Sub-Saharan Africa

Geography – key points

Complex ecosystem – highly sensitive to climate change

Lack of arable land over many parts of Africa – Saharan, Kalahari, Namib, Horn of Africa deserts.

Untamed rivers that flood and can’t be navigated (Nile, Zaire (Congo), Zambezi, Orange).

Population explosion in 20th century. 100 million people in Africa in 1900, now nearly 1 billion. Malnutrition is a major problem in some areas.

Ethnic diversity – hundreds of ethnic groups with different languages, beliefs, traditions.

Lots of countries that do not reflect ethnic boundaries and lack a sense of national identity.

Christianity and Islam have replaced traditional belief systems in many areas.

Ancient African Civilizations

East African, South African, West African Civilizations

Kingdom of Kush, Nubian Dessert 1500 BC-325AD

Great Pyramids at Merowe

Kingdom of Axum (Aksum)

400BC-10th Century AD

Axum Stele

Ruins of Great Zimbabwe

Great Zimbabwe 1250-1629

Spread of Bantu languages- Swahili

Sundiata 1230-1255

Mansa Kankan Musa 1312-1337

Kingdom of Mali

Mosque, walls Timbuktu

Ancient Manuscripts

Askia Muhammed 1493-1528

Kingdom of Songhai 1468-1591

The Maghrib - The West

The Songhai Dynasty was eventually conquered by the Sultinate of Morocco in 1591

Arrival of Europeans

In 1500 AD, the continent of Africa housed a wide variety of languages, cultures, and political and economic arrangements. 

Important new developments during the 15th century were the presence of ships along the Atlantic and Indian coasts carrying European traders and missionaries from Portugal, Holland, Spain, and England. 

Initially, the Europeans established trading and supply centers along the coast, making little or no effort to move inland. 

Their presence constituted the first step toward involving Africa in a new and expanding global trading system that would be created and dominated by Europeans. 

Its estimated that over 12 million Africans were taken to the New World and beyond as part of the slave trade. Many did not survive arduous middle passage to get there.

Although Britain abolished slavery in 1833, along with other European states, the subjugation of Africa continued.

Colonial powers moved inland claiming territory, extracting resources in an effort to fuel their industrial revolutions.

The African Slave Trade

The process of colonization moved rapidly.

The discovery of diamonds in South Africa in the 1860s initiated what became known as the “scramble for Africa”.

In 1870, only about 10% of Africa was colonized

In 1910, only about 10% was not colonized.

(only Liberia and Ethiopia escaped colonization – although Italy conquered Ethiopia in 1935 it never had the chance to set up a colonial system).

Many of the political boundaries of modern African nations were decided somewhat arbitrarily at the famed Berlin Conference of 1884, where Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain divided up Africa according to their military strength and effective occupation.

Hence, these boundaries did not correspond to any geographic, national, or ethnic logic.

Colonial Africa

British practiced indirect rule – relying on agreements with traditional rules, but backed with superior military force, to keep traditional rulers in line.

Hence, in the former British colonies, there were powerful political families and dominant ethnic groups in politics to assume control.

The French engaged in direct rule.

By centralizing power under French control, they eroded traditional power structures. France also emphasized cultural assimilation.

They viewed their colonies as extensions of France and the people as evolues - “people evolving” into French citizens.

France and Britain are responsible for the major division of Africa into the Anglophone and Francophone worlds.

In many African nations, English or French remain official state languages and are continually taught and spoken as a mother tongue.

Former British and French colonies also still have important ties to one another.

Most former British colonies remain a part of the British commonwealth and French West African countries share a common currency.

Portuguese (Angola, Mozambique), German (Namibia, Tanzania, Cameroon –lost after WWI to Britain and France), and Belgian (Congo, Rwanda, Burundi) colonies were most oppressive.

The Portuguese however, were unique among colonists in that they encouraged mixed marriages (as in Brazil) producing a new important social group called assimilados (similar to mestizos).

In all cases, European settlers gained control over Africa’s natural wealth and resources, including large areas of land for plantations, ultimately displacing many indigenous peoples, or forcing them into servitude.

Legacies of Colonialism

Politically, there’s the problem of the territorial boundaries.

Economically, most African economies are still based on resource extraction of a single or small group of commodities.

Much of the population is still rural and survive on subsistence agriculture.

Most economies are way behind in the development of industrial production.

Culturally, Africa has been effected in a number of ways. Most states are multi-ethnic and multi-lingual.

Colonialism has made the concept of national identity very complex and difficult to maintain.

National Independence Movements

National independence movements begin to strengthen after WWII.

Following the signing of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations, African nationalists began to demand decolonization in the name of universal self-determination.

African nationalism drew its strength from an emerging but small African middle class, who resented the social structure of colonialism where the highest positions of power and privilege went to European settlers.

They also would become inspired by the success of the US civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s.

Independence

In 1960, the United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 1514, demanding an end to colonization.

In that year alone 26 African colonies gained independence.

In 1963 newly independent states created the Organization for African Unity (OAU) to push for greater freedom and cooperation on the African continent.

The OAU was united by a spirit of pan-Africanism, the belief that Africans must unite against colonialism and reinvigorate traditional life and custom.

The pan-African movement was led such revolutionary leadership as Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana and Julius Nyerere of Tanzania.

By 1969 a total of 42 colonies were now independent states.

Pan-African, Independence leaders

Kwame Nkrumah

Ghana

Julius Nyerere

Tanzania

Jomo Kenyatta

Kenya

Leopold Senghor

Senegal

Kenneth Kaunda

Zambia

Pan-African, Independence leaders

Organization of African Unity (OAU) 1963-2002

Portuguese colonies of Angola and Mozambique met with the most resistance to independence and fought for years before achieving it.

Failures of Democratization

Following independence, many African nations took the first step toward democratization by establishing constitutions and holding open elections.

However, most quickly reverted to authoritarian rule.

Some argue that African nationalists abandoned the democratic process because they wanted to reestablish some sense of traditional African values.

The movement had anti-western beliefs and in some cases rejected liberal capitalism for that reason.

Another explanation preferred by the nationalists is that African countries after independence were deeply divided socially.

What these countries needed, they argued, was a unifying factor.

Rise of Strong-man Authoritarian rule

In most cases the unifying factor became strong man patrimonial leadership under one-party rule.

The alternative of multi-party competition was seen as divisive and dangerous in a new state.

In many cases, however, the dominant party/strong man provided benefits only to the country’s main (majority) ethnic/religious groups at the expense of others.

In the 1990s, democracy began making a comeback in Africa, but many nations were still under authoritarian control or embroiled in ongoing civil wars.

Conflict in the 1990s

Authoritarianism in Africa

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Languages of South Africa

South Africa’s historical trajectory is rich and complicated.

Originally colonized by the Dutch East India Company with the founding of the Cape Colony in 1648.

Dutch East India Company

By the 19th Century, the British were the dominant European power in South Africa.

The abolition of slavery in South Africa by the British brought them into conflict with the Dutch settlers (the Boers or Afrikaners) in 1838.

The Afrikaners also fought off a major indigenous uprising in 1838 by the Zulu nation under King Shaka.

King Shaka of the Zulu nation

By the mid 19th century, British control of South Africa expanded, but the Afrikaners set up their own independent republics known as Transvaal and the Orange Free State.

With the discovery of diamonds in South Africa in 1867, thousands of new settlers arrived from Europe seeking their fortunes.

This led to increasing conflicts between English and Dutch as many of the diamond mines were located in Boer territory.

Dutch “Boer” settlers

The Boer Wars 1898-1902

The last major Dutch resistance was stamped out in the Boer war 1899-1902, in which British soldiers under governor Cecil Rhodes committed numerous atrocities.

Cecil Rhodes and the Rise of Britain in Africa

South Africa would be come independent in 1910 but within the British Empire.

Afrikaner resentment of British rule persisted, and much of the anger was transferred over onto South Africa’s black population.

Afrikaner’s formed the National Party in 1914 to advocate on their behalf.

White domination and black protest

By 1948, the Afrikaner-led National Party gained power in an all-white election.

The National Party demanded Afrikaner control of southern Africa as a matter of destiny.

Policies of apartheid began to be systemically implemented.

Everyone was registered according to race (70% African, 10% mixed, 20% white in 1960).

Further race mixing and interracial marriage was forbidden.

Blacks were segregated from whites in many ways similar to the American south.

Apartheid

Apartheid means “separateness” in Afrikaans, the language of the descendants of Dutch and French settlers of southern Africa known as Afrikaners

More than just colonial domination, apartheid was a systematic division of the country’s peoples based on race and ethnic origin

Henrik Verwoerd’s “Grand Apartheid”

Partition South Africa into distinct homelands or reservations for indigenous black ethnic groups.

These reservations would be legally distinct entities, and the black populations would not be entitled to South African citizenry or voting rights outside of their respective homelands.

Verwoerd was assassinated in 1966 by a white man who had wanted to marry a women of color but was forbidden under South African law.

Afrikaner National Party leader

Henrik Verwoerd PM 1958-1966

Sharpeville Massacre 1960

At the same time, black resistance to apartheid and black nationalism were growing in South Africa.

On March 21, 1960, in the township of Sharpeville, the first black protests start, and were met with brutal crackdowns by South African military and police.

The African National Congress (ANC)—the organizational arm of the anti-apartheid movement—was banned, along with other black organizations.

Its leader Nelson Mandela was convicted of treason and imprisoned in 1962.

Resistance to apartheid continued, and riots in the 1970s sparked international condemnation of South Africa.

In 1977, United Nations imposed an arms embargo.

Nelson Mandela and the ANC

P.W. Botha

Pres. 1984-1989

Reforms in the 1980s

P W Botha eliminated some of the more overtly discriminatory laws (like separate drinking fountains), but maintained the principle and spirit of apartheid (race based citizenship rights).

In 1986, the U.S. Congress passed the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act, which included a ban on new investment and promised new sanctions if further reforms weren’t enacted.

F.W. de Klerk

Pres. 1989-1994

In 1989, a series of unpredictable events unleashed the process of transition in South Africa.

P W Botha stepped down after a heart attack.

Communism fell and with it the threat that the Mandela and the ANC would be controlled by Moscow.

Botha’s successor, F W de Klerk, a well-known hardliner, shocked the world by releasing Nelson Mandela from prison and beginning a dialogue with the ANC on ending apartheid.

1990 Nelson Mandela Freed

Nelson Mandela - the father of post-apartheid South Africa

He led the independence struggle from his jail cell on Robben Island off Cape Town for nearly three decades.

Emerged from prison to negotiate a new constitution that would guarantee voting rights to the majority black population.

Black Nationalism vs. Integrationism

Mandela positioned himself not as a black nationalist in 1990 but as an integrationist.

This helped win over support from the white minority.

It also caused tensions between Black Nationalists and the ANC.

Two prominent Black Nationalist groups:

The IFP and the Pan-Africanist Congress

The Zulu based Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) led by Mangosutho Buthelezi felt cut out of negotiations (the ANC was primarily Xhosa).

The IFP began a series of violent protests across the country.

In 1991 and 1992 there were mass killings across the country between ANC and IFP supporters and government security forces, threatening to pull the country into civil war.

Mangosutho Buthelezi Inkatha Freedom Party

To avoid further violence, Mandela and de Klerk reached a deal wherein black south Africans would gain the right to vote, white south Africans would have their property rights protected, and amnesty would be given to security forces during the apartheid years.

Furthermore the ANC and the National party would share power in government.

Buthelezi and the IFP balked at the agreement.

The IFP as well as many Afrikaners wanted greater autonomy for their ethnic groups in a post-apartheid South Africa.

Black nationalists in the leftist Pan-Africanist Congress, opposed ANC concessions to the whites, wanting assurances of black majority rule.

They pledged to boycott and disrupt elections scheduled for April 1994, the first election ever in which black South Africans would be allowed to vote.

Mandela managed to broker a last minute deal bringing the IFP and the Afrikaners back onto the election ballot.

Remarkably, the elections held on April 26 and 27, 1994, brought South Africa some of the most peaceful days in the troubled country’s history.

Voting line in Soweto 1994 Elections

The ANC won 60% of the vote, the NP won 20% and the IFP 10% in a new PR system.

All three parties would comprise a national unity government.

Mandela would serve as president, de Klerk and another ANC leader Thabo Mbeki would serve as vice-presidents, and Buthelezi accepted a cabinet position.

The new South Africa

New hope for reconciliation, economic revival, and newfound legitimacy in the world

Also tremendous economic, social, and political problems.

Among these are high levels of violent crime, economic stagnation, problems with housing, health care, education, employment, corruption, aids, affirmative action, and highly unequal distributions of wealth and income.

Fortunately, the country enjoys a highly developed civil society that helps mediate social tensions

Challenges facing the new South Africa

Reconciling justice and forgiveness for apartheid crimes.

The country established a Truth and Reconcilliation Commission, chaired by Anglican Bishop Desmond Tutu (leading apartheid opponent).

The commission has looked into abuses of power by the white minority under apartheid, but also political violence perpetrated by the ANC and other black social movements.

The commission enjoys a great deal of legitimacy among South Africans and has aided in the transition process. The commission has not, as in other cases, turned into a political witch hunt.

Bishop Desmond Tutu

Unemployment and poverty

30% of the population is unemployed. 50% of black youth are unemployed. About a third of the population live on less than $2 per day.

The wealthiest 1/5 of South Africans control about 60% of the national wealth.

The poorest 40% of the Country account for less than 10% of national wealth.

Slums of Johannesburg

Thabo Mbeki

Pres. 1999-2008

HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases

In 2000 South Africa had the highest number of HIV infected people in the world (about 16% of its population).

South Africa’s government had been criticized heavily for its response to the Aids crisis.

President Thabo Mbeki once even publicly disputed whether HIV caused Aids.

HIV/Aids in Africa

Violent Crime and Poverty

Crime – one of the worst in the world – murder rate 10 times higher than in the United States.

Crisis in Zimbabwe

South Africa’s role in Africa and the world

South Africa is in a better position than any other state to assume leadership in Africa both diplomatically though the African Union and militarily through peacekeeping forces.

The question is whether South Africa can bear the costs of regional leadership. It has liberalized its economy since apartheid but results so far have been mixed for economic growth.

South Africa’s government

The Parliament is bicameral, consisting of the National Assembly, its lower house, and a National Council of Provinces

The President is the country’s head of government and, as a member of the National Assembly.

President elected by the National Assembly (not by the people).

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces - Capetown

Constitutional Court-Johannesburg

One of the top judicial organs is the Constitutional Court, which hears cases on constitutional matters and has powers of judicial review

Will democracy last in South Africa?

This transformation has much to do with the high quality of its leadership, particularly the exceptional efforts of former President Nelson Mandela to keep nation building and reconciliation a top priority.

In 1999 ANC leader Thabo Mbeki replaced Nelson Mandela as South Africa’s president and retains a large majority of parliamentary seats.

Mbeki has basically carried on traditions adopted by Mandela which has helped stabilize the democratic transition process.

Jacob Zuma

ANC President

2009

2008 – Mbeki resigns

Kgalema Motlanthe

ANC interim President

2008-2009

Conclusion

Once, a pariah state, South Africa has made important strides toward democracy, avoiding the fate of most other democratic transitions in Africa.

As long as South Africa’s culture of reconciliation and consensus-seeking is maintained, democracy can succeed.

The evidence suggests that democracy is gaining a firm foothold in South Africa

South Africa still needs to successfully carry out a transition from ANC to opposition rule.