The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. South Africa is neighboring Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe in the north, Mozambique and Swaziland in the northeast. The entire country of Lesotho is located in the interior of South Africa.In
the past, the government of this country was criticized for its
'apartheid' politics but now South Africa is a democratic country with
the largest white population on the African continent. South Africa is also a country with various nationalities and has 11 official languages. This country is also famous as the main producer of diamonds, gold and platinum in the world.
South Africa is one of the oldest countries on the African continent. Many tribes have become residents including the Khoi, Bushmen, Xhosa and Zulu tribes. The Dutch explorer known as the Afrikaner arrived there in 1652. [3] At that time the British were also interested in this country, especially after the discovery of abundant diamond reserves. This led to the Britain-Netherlands War and two Boer Wars. In 1910, four main republics were merged under the South African Union. In 1931, South Africa became a full-fledged British colony. [4]Although this country was under British rule, they were forced to share power with the Afrikaners. This
division of power continued until the 1940s, when the pro-Afrikaner
party namely the National Party (NP) obtained a majority in parliament. The
party's strategies have created an apartheid basis (adopted in 1948), a
way to safeguard the country's economic and social systems with white
domination and racial discrimination. But the British government often frustrated a comprehensive apartheid venture in South Africa.In 1961, after special elections for whites, South Africa was declared a republic. Beginning in the 1960s, 'Grand Apartheid' (big apartheid) was carried
out, this politics emphasized the alienation of territory and the
tyranny of the police.The oppression of the blacks continued until the end of the 20th century. In
February 1990, due to encouragement from other nations and the great
opposition of various anti-apartheid movements in particular the African
National Congress (ANC), the National Party government was under the
leadership of President F.W. de
Klerk withdrew a ban on other African National Congresses and other
leftist political parties and released Nelson Mandela from prison. The
apartheid law began to be abolished slowly and the first
non-discriminatory election was held in 1994. The ANC won big victories
and Nelson Mandela, was installed as the first black president in South
Africa. Even though power was in the hands of blacks, millions of people still lived in poverty.When
Nelson Mandela became president of this country for 5 years, his
government had pledged to implement changes primarily on issues that had
been ignored during the apartheid era. Some of the issues handled by ANC-led governments are such as unemployment, the AIDS epidemic, housing and food shortages. The
Mandela government also began to reintroduce South Africa to the global
economy after several years of exile because of the politics of
apartheid. In
addition, in their efforts to unite the people the government also made
a committee known as the Truth and Reconciliation Committee (TRC) under
the leadership of Bishop Desmond Tutu. This
committee has the role of monitoring government bodies such as police
agencies so that the people of South Africa can live in a safe and
harmonious manner.
