South Africa. Geography South Africa is at the tip of the African Continent It is nearly twice the...
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Transcript of South Africa. Geography South Africa is at the tip of the African Continent It is nearly twice the...
South Africa
Geography• South Africa is at
the tip of the African Continent
• It is nearly twice the size of Texas
• It’s so close to the South Pole that penguins spend the winter there
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ClimateSA’s climate includes:• The Namib Desert • Tropical areas • lush farmland• A Mediterranean coast• The Karoo• The Drakensberg
Mountains• Temperatures are mild
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• South Africa has two major cities – Cape Town in the West and Johannesburg/Pretoria in the East.
• Pretoria is the Capital of South Africa
• Cape Town is a major tourist city and Jo’Burg is the major industrial center
• Many smaller towns are located along the coast
• SA surrounds two countries: Lesotho and Swaziland
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South Africa Facts• SA‘s population is 47 million
people• SA currency is called the Rand• It has 9 provinces• SA’s president is Thabo Mbeki• SA is a democracy with a
bicameral parliament• SA has 11 official languages• SA is a major producer of fruits,
corn, cattle, gold, and the world’s biggest diamond exporter
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Indigenous PeoplesSouth Africa is home to 9 major ethnic groups of
indigenous peoples
1. The Xhosa2. The Zulu 3. The Khoi-San4. The Sotho5. The Pedi6. The Ndebele7. The Swazi8. The Venda9. The Tsonga
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• An Ndebele Woman
• A Xhosa boy at initiation
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South African History
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Early Times• Bantu Migration• Hunter-
gatherers, pastoralists, & farmers
• Shaka Zulu
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Once upon a time…• South Africa wasn’t a country… or a colony…
but simply the southern part of Africa.• BUT- then Europeans came to southern Africa
on their way to the East Indies (Indonesia) and India.
• Why were they going to the Indies??…to trade goods and spices!
• This was the fastest way since there was NO Suez Canal yet!
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Discovery & Importance• Bartholomew Dias
• Mercantilism (export more than you import)
• The Dutch East India Company
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•Dutch traders on their way to the East Indies needed a place to stop for supplies.•The BEST place was the southern tip of Africa.•In 1652, the Dutch East India Company was settled in the area.
–In the Cape Colony
However, The people living there were called Boers (meaning “farmer” in Dutch)
The Cape under Dutch Rule• 1652 a way station was established at
the Cape of Good Hope for the VOC by Jan van Riebeeck
• The Khoi Khoi• Sailors, Settlers, and Slaves
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The English &&the Afrikaners
• The British seized Cape Town in 1797 & in 1805, it became the Cape Colony
• The Dutch settlers had come to see themselves as Afrikaners, not Dutch, and now spoke a dialect of Dutch called Afrikaans
• The Afrikaners resented and disliked the British
• Afrikaners generally fell into two groups: Wealthy merchants and farmers and poor farmers (subsistence) called the Boers
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There is a little more to the story…
The British Take Over!
• In 1785, English soldiers seized the Cape Colony to protect the British shipping route to India.
• After the 1820s, more and more British came to find gold and diamonds.
• Boers called them the “uitlanders” which meant “outlanders”
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The Great Trek• Many Boers became dissatisfied with British rule in
the 1830s and decided to move north.• They founded two republics between the Limpopo
and Orange Rivers- – The Transvaal– Free State of Orange
• Some also moved eastward into the Natal region- but the Zulu people were already there.
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Boer War• Prime Minister Cecil Rhodes (British) wanted to take control of the Boer states.
– Really wanted the land- AND RESOURCES.• In 1895, he provoked the “utilanders” to attack the
Dutch Boer states• His plan failed in a major way- the Brits weren’t
able to accomplish anything- and he was forced to resign.
•But, things were just getting started…
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• In 1899, Britain started a war with the Boers.
• The Boer War is remembered as the bloodiest battle in African history.
• Some European nations, including the Netherlands, supported the Boers- so they war lasted until 1902.
• When the British finally won, the region became known as the Union of South Africa.
Boer War5
• 1934- South Africa joined the British Commonwealth
• European descendants controlled most of the country– Owned all nation’s land, industries– British descendants controlled the economy.– Dutch/Boer descendants (also called
Afrikaners) held all political power
Kimberley &The Witwatersrand
• Diamonds 1867 • Gold 1886• Immigration• Slavery & Labor
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Colonial Africa
• In the late 1800’s European Countries began to colonize Africa
• The Scramble• The Plan• The Reality
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Cecil Rhodes• Born in England 1853,
he moved to SA as a teen because he was sickly
• To Kimberley in 1871• De Beers – in his life,
he controlled 90% of the world’s diamonds
• Politics• Rhodesia
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The Beginnings of Apartheid
White SettlersLand:• BantustansLabor:• Pass Laws• UrbanizationNative Education• Missionaries
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What is Apartheid?• Means “apart-ness” in
Afrikaans• Definition- a policy of
Segregation and political/economic discrimination against non-Europeans in South Africa
• Apartheid’s roots go as far back as 1652
• It was designed in 1917 by Jan Smuts, the Africaner Prime Minister of South Africa
• It was legalized in 1948
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Complexities of Apartheid
• Apartheid was more than just race
• Gender• Strict Hierarchy• Only White men
could vote & own Property
• Systematic Disadvantage
• Afrikaner Men• English Men • Afrikaner Women• English Women• Other Europeans/
honorary Whites• Asians• Coloreds (people of
mixed racial heritage)
• Africans
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Social Grouping• In 1948 (right after the end of WWII), the South African
government grouped people into 3 groups:– Black
• Native Africans– White
• European descendants– Colored
• Mixed race people and Asians
Human Rights Violation
• South Africa used these 3 categories to give out benefits.
• It officially denied most blacks of decent housing, education, and health facilities.
• This policy is called apartheid.
• How does apartheid compare to segregation in America?
• Why is this considered a human rights violation?
So, what happened?• Armed movements fought apartheid for the next 45
years.
• International community opposed apartheid too.
• South Africa became isolated from the rest of the world, but apartheid continued on.
• Isolation made life very hard for the people of South Africa.
Life for Africans during Apartheid
• Extreme poverty and unemployment
• Urbanization & Townships• Gangs and Violence
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The Struggle Against Apartheid
• Riots• The
Sharpeville Massacre (1960)
• The Rise of the ANC
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Soweto Uprising
The ANC & UDF• The African
National Congress• Nelson Mandela• The Spear of the
Nation• For the rights of
Africans• The ANC goes
underground• Imprisoned 1961
• The United Democratic Front
• Non-Racial• UDF Unites,
Apartheid Divides• 1983
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Fighters• Nelson Mandela was a major fighter against
apartheid.
• He led the African National Congress (ANC)
• He was eventually sentenced to life in prison for his anti-apartheid activities.
• For 27 years, Nelson Mandela waited in prison while his fellow South Africans fought for his freedom.
• He was finally released on February 11, 1990.
The End of Apartheid• Apartheid ended in
1994Why did it end?• International Pressure• The End of the Cold
War
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• Mandela’s release in 1990 from prison marked the “beginning of the end” of apartheid.
•But the first election that allowed both blacks and whites wasn’t until 1994.
Mandela was elected President of South Africa
in 1994.
• This signified the first multi-racial government.
After Apartheid• First Democratic
Elections• Mandela President• The Truth &
Reconciliation Commission
• Desmond Tutu
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Truth and Reconciliation Committee
• Appointed by Mandela
• 1995
• Headed by Bishop Desmond Tutu
• Bring abuses of apartheid to light
New Government, New Constitution
• 1996- people approve new constitution
• Becomes law in a 3 year period
• 2nd elections in 1999- ANC won again by a landslide
South Africa Today
• Tourism & Wildlife• District Six Museum• New Challenges• Economic
disparity/Poverty• HIV
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And the remnants today…
• 60% unemployment rate
• Now have a quota system
• What is this program similar to in America?
• BONUS POINTS for you! Affirmative Action!
• Segregation and apartheid are engrained into the culture.
• Violence sometimes a problem when people become frustrated with the slow-to-change government.
• AIDS just adds to their despair– Highest caseload in the world.
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