south africa- unit 3 and 4 test

what were the roles, key ideas, and impacts of pop culture on the push to dismantle apartheid?

• movies (cry freedom; biko, bang bang club), music (peter gabriel, sun city, free nelson mandela, mandela birthday benefit concerts), art (artists of the world against apartheid)

• showed international support for anti-apartheid causes, rose awareness, many proceeds went towards beneficial organizations

what were the roles, key ideas, and impacts of US policy on the push to dismantle apartheid?

• cold war: us wanted to appear and remain staunchly anti-communist, and believed the anti-apartheid movement was communist and would eventually lead to south africa adopting a communist government.

• constructive engagement: staying economically and politically involved in south africa, don’t employ sanctions, and use influence and open dialogue to influence to regime → ineffective

• comprehensive anti-apartheid act: imposed harsh econmic sanctions on south africa, banned the importing of goods/products

  • reagan initially vetoed, but was overruled

  • inspired other nations to divest, pressure on the apartheid regime to begin negotiating, cut us investment in half

what were the roles, key ideas, and impacts of the UN response on the push to dismantle apartheid?

• arms embargo and oil sanctions: un member states must stop sending arms or oil to south africa→ huge impact on white military, shows international support, mounting pressure

• ‘cutting ties’: south africa is cut off from the un general assembly → isolation

• observer missions: un security council monitors life in south africa in an attempt to regulate violence and encourage negotiations → oliver tambo on the world stage, visibility

what were the roles, key ideas, and impacts of the sports boycott on the push to dismantle apartheid?

• segregated sports teams and stadiums, as well as the apartheid regime in general, drew international ire

• south africa was banned from the olympics and fifa

• national cricket, rugby, soccer, and many other sports teams refused to play the south african team, with protests erupting upon their arrival

• sports and sports culture was incredibly important to both white and black south africans, so this was not only economically disruptive, but culturally as well. there was no way to escape criticism, because racism existed everywhere in their society.

what were the roles, key ideas, and impacts of divestment on the push to dismantle apartheid?

• religious groups, activists, all called for divestment

• companies and corporations: barclays bank, gm , ford, shell

• student protesting of university involvement with the south african government→ brought attention to the issue and led to the divestment of millions of dollars→ sometimes, on campus violence and racism would increase

• sullivan principles: code of conduct for companies operating/investing in south africa, where they didn’t have to cut economic ties, but still improved conditions and pay for all workers → became a ‘shield’ for many companies, appearing as though they were against apartheid while still economically benefitting from it

what was the tricameral parliament?

• new parliament adjusted to include coloured and indian delegates→ despite this inclusion, there was still a white majority, ensuring they would always win. additionally, no black south africans were included.

• there was large amounts of backlash to the parliament and other legislation of the time, including mass boycotts, demonstrations, strikes, attacks on infrastructure, and protests

  • “render south africa ungovernable”

what were some key experiences and stances of mandela’s early life as a south african, and as a political leader?

• grew up as zulu royalty in a fairly isolated area, wasn’t until he grew up that he saw and realized much of his life was defined in terms of whiteness

• had the right mind, experiences, and education for leadership → joined the anc during university, formed the anc youth league

• believed in respect, dignity, and equality

  • opened the only black lawfirm

  • militarized the anc, became a military leader/tactician during his banning

  • peacefully resisted poor treatment on robben island

what decisions did mandela make while in prison that impacted the anti-apartheid movement? what did his image while in prison represent?

• botha offered mandela his freedom in exchange for his condemnation/denouncing of the anc’s violent tactics

  • mandela refused, saying that accepting and renouncing the anc would be a betrayal of the organization and all those who are oppressed

  • “what freedom am i being offered when my very south african citizenship is not respected?”

• mounting international and domestic pressure on south africa→ mandela became a symbol of change and resistance, and calling for his release became a rallying cry

what was total strategy? why was it implemented and what did it involve? what were its impacts?

• implemented by the government in response to the soweto uprising

  • increased repression (violence, control)

  • ‘reforms’ (wiehahn commission, tricameral parliament)

• gave the impression that the government was moving towards change, while they were actually attacking and oppressing their citizens more than ever

what was the reaction to total strategy? why was a state of emergency implemented? what did it entail and what was its impact?

• udf: churches, unions, civic orgs, student groups

  • boycotts, strikes, protests

• end conscription campaign: white resistance to mandatory service

• state of emergency implemented in response→ no laws, high and unrestricted military presence→ anti-apartheid groups banned, armies in townships, more frequent and unjust arrests

what pushed botha and de klerk to the negotiating table? what were their key pressure points?

• stalemate between anti-apartheid forces and the government→ only way forward is to negotiate

• goverment wanted to negotiate from a position of power→ no true democracy or sharing of power, keeping people and systems in place

what were mandela and botha’s secret talks? what were mandela’s demands and botha’s response?

• mandela wanted to free political prisoners, legalize anc membership, move towards democratic negotiations

• botha wanted the anc to renounce violence before he would consider negotiating

what significant actions did de klerk take while in office? what impact did they have?

• said the government was moving towards reform

  • repealed pass laws, ended influx control, repealed natives land act, and many other foundational pieces of legislation

  • goverment met with mandela, talked about ending apartheid on the world stage

  • codesa: convention for a democratic south africa, started negotiations with anti-apartheid leaders

• BUT he continued to exert force and control, undermining the change he appeared to be pushing for

  • raids on the anc/pac

  • extended the state of emergency

  • ‘no follow through or substance to words/actions’

who resisted the move towards majority rule?

• right wing groups/supporters

• botha’s ineffective ‘reforms’ upset those who still believed in the ideas/goals of the regime

  • divided afrikaner politicans

    • believed diverse democracy would lead to communism, white racism, and a decline in safety

• white business owners actually supported the changes

  • faced economic backlash due to unrest, couldn’t make money during strikes or protests

  • political progress for the sake of economic stablility

what key events and reasoning kept south africa from reaching democratic majority rule?

• namibian national election (1989)→ government wanted to extend apartheid into namibia, which it had been overseeing

  • CCB → violently interfered with SWAPO and their voters, later returning to south africa and targeting the anc

  • cast lots of doubt and fear on the future of democratic elections in south africa

    • how does the regime handle black democracy elsewhere?

• sebokeng massacre (1990)→ anc supporters in a township were killed by police while protesting high rent and poor living conditions

  • government saw protestors as threats to white safety and power, when there was actually no justification for their actions

• de klerk’s position on regime change→ thought that the new south africa shouldn’t have black majority rule (power sharing: no true democracy), should have a weak central government, and the white minority should have veto power

  • unwilling to set up true democracy→ not trustworthy ally to the anti-apartheid movement

• targeting the anc→ white supremacist groups utilized violence like bombings and shootings to target the organization

  • didn’t want to give up on white rule→ difficult to form a harmonious society when afrikaners viewed themselves as fully separate (nationalism, victimhood)

• ifp→ zulu political group made of black apartheid collaborators that were anti-anc and wanted to establish a separate zulu nation

  • funded by the government→ bred division between blacks, reinforcing the idea that black people weren’t capable of self determination or creating peace (justified white rule)

what finally pushed south africa to accept and adopt democratic majority rule?

• 1992: anc suspends talks after suspecting de klerk is behind many massacres → halt negotiations and pressure government to make moves/change

• this pressure, paired with the undermining of progress that is slowly being uncovered, prompts de klerk to reach out to mandela → democratic election in april 1994

  • plenty of time to privatize enterprises (ensuring white control of many assets) and destroy documents (eliminate responsibility and make it so people have no record of atrocities)