As human beings who live side by side on earth, it is an obligation to maintain a sense of unity and mutual respect. Never look at someone from ethnicity, race, religion, skin color, to physical form. Do you know that in South Africa there was a politics of skin color difference?
Before going into the story of this political journey, let’s find out first, what is Apartheid? Take a look at the photo of the South African national football team below.
Yup. Skin color. You don’t get me wrong, you know, in South Africa there are many citizens who have white skin. In fact, the country on the African continent is synonymous with black skin.
Since the abolition of apartheid politics, skin color is no longer a problem. That is, apartheid politics is a politics of skin color differences. How did this political journey begin?
Initially, in 1652, the Boers (Dutch) began to colonize South Africa and control its natural resources. The existence of the Boers was disturbed by the arrival of the British who had the same goal. There was the Boer War in 1899-1902, and at that time the British won and established a dominion state (a special country with a British constitution), namely the Union of South Africa.
The indigenous tribes who inhabited South Africa, namely the Bantu Tribe, received bad treatment from the British. Through Prime Minister Daniel Francois Malan, racism against black people was legalized.
Well, this legalization is called Apartheid Politics. The reason for implementing this policy is because white people feel that they are a superior race.
Black people don’t stay silent. They gave resistance by forming a modern organization, namely the African National Congress (ANC). The ANC is a political party formed to defeat white political domination in 1952 under the leadership of Nelson Mandela.
In 1955, the ANC formed a coalition of people of color (yellow skin) with the aim of cooperating with other opposition to make it stronger. The coalition succeeded in launching a freedom charter which later became the next ANC struggle program.
In 1970, the international community succeeded in pressuring the new government under the leadership of Prime Minister Pieter Willem Botha which eventually carried out several reforms in politics and legislation.
Unfortunately, Botha did not abolish the Apartheid Act in its entirety, making things even more chaotic. This situation was passed on to the next president, Ferdinand Willem de Klerk, who was elected in 1989.
A year after De Klerk’s appointment as president, the end of the cold war will have an impact on South Africa. De Klerk immediately released Nelson Mandela and abolished several laws on Apartheid. The laws that were abolished by De Klerk at the Session of Parliament on February 21, 1991 are as follows:
-Land act, which is a law that prohibits black people from owning land outside the designated area of ​​residence.
-The Group Areas Act, which is a law that regulates the separation of residences of white and black people.
-The Population Registration Act, which is a law that requires all black people to register according to their respective groups and ethnicities.
In 1994, the first anti-racial elections were held and the result was that Nelson Mandela and the ANC came out victorious. Then, on May 10, 1994, Nelson Mandela was appointed Africa’s first black president. For his efforts, Nelson Mandela was awarded the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize.