De Klerk was also a major part of bringing about an end to Apartheid. When he made his first speech in February 1990, many assumed he would follow the same lines as the people before him and not really make any changes. However, in his speech he basically said that he was going to put a stop to Apartheid. He talked about how he was unbanning some of the banned black groups, releasing Mandela and other political prisoners and working towards equal rights for all South Africans. It was unexpected, although there could have been many reasons for the change of policy.
After announcing the changes, he and his government started to work very closely with black groups with the aim of ending Apartheid in a way that would please as many people as possible in the South African community.
Before him, President Botha had tried a plan of action, known as ‘Total Strategy’. He believed it could solve South Africa’s problems, by trying to deal more effectively with opposition while removing some of the ‘Petty Apartheid’ laws. He thought that would help appease the black people, however, it was a failure.
De Klerk had many reasons for wanting to totally abolish the whole apartheid system. Trade Unions, such as COSATU, which represented 33 unions and 450,000 workers, were becoming stronger. Black pupils were boycotting schools, saying ‘Liberation before Education’. The military and the police were being attacked. There were also many economic problems. The price of gold had fallen vastly, from $800 down to a mere $330, having a huge effect upon many people. Over 50% of the world’s gold was from South Africa, so it had been a major part of the whole South African economy. There was a drought, and food became more expensive, making it even harder for the poor.
South Africa was also finding that it needed more skilled and semi-skilled workers. Times were changing, and the jobs that needed to be filled required an education and knowledge of what they were doing. They had to now start getting a proper education.
There were also many external pressures facing South Africa, and caused even more of a need for change. People were starting to boycott South African goods as they were opposed to the Apartheid regime. Economic sanctions were placed on South Africa in August 1986 by a all countries in the Commonwealth, other than Britain which agreed to voluntary sanctions instead. It meant that many shops wouldn’t stock South African goods, meaning that South Africa would lose a lot of money. Many business people would boycott South Africa, and wouldn’t invest in South Africa . That also caused South Africa to lose a lot of needed money.
The high amount of violence in South Africa was starting to make the country ungovernable. There was black on black, white on black and black on white violence, and it was growing. Civil war seemed imminent. Black cities started to ‘govern’ themselves, with townships having their own people’s courts which the government wasn’t involved in. Often, these people’s courts gave out very harsh punishments, such as death by having a burning tyre placed around their neck. Townships and Homelands were descending into chaos, with people who supported different black groups and who had different ideas on how best to end Apartheid fighting and killing each other.
One of the black groups was Inkatha, lead by Chief Buthelezi. He believed Zulus should be in control, and members of his party were involved in many of the clashes. Other black groups like the Pan African Congress (PAC) and Black consciousness also had different ideas about different things. For example, the PAC was for ‘Black Power’, whereas the ANC was multi racial.
White politics also had a part to play in the ending of Apartheid. Different white people wanted different things for the party. Some people were happy with Botha’s reforms, while others wanted Apartheid to be completely abolished and then some wanted Apartheid to return back to how it was originally, or even become harsher. Different views caused the National party to start splitting, and people to form their own political groups. The Afrikaner Resistance Movement (AWB) was one group which split away. They were an almost Nazi like party, who believed in white superiority in the extreme who threatened to fight for a white South Africa.
Once it had been decided that Apartheid was to be stopped, there were many talks between the National Party and other groups, from May 1990 until November 1993 when a new constitution was finally agreed upon. There were problems at the CODESA talks, with various party members walking out. Another problem was that the violence tended to increase when moves to abolish Apartheid were decided and implemented. However, after all of the violence there was, after 300 year of white rule, a fully democratic, one-man-one-vote, election held in South Africa in April, 1993.
There were many reasons why South Africa ended Apartheid and changed its system. Nelson Mandela was one reason, as he encouraged people to keep fighting against their oppression and fought for the ending of Apartheid, however, I think that there were other more important factors in why the system changed.
The economic troubles South Africa was facing was , I think, was the main reason ended why Apartheid was actually ended and a change was made. South Africa had so many problems economically wise that it needed something to be done about it. Also, the sanctions placed on South Africa were a key reason as it would have affected many people from the workers to the factory owners, and would have caused many problems. They also wouldn’t have been able to get things they needed to keep the country running, such as oil. South Africa wouldn’t have been able to keep going without economic troubles being sorted and sanctions being lifted.
Also, the violence was another important reason that the Apartheid system was changed to the one-man-one-vote system. Because of it being in such an ungovernable situation, the government had to do something. There would have been a civil war if the government didn’t do something about it, and then there’d be a good chance of them losing control anyways. If they ended Apartheid, they might be able to regain control for a bit longer.
The pressures South Africa were facing from the outside, I think, were more key to Apartheid being ended than what was happening in the country. Although the violence was bad and there was a threat of civil war, it had been like that all through the 1980s and no politician had ever suggested that the Nationalist Party was going to end Apartheid. The unrest had always been put down and, in some ways, even ignored. However, once the rest of the world began to become more aware of the South African situation and sanctions were imposed, Apartheid was ended soon after. South Africa has lasted a long time with the violence so although I think it was a major part of the ending of the system, I think the external pressures faced brought about the end more than the internal ones.
. De Klerk also had a part to play in the ending of Apartheid. Although it could be argued that he only did it for himself and his party, he still did end it when he wasn’t expected too.
I think that the reasons for the transition being a peaceful one were different than those for there actually being a change.
Of all the factors which made the change peaceful, I think the part Joe Slovo played was key. He was a big part of the negotiations and came up with the power sharing idea, the groups who didn’t win the elections would still have a part to play in the country. Both the National party and the Zulus believed they could get the needed percentage of the vote, so agreed to take part.
De Klerk was also important, as he attended many of the meetings, and agreed to the power sharing agreement. He knew his party would not get full control and that he would not be president anymore, but still agreed to it.
However, I do think Mandela was the main reason for the transition actually being a peaceful one. When he came out of prison, he wasn’t bitter, but wanted to work with the government for a peaceful South Africa. He was anti-violence, and encouraged people to not kill each other. He took back control of the ANC in 1989, which was multi-racial, so both blacks and whites could be members, thereby not excluding anyone or causing any resentment by whites. He knew that the ANC would win the elections, but he agreed to share his power for five years. He protected the white minority, even though it’s leaders had treated him so badly for so long without any resentment, ensuring most whites being happy with the system.
Therefore, although there were many other important factors in the changeover being peaceful, I believe that Nelson Mandela’s role was the most important in the transition to a democratic one-man-one-vote system.