If you ask me, although I don't have a first-hand account experience, how was it like to live in this country back then, I will share the little that I learned and say we came a long way.
The Union of South Africa, which came into being on the 31st May 1910 is the turning point in the history of this beautiful land. This marked the birth of what was to be officially known as the historic predecessor of the present day democratic state- an unjust system and unequal society.
It was the beginning of a long path that would see the drafting of a bulk of bills aimed at segregating this beautiful multi-racial nation.
One of the first segregation laws introduced was the Native Land Act of 1913.
This law incorporated territorial segregation into legislation for the first time since the advent of the Union.
The law set aside 7.3 % of land for the black majority, while 83% went to white people, who made up less than 20% of the population.
The land act was Apartheid government’s cornerstone and the first demonstration of the system that would come to be characterised by hatred, ill-treatment of the “inferior race”.
The law did not go unchallenged.
The South African Native National Congress (today known as the African National Congress) which was formed a year before the passing of this unscrupulous law, rallied against the proposed law.
The SANNC submitted a petition to members of the Imperial Parliament and the British government, asking for its intervention to stop the law, but it came to no avail.
Petitions were passive and often got critics from others within the confines of the liberation struggle movement.
The regime was haunted by the vastness of eternity, making more strides towards separation.
When General Hertzog became the Prime Minister in 1924, he introduced his segregation scheme in the shape of the Civilized Labour Policy, to eliminate blacks out of industries.
This was followed by a series of native bills.
Although these laws were effective to keep people of different races apart, it became bolder when Apartheid (separateness) came into being in 1948.
This policy was adopted under Prime Minister Daniel Malan. Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd, who was one of the architects of the policy, became the minister of native affairs in 1950.
Malan together with Verwoerd would become a formidable team with the same interest and passion at heart –separateness.
Apartheid became common with many harsh, racist laws. To give one in particular, the Group Areas Act of 1950.This law placed different races to specific designated areas.
This law, led to non-whites being forcibly removed from “wrong” areas, leaving blacks to face the dire conditions in the non-suitable living areas.
You will probably wonder when I say “wrong areas”. To illustrate, the “reserves” which were nothing, but a symbol of human rights abuse?
The land was very bad for human habitation. One of these areas is Marabastad which comprised of makeshift shelters made from wood and plastics, communal taps and everything unsuitable for human habitation.
I am not dramatising this column .Read Eskia Mphahlele’s Down Second Avenue (1959) and you will understand what I am talking about.
It seems that passive resistance would not bring the humiliation of these people to halt.
The youth wing of the ANC, which was formed in 1944, saw the need for radical and active resistance as the solution to the prolonged suffering.
The youth league challenged the ANC top brass to adopt the Programme of Action in 1949, which poured in new ways of resistance including boycotts, strikes and stay aways.
It was to change the face of resistance forever.
Among the leadership of the ANC Youth league was Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Oliver Tambo, Ashby Mda ,Anton Lembede, to name a few.
The Programme of Action paved the way for vibrant campaigns like the Free Speech convention, the Defiance Campaign of 1952 which mobilised more than 8 000 volunteers across the provinces, demanding the repeal of unjust and discriminatory laws imposed by government. The Defiance Campaign also saw ANC membership rising to 100 000.
The new method of resistance had a huge impact on the struggle. It kept the racist system on its toes which in turn resorted to the imprisonment of those who defied it.
Unlike the petition and delegation system, this garnered the masses against the system, which brought pressure on the Apartheid regime.
The most historic document, the Freedom Charter, was adopted in 1955 with the message: South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white, and that no government can justly claim authority unless it is based on the will of all the people.
The values of the charter are today enshrined in the South African constitution, which is one of the most respected in the world.
The Pan Africanist Congress under Robert Sobukwe led the pass law protest of 1960. This came to be known as the Sharpeville massacre, as 69 lives fell in the hands of Apartheid police.
This prompted international pressure against the South African government: sanctions were imposed and she was withdrawn from the commonwealth.
The struggle intensified in the early sixties when the armed struggle was adopted as a new way to fight this unjust system.
Ukhonto We Sizwe (MK), an ANC military wing waged guerrilla warfare against the Apartheid regime. This included acts sabotage of government property such as electric pylons and power stations. Mandela, who was MK Commander in chief, was arrested and later on 25 October 1962, sentenced to five years in prison.
On 11 June 1964, Mandela and other MK high command members who were arrested in Lilieslief farm were sentenced to life imprisonment for high treason.
During MK’s missions, many civilians became casualties and Mandela later admitted that the ANC, in its struggle against apartheid, also violated human rights, but had "no other choice" but to resist through acts of sabotage because this would have meant unconditional surrender.
He said this was the only way to get the government realise that what it practised was unacceptable.
The seventies saw the Soweto uprising. Learners were infuriated by the unfair Bantu Education system, including the use of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction and as a result they took to the streets of the Soweto.
Hundreds of young lions were killed, while thousands got injured and others were jailed on Robben Island.
By the eighties, the Apartheid regime was losing power: international pressure was looming and civil protests were rife.
In 1989, a number of political prisoners were released from Robben Island. Mandela was released on 11 February 1990. He was elected ANC president in 1991. Negotiations, which were not easy, began.
Amid these negotiations there was bloodshed in other parts of the country- the Boipatong and Bisho massacres, which are said to have been a government-sponsored anarchy aimed at achieving divisions among black masses, to disturb a peaceful transition to democracy.
Mandela withdrew from the negotiations and threatened armed struggle.
Later the dust settled in and in 1994 we saw the advent of democracy.
The first democratic elections were held on 27 April 1994 and the ANC emerged victorious. I was born then but never saw or may have not understood what was happening as I was only 4 years old.
The father of the nation, Nelson Mandela was sworn in as the first democratically elected president.
In his inauguration speech he said “Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another and suffer the indignity of being the skunk of the world.”
“The sun shall never set on so glorious a human achievement,” he said.
Indeed this was a mark of victory, the dawn of a new area, the birth of new South Africa, the place of triumph.
