FREE ESSAY ON SOUTH AFRICA

SOUTH AFRICA

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 official 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.