The History of South Africa and Its Significance
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South Africa is one of the nations on the planet with the richest history. Its history spans through time from the Prehistoric South Africa (ancient and medieval history), to the colonization all through the apartheid era and the democratic south Africa. This paper will look at the most significant era in the history of South Africa, that is, the apartheid era.
In 1936, all South African blacks were moved to a separate voters’ roll. This was the mark of the beginning of a dark era in the history of South Africa. This voters’ roll as subsequently abolished altogether in 1970. The first government of the new Union was headed by General Louis Botha, deputized by General Jan Smuts. Their party, South African National Party, (which was later changed to the South African Party or SAP), charted a mostly pro-British, white-unity line. Radical Boers broke off to form the National Party under General Barry Hertzog’s leadership in 1914. The NP supported Afrikaner welfare, promoting a distinct development programme for the two white assemblies and liberation from Britain (Worden, 2000).
With the union gaining ultimate power, they passed a barrage of tyrannical legislation, which made it illegal for a strike to be conducted by black workers, introduced restraining pass laws, earmarked skilled jobs for whites, and barred blacks from serving in the military. The Natives' Land Act was passed by parliament in 1913. This act set aside eight percent of South Africa's land for black tenancy. This was done regardless of the fact that Blacks made up more than 70% of the population while whites made up only 20 percent of the population. The law made it illegal for a Black Africans to buy land, rent land or even labor as share-croppers beyond the designated zone (Ngubane, 1963).Oppositions by the Black and Colored began to merge, and principal figures such as, Abdullah...