South Africa



South Africa

For centuries private companies shipped material, rifles and alcohol to black-Africa. With this products people were sold there. In Africa in the 19 century 25.000 people were sold to overseas as slaves. Through this enslaving of blacks many people today think blacks have never lived a "good" life, so they do not do it yet.

In 1948 "The National Party" came into power in South Africa and removed the politic of racial segregation. Hundreds of laws and a big apparatus of state should lead to the aim the rights of the whites to secure. The black-resistance was repressed an bloody suppressed.  South Africa stood international under a big pressure. The ignore of the human rights in spite of permanent appeals of the United Nations drive the country into isolation. This was the beginning of the Apartheid. The results of this were separate residential areas, separate schools and no rights to vote for blacks.



Through the Apartheid the South African society has negative influences. The population of South Africa was divided in 75% blacks, 14% whites, 8% half-castes and 3% asians. The whites lived a standard of living like a high-industrialized standard of living in other states. The middle budget of a black family. Over the half of the black people lived in poverty in homelands. ¼ lived in shacks or be homeless on the borders of the "white cities". 20% lived on the country of the "white areas", because the white farmers have over 87% of the country for their own. 40% of the black population have no access to clean water and only ¼ of the houses of the blacks have electric connection.

Since 1975 the number of the prosperous black people became higher but the income of 40% of the poorest blacks is decreased.

Original South Africa is a prosperous country. But through the racial politic the allocation of this prosperity was unequal. This was the blacks suffer. The black people were divide off from many things of the white people. There was busses with the caption "Non-Whites only". People of different skin colours are not allowed to live in the same area. Because of the housing shortage and the unemployment more blacks pressed into the big cities. Through the oppression of the majority there were some big troubles in the country. Thousands were in prison frequently without court proceedings, children too. The state of emergency ruled and the ruling party has to secure their power - without democratic processes. South Africa stand under a press curb. Nobody was allowed to report about the troubles in the country.

Different resistance movements were forbidden in the country. Under this the popular "African National Congress" (ANC) with Nelson Mandela as their leader. Later the "United Democratic Front" (UDF) was build, a legal and important opposition group with people of all groups from South Africa. The UDF has the same aims like the illegal ANC.

The "Congress of South African Trade" (COSATU) was build by trade unions of blacks and half-castes, which want to smash down the Apartheid. Today the COSATU has more than a half million numbers.

Since the troubles of the blacks in 1984 many people have forecast the end of the Apartheid. But if these prophecy will be real, South Africa will carry a big load of the Apartheid for a long, long time.