Change in South Africa - The Apartheid

Change in South Africa - 

The Apartheid

There have been many changes through the years in South Africa. The biggest and probably the most impactful change that occurred was during and after the Apartheid. 

To start, the word apartheid means, “racial segregation; specifically: a former policy of segregation and political and economic discrimination against non-European groups in the Republic of South Africa.” [1] 

The apartheid created significant political boundaries because it was separating whites from blacks socially and physically. The Britannica Encyclopedia clearly states the acts based on boundaries:

The Group Areas Act of 1950 established residential and business sections in urban areas for each race, and members of other races were barred from living, operating businesses, or owning land in them. In practice this act and two others (1954, 1955), which became known collectively as the Land Acts, completed a process that had begun with similar Land Acts adopted in 1913 and 1936; the end result was to set aside more than 80 percent of South Africa’s land for the white minority. [2]

This clearly created both political and national boundaries for all of South Africa. But things changed after the Apartheid.

After the Apartheid, racial tensions were still high among many of the people groups. The changes of the political and national boundaries have conformed to existing cultural boundaries by trying to make the boundaries back into what they were before the apartheid and before racial tensions and segregation really sparked. The changes affected national and cultural identity because after the Apartheid, the nation and its culture was known for the Apartheid segregation and its racial tension but also known to have some forgiveness and to move on into another generation of more acceptance of any race.

These changes have impacted the stability of South Africa in many ways. Many still fear each other because of racial tensions, but it also has affected the stability of the country’s safety. My friend who visited South Africa for six weeks said that it is known that in some areas the police will not even come to the scene of crime because they could easily get killed. The impact of the Apartheid in day-to-day life is seen in this security issue with police not always being there for the safety of the people. Another day-to-day impact is the occasional racial tension found between blacks and whites. [3]

End Notes

1.     “Apartheid,” Merriam-Webster, accessed June 26, 2015, http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/apartheid.

2.     “Apartheid,” Britannica Encyclopedia, accessed June 26, 2015, http://academic.eb.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/EBchecked/topic/29332/apartheid.

3.     Dombroski, Kenneth R., “South Africa After Apartheid,” Journal of Democracy, 17, no. 3 (2006): 43-57, accessed June 26, 2015, http://muse.jhu.edu.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/journals/journal_of_democracy/v017/17.3dombroski.html.

      Image #1: "Apartheid Laws - South African," accessed June 26, 2015, http://southafricanapartheid14.weebly.com/uploads/3/1/0/8/31082565/3977893_orig.jpg

      Image #2: "Coloured - Wikipedia," Wikipedia, accessed June 26, 2015, http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/South_Africa_racial_map,_1979.gif.