Lecture 7

Post-Second World War, apartheid and post-apartheid

In the general election of 1943, Smuts was returned to power.

But the nationalist party led by Dr Malan formed a powerful opposition.

Following the Second World War the government adopted a new liberal attitude towards Black South Africans.

J.H. Hofmeyr, Smut's brilliant finance minister, insisted that Black South Africans should be included in social service schemes and in a National Educational Programme.

It was contended that a new comradeship between South Africans of all colours had been forged by the Second World War.

A new era was prophesied for all South Africans.

However, Malan's opposition party criticised the Americans and the British for destroying Germany which they saw as a barrier against communism.

The slow integration of the returning troops into South African society, coupled with a severe housing shortage, gave Malan's nationalist party plenty of opportunities to destroy the goodwill between men that had resulted from the war.

In 1945, inter-racial meetings took place between an ANC delegation, Dr. Nkrumah of Ghana and Chief Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya in Manchester UK.

Both Ghana and Kenya were eagerly awaiting their respective independence.

But the ANC was short of money and disorganised.

At this time, the ANC Youth League was founded by two young Black lawyers, Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo, and a Black miner, Walter Sisulu.

Black political organisations grew in numbers and protests became increasingly strident, the frustration of Black workers was spilling into violence around Johannesburg.

In addition, Smuts was unsuccessful in his attempt to get the United Nations to give South Africa full control over South West Africa.

For these reasons, in the General Election of 1948, Dr Malan's Nationalist Party won the majority of votes and formed a government.

During the election campaign, Dr Malan had spoken for the first time of the political philosophy known as apartheid.

In spite of the Allies' victory over Germany in the Second World War, the Afrikaners had regained political control of Southern Africa.

From 1948 until 1994, isolationism, nationalism, racism and institutionalised segregation would be the modus vivendi in South Africa.

Under the policy of apartheid, the South African government introduced a whole range of laws which discriminated against Black South Africans, Coloureds and Asians.

These laws are known as "the apartheid laws."

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In 1960, the police massacred Black South Africans who were protesting against the pass laws at Sharpeville, and the ANC was banned.

In 1961, South Africa was forced out of the Commonwealth by member states and Dr Verwoerd, the Prime Minister at the time, declared South Africa a Republic.

Under the leadership of Dr Verwoerd, B.J. Vorster and P.W. Botha, apartheid became consolidated and the discrimination against Black South Africans became intensified.

Nelson Mandela was imprisoned on Robben Island in 1963 and in 1976 Black schoolchildren rebelled against Bantu Education in Soweto.

Hundreds were killed by the security forces and thousands fled into exile.

Further township violence characterised the early 1980s and global economic pressures grew, bringing sanctions and economic problems to South Africa.

The worsening economic situation made it necessary for the 43 million Black South Africans to be given the economic power to participate in a market economy, that is, become consumers.

Moreover, the disintegration of communism in the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War nullified the threat of the spread of communism in Africa, undermining any strategic reasons the West may have had for maintaining apartheid.

In 1994, all-race elections were held for the first time in South Africa and Nelson Mandela was elected the first President of a fully democratic South Africa.