-white”. These experiences represent an overarching inability to forge ahead without cognizant realizations of past injustices and reparation for past aggressions. Noting the attempts at racial reunification in South Africa and the redress of exclusionary policies existing within the

The avowal that the apartheid ‘vision for democracy’ necessitated state terror and repression is evident when examining the South African apartheid system between 1960 -1994. The system of apartheid spiked significant internal resistance, hence, the ideology for apartheid stems from the creation of a white state surrounded by economically interdependent and politically dependent black states, which required state terror and repression to ensure mounting resistance and international condemnation did not abolish the apartheid system. The government responded to a series of popular uprisings and protests with police brutality, which increased support for armed resistance. Detentions were set without trial, torture, censorship and the outlawing of political oppositional organizations such as The African National Congress, the Black Conscious Movement, the Azanian Peoples Organisation, The Pan Africanist Congress and the United Democratic Front, were all a result of the apartheid government due to political resistance.

Ethnic conflict is the dominant security issue of our time, 75 percent of all new conflicts are ethnic. Since 1989, ethnic conflict has killed at least 3.5 million and displaced 26 million people. Almost all ethnic conflicts, especially in the 21st century, occur in post-colonial settings. Colonialism is why we have ethnic conflicts, especially in Africa. There are many factors contributing to post-colonial ethnic conflict, however some have more influence over the others. I argue that during colonialism, the intraethnic and interethnic divisions that led to the creation of different types of ethnic groups, and unequal treatment by colonial rule led to ethnic conflict in post-colonial settings.

In a Western perspective, Africa is perceived as a poor, insecure, and violent continent. Although this statement is ignorant and disregards the multidimensional issues that are in each of the 54 countries, security and violence is a general issue in most African countries. African countries have not endured an easy history, and their history continues to create present conflicts. Their violent colonial past has left certain countries with ethnic rivalries and left their legacies with agents of security. Although the colonial past of African countries have been the leading cause of many of their current problems, they cannot be blamed for everything. Additionally, there is a positive correlated relationship between the state and the violence

Currently, in both the United States and South America there is no segregation. However tension between races in both countries still exist. In the United States, African Americans make up the minority of the race. As a result, many feel that they still are not valued as equally as the white majority. The white majority disagrees, however, resulting in conflict over differing opinions. In South Africa the roles are flipped, but the tension still remains. Some of the white minority feels superior to the black majority and thus feel that the apartheid was justified. Conversely, some black Africans still want retribution for the years of oppression that they have faced.

Africa is land of various climates, deserts to the north, in the middle of the contenent, lays large jungles, and plains and mountains to the south. The whole southern end itself is various, not only in its in its cultures, but its peoples too. Between the beginning of the 19th century and the beginning of World War I in 1914, there was a power struggle between 3 major groups of people: The British, who had once inhabited the Cape Colony and had returned, the Native Africans, who had been there for some time, and had learned to live off the land, and the Boers, the descendants of the Dutch who had lived in the cape until the British returned. All of these people held power, but none of them held on to

Since the end of the Apartheid, xenophobic violence is understood to have significantly increased in South Africa.

Twenty years after the end apartheid in South Africa, there still stands the same Squatter town with tin sheets as roughs and the same living poor living conditions that were established in the early 19 hundrends. These Squatter towns are present throughout South Africa, all known for their different colorful characteristics, and lack of racial diversity. With “63% of black children living in households earning less than 800 rands, compared to only 4% of white children” racial inequality is enormously existent. In “South Africa 58.5% of whites and 51% of Indians enter some form of higher education, compared to only 12% of blacks.” [21 The overall lack of economic and educational opportunities for blacks in South Africa is appalling. In a nation were 80% of the population is black, one can truly see a sobering example of how powerful and lasting systematic and historical racism is, even when there is overwhelming majority in the population; that majority population can still suffer from oppression.

In Africa, Nelson Mandela famously countered the racial segregation, first by utilizing peaceful measures, then by a more forceful and vicious style. However, eventually Mandela recognized an amicable compromise as the only option to avoid catastrophic uprisings (“Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela”).

For thousands of years, humans have segregated each other based on their differences. These differences include race, religion, political affiliation, and other various points of view. As of 22 years ago, native South Africans faced segregation. This form of segregation was called apartheid. It all started small European settlements, and then developed into one of South Africa’s biggest dilemmas. Africans fought vigorously to defend their rights. One man in particular made a stand for freedom, and his name was Nelson Mandela. From start to finish, people’s God given rights were ignored, infringed upon, and often taken away.

Many of the contemporary issues in South Africa can easily be associated with the apartheid laws which devastated the country. The people of South Africa struggle day by day to reverse “the most cruel, yet well-crafted,” horrific tactic “of social engineering.” The concept behind apartheid emerged in 1948 when the nationalist party took over government, and the all-white government enforced “racial segregation under a system of legislation” . The central issues stem from 50 years of apartheid include poverty, income inequality, land ownership rates and many other long term affects that still plague the brunt of the South African population while the small white minority still enjoy much of the wealth, most of the land and opportunities

I have always thought that Nelson Mandela has been one of the most important people in history. I find it very fascinating that one man could end the Apartheid and that is why I want to find out more about this. South Africa is a country with a past of enforced racism and separation of its multi-racial community. The White Europeans invaded South Africa and started a political system known as 'Apartheid' (meaning 'apartness'). This system severely restricted the rights and lifestyle of the non-White inhabitants of the country forcing them to live separately from the White Europeans. I have chosen to investigate how the Apartheid affected people’s lives, and also how and why the Apartheid system rose and fell in South Africa.

South Africa endured one of the worst colonialisation any country could have went through, whereby the Apartheid regime objectively disregarded the economic participation of the black over to those of the white population. However, the new democratic government would thereby be challenged with effectively having to deal with the challenges in which the past government had left behind. Therefore, in effectively trying to deal with the issues, alternative approaches have to be implemented in order to deliver on the challenges of the public. On the contrary, this essay will critically compare and discuss the liberal and free market, as well as the state interventionist approach as alternative solutions in dealing with current issues of social security, the health and school systems. Which would be able to transform current developmental challenges facing South Africa. In summary, the essay will thereby state which approach can transform South Africa in effectively dealing with developmental challenges currently facing South Africa.