Essay about The Downfall of South Africa Brought by Europe

Racism, discrimination and degradation faced by Blacks and other ethnic minorities under the apartheid system was not unlike the segregation and intimidation faced by African-Americans in the Jim Crow south. Jim Crow system of segregation that kept Blacks from fully participating in public and civic activities and relegated African-Americans to substandard conditions at work, school and even in the home. Blacks in South Africa were under the clutches of an overt, national policy of racism and segregation implemented by the country’s highest level of government. Civil and human rights abuses of Blacks in South Africa at the hand of the country’s white minority occurred long before apartheid officially began, but the system’s official start brought strict, sweeping laws such as the rule that all persons in South Africa to be categorized as white, Black, colored and Indian, without exception. Like in the U.S. during Jim Crow, Blacks and whites were not allowed to marry and sexual relations between members of different races was a criminal offense.

The Apartheid was initiated as a ploy for Europeans to better control the exploited populations for economic gain, as maintaining tension between the different racial classifications diverted attention from the Europeans as it fed hatred between groups. This assisted in minimizing unity between the exploited to rally against European control as it backhandedly induced “submission” for survival. One way of accomplishing this was by instilling laws that’d force segregation, classification, educational “requirements”, and economic purposes. The Population Registration Act of 1950 enacted, requiring segregation of Europeans from Afrikaans . Following shortly, the Group Areas Act of 1950 was enacted as a new form of legislation alongside the Population Registration Act. This detailed act separated tribes based on ethnics; consequently, further detailing segregation amongst the natives .

In the 1600s, European settlers landed in South Africa and had overwhelming success for a few reasons. The first, and probably most important, element is the fact that South Africa’s geography was very

Europe, in the late 1800’s, was starting for a land grab in the African continent. Around 1878, most of Africa was unexplored, but by 1914, most of Africa, with the lucky exception of Liberia and Ethiopia, was carved up between European powers. There were countless motivations that spurred the European powers to carve Africa, like economical, political, and socio–cultural, and there were countless attitudes towards this expansion into Africa, some of approval and some of condemnation.

Black South Africans were forced to live a life that was forced upon them. In the document, A timeline of South African History, Africans were forced to do dangerous jobs and were paid far less than a White worker (Doc. #1). This shows that

Africa has had a long and tumultuous road of colonization and decolonization the rush to colonize Africa started in the 17th century with the discovery of the vast amounts of gold, diamonds, and rubber with colonization hitting a fever pitch during World War I. However, the repercussions of colonization have left deep wounds that still remain unhealed in the 21st century. Early on, European nations such as Britain, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany and Belgium scrambled for territories. Countries wanted land so they could harvest the resources, increase trade, and gain power. The European colonization of Africa brought racism, civil unrest, and insatiable greed; all of which have had lasting impacts on Africa.

Apartheid originated as colonization came to an end in South Africa, in the hope of entirely segregating the nation. Under Apartheid, the rights of the majority black inhabitants were curtailed and the white minority rule was strengthened and put into action. Enforced through legislation by the National Party from 1948 to 1994, 3.5 million non-white South Africans were removed from their homes and forced into segregated neighborhoods, in one of the largest mass removals in modern history (Evans). The purpose of Apartheid was not only the separation of the races, but the separation of groups. White domination wanted to maintain power and did so through the enforcement of racist laws involving unequal social order (Apartheid). Apartheid forced South Africans into

For centuries Africa has been sought after and colonized by European powers for political, social and economic gain. Europeans needed Africa’s rich resources to fund their industrial revolution. European countries were strategically trying to one up another for the best resources so that their country would come out on top, while completely disregarding African people. Many European countries came to the conclusion that it was well within their rights to colonize Africa in order to protect their commercial interests. They simply decided to lay claim to territories in Africa, treating the continent as if it was theirs to take. In this essay I will argue that to the Europeans, Africa was just a commodity to be fought over and colonized and I

In the early 1880’s, the powers of Europe started to take control of regions in Africa and set up colonies there. In the beginning, colonization caused the Africans little harm, but before long, the Europeans started to take complete control of wherever they went. The Europeans used their advanced knowledge and technology to easily maneuver through the vast African landscape and used advanced weapons to take control of the African people and their land. The countries that claimed the most land and had the most significant effect on Africa were France, England, Belgium, and Germany. There were many reasons for the European countries to be competing against each other to gain colonies in Africa. One of the main reasons was that the

In 1885 at Berlin, the major european powers meet together, each seeking to increase their influence on the world by taking control of the African continent. Europe had a grip on Africa until a series of African independence movements in the 1960s. Between that time the native people of each African colony were treated differently and used for different purposes. Compare and Contrast how each European country used and treated the people of their respective colonies.

According to Farlam (2005) and Schönteich (2007, the South African government saw PPPs as a way to radically improve/enhance infrastructure and service delivery to its people and as a way to redress the inequalities that were evident. To this end, they appointed a task team to develop legislative, policy and a framework for PPPs (PPP Unit). As a result, a PPP Unit was established in National Treasury. Schönteich (2007) remarks that as a way of redressing inequalities and social imbalances, the PPP framework incorporates Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) regulatory requirements to ensure that previously disadvantaged blacks participate in PPPs projects and this shows government’s sincerity and strong commitment to making PPPs work.

The Bantu Affairs Department played a far more direct role and was remembered for its authoritarian control over the daily lives of the African people[6]. Now that the differences between Apartheid and the segregation of Africa have been shown, we must not forget the similarities between the two. The laws gave the white South Africans privileges were not knew to the country, laws passed in the early twentieth century also allowed colour discrimination, and the Land Act of 1913 denied Africans the right to choose where they wanted to live. This marked the permanent segregation of South Africa into areas designated for white or black ownership. Martin Prozesky comments: ‘The unmentioned purpose of the 1913

During the 18th Century, Dutch settlers came to live in South Africa. Their descendants called the Boers identified themselves as Africans and fought against the British who tried to colonize South Africa in the 19th and 20th centuries. After living there for so long, they created a stable economic system and government, in which white Africans were to top 1% and the black Africans, who made up the majority of the population, were much poorer. In 1948, the National Party instated something called Apartheid. Apartheid was a system of racial segregation, in which black Africans’ rights were controlled by the Boers. In

South Africa really began to suffer when apartheid was written into the law. Apartheid was first introduced in the 1948 election that the Afrikaner National Party won. The plan was to take the already existing segregation and expand it (Wright, 60). Apartheid was a system that segregated South Africa’s population racially and considered non-whites inferior (“History of South Africa in the apartheid era”). Apartheid was designed to make it

Around 1652, the Dutch East India Company created a settlement on the cape, leading to several other indigenous peoples settling in the area as well . This tactic nearly parallels with the colonization beginning throughout the rest of the world. White supremacy gradually took over South Africa as more and more of them colonized the country, and worked their way into government positions. The English pushed the natives out and eventually did not care about race, merely about the money that came from labor . The Land Act of 1913, was believed to be the initial beginning of the apartheid laws. This act initiated by white supremacists marked the first major downfall of segregation for the colored and Indian peoples of South Africa. The Afrikans were essentially “divided into nine nations” and approximately 93% of the land was reserved for the white people. 2/3 of the population of South Africa at the time was considered African, or native people, and these people were all banned from “freely buying land”, making conditions very harsh, and malnutrition was extremely common . Urbanization occurred with white people in power simply increasing the segregation between races. Africans continued to live and work in absolutely terrible conditions. They often resided in the outskirts of cities in derisory housing, with poor sanitation, were lucky to have a bit of electricity, and had awful people to manage their workplace. The