However before the 1950's the opposition for apartheid wasn't effective what so ever. This could be due to the minor groups whom were willing to stand up and protest. Or the violence used by the South African government

At the end of the trial, the government withdrew charges against 65 of the accused and later the remaining 91 accused were found not guilty of high treason and set free. As the trial continued it attracted a lot of attention to Mandela and the freedom charter which grew the opposition even more and helped Mandela get respect of his political skills.

There was a lot of evidence that the government had gone to far with this law case. As they had to take 3 separate pictures to show all the accused men and women because they couldn’t fit them all on one page. This shows that the freedom charter had a bad affect on the government because it encouraged people like Mandela to stand up and get support from whites which increased the opposition.

In the 1959, there was a new opposition called the PAC (Pac African Congress), it was set up by Sobutew. The PAC got support from young people because they tried to upstage the ANC. They organised an anti–pass campaign.

Later on the 21st march, there was another event was the most shocking and had a hug impact on South Africa and the rest of the world. In 1950, 5000 people from the ANC and PAN arrived at Sharpeville police station. The crowd became hostile and those at the front trampled the barriers, the policemen panicked and began to shoot into the crowd. 69 innocent people were killed, and 180 were wounded. The protesters had given up and ran away, yet this didn’t stop the policemen from firing at them. After all the shooting had stopped, the remaindering surviving protesters we arrested. Due to the events from the Sharpeville massacre, in total 18000 men and women were arrested. Also huge crowds of people both black and white attended the funeral of those killed. Some say it was due to the fact that the ANC and PAC were trying to upstage each other and this resulted in a bustle. However no matter how the disaster started all international eyes were now on South Africa's government and due to this business and trade suffered. Many white South Africans began to support the protesters through sympathy for the victims, and so strengthened their support. However the government noticed this problem and addressed it by banning the ANC. This had negative affect on the resistance but also made them more determined to succeed in destroying apartheid. This ambition increased further as more protesters died at Langa and at other demonstrations. This showed that the opposition was growing and as a last ditch attempt to destroy all opposition of apartheid, the government banned the PAC, and the ANC. In demonstration of the opposition from African people, the pass books that blacks had to carry with them all day everyday were burnt. The next stage of protest was the ‘stay at home’ protest. This was a demonstration of bravery and willingness to stand up for the opposition and show other scared black people that they could demonstrate without being in danger of being arrested or hurt in any way or form. This shows us that the events of Sharpeville did change the way the ANC and the PAC protested, because now they weren’t as confident as they knew that the government were always going to use violence and always going to win. However in spite off all this, two ex-ANC members went 'underground' with Oliver Tambo setting up the ANC in exile, and Nelson Mandela Organizing the spear of people. Although they had positive attitude as they didn’t want to hurt any innocent people unlike the government’s methods of shooting at helpless men and women. He planned his attacks very carefully, and made sure that know one was in danger when he planted his bombs. The PAC, set up a group called ‘Paqo’ which was brought in to cause explosions, involving people death. So his positive attitudes were soon destroyed as the leaders of the banned ANC and the newly established ' spear of people' were arrested. This wasn’t what Mandela wanted and this meant that he would also be accused of terrorism, and had no choose but to go on the run. He travelled to Britain, hiding and staying unnoticed. However it was when returning to South Africa, he was caught and arrested, and sentenced to five year. This was terrible news, and further bad news followed with the Rivonia trail started. Rivonia was a farmhouse near by Johannesburg, where documents were found showing that Mandela and others were involved in the bombings. This proof made it impossible for Mandela to get out of the trail out with a sentence. A new trial started and Mandel was sentenced to life in prison. However in the public's eyes Mandela was their saviour, who could lead to the abolishment of apartheid, without him they effectively gave up hope on achieving the dreams, I instead of protesting for their own freedom from apartheid, they began to protest for Mandela's release.

This news was out of South Africa very quickly. It was across the world in every continent. The first to react to the news of Mandela’s imprisonment was Trevor Huddleston from England. He was born and brought up in Bedford in South Africa, and was originally a priest in charge in Sofiatown. He then left South Africa, and published a book called naught for your comfort. Once hearing the news of Mandela’s sentence he flew back to South Africa and became the president of anti-apartheid movement. This news of apartheid was all over the world now and all the events such as the Sharpeville massacre, the freedom charter, the pass books, the treatment on the blacks and all the laws and acts that were brought in. This wasn’t known by anyone internationally in such detail. So when the truth came out, it forced the government of South African into a tight position. The whole was against apartheid and there was only going to be one outcome. So in February 1990 President FW de Klerk announced Nelson Mandela's release and began the slow dismantling of the Apartheid system. In 1992 a whites-only referendum approved the reform process. In 1994 the first democratic elections were held in South Africa, with people of all races being able to vote. A Government of National Unity was formed, with Nelson Mandela as president and FW de Klerk and Thabo Mbeki as deputy presidents. In February 1990 President FW de Klerk announced Nelson Mandela's release and began the slow dismantling of the Apartheid system. In 1992 a whites-only referendum approved the reform process. In 1994 the first democratic elections were held in South Africa, with people of all races being able to vote. A Government of National Unity was formed, with Nelson Mandela as president and FW de Klerk and Thabo Mbeki as deputy presidents.