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South Africa Essay Research Paper South Africa

South Africa Essay, Research Paper


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 officia

l 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.

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