South Africa: Twenty-Five Years Since Apartheid

By

Zeb Larson

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Simon Kapwepwe addressing a United Nations Seminar.

Seminar on Apartheid

The Foreign Minister of Zambia, Simon Kapwepwe, addressing a United Nations Seminar on Apartheid, Racial Discrimination, and Colonialism in 1967.

A black woman at a Johannesburg railway station stands near a 'whites only' bench.

Whites Only

A black woman at a Johannesburg railway station stands near a bench marked in English and Afrikaans for “whites only.”

Nelson Mandela addressing the Special Committee Against Apartheid.

Mandela at UN

Nelson Mandela addressing the Special Committee Against Apartheid in the UN General Assembly in 1990.

Mourners at a funeral for the 69 killed in the Sharpeville Massacre.

Sharpeville Massacre

Mourners at a funeral for the 69 killed in the Sharpeville Massacre when police fired into a crowd of protesters in 1960.

An apartheid-era sign in English and Afrikaans.

For Use By White Persons

An apartheid-era sign in English and Afrikaans restricting an area to white people only.

South African President Frederick de Klerk and Nelson Mandela shaking hands.

Mandela and de Klerk

South African President Frederick de Klerk and Nelson Mandela shaking hands at the World Economic Forum in 1992.

Nelson Mandela casting his ballot for the first time in his life.

Mandela Voting

Nelson Mandela casting his ballot for the first time in his life in 1994.

President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Ramaphosa

President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2018.

A 19th century depiction of the arrival of the Dutch in South Africa.

Jan van Riebeeck Arrives in Table Bay

A 19th century depiction of the arrival of the Dutch in South Africa in 1652.

Tents in the Bloemfontein concentration camp for Boer women and children.

Concentration Camp

Tents in the Bloemfontein concentration camp for Boer women and children around 1900.

Lizzie van Zyl.

Lizzie van Zyl

Lizzie van Zyl, a Boer child who died in the Bloemfontein concentration camp.

A sign in English, Afrikaans, and Zulu in the 1980s.

City of Durban

A sign in English, Afrikaans, and Zulu in the 1980s.

Anti-apartheid protesters in South Africa in the 1980s.

Anti-Apartheid Protests

Anti-apartheid protesters in South Africa in the 1980s.

A British bus in 1989 calling for the end of apartheid.

Boycott Apartheid

A British bus in 1989 calling for the end of apartheid.

'Free Mandela' protesters in East Berlin in 1986.

Free Mandela

“Free Mandela” protesters in East Berlin in 1986.

Protesters in the early 1990s calling for an end to Apartheid.

End Minority Rule

Protesters in the early 1990s calling for an end to Apartheid near a prison in Johannesburg.

Elated crowds listening to Nelson Mandela’s inauguration speech.

Mandela Inauguration

Elated crowds listening to Nelson Mandela’s inauguration speech in 1994.

A 1950 protest against the Group Area Bill in Durban.

Group Area Bill Protest

A 1950 protest against the Group Area Bill in Durban.

A squatters camp near Cape Town in 1992.

Squatters Camp

A squatters camp near Cape Town in 1992.

Schoolchildren fleeing after police shot the one being carried.

Soweto Uprising

Schoolchildren fleeing after police shot the one being carried during a peaceful protest in Soweto in 1976 (photo by Sam Nzima).

A 2008 march against evictions in Cape Town.

Anti-Eviction March

A 2008 march against evictions in Cape Town.

The pit toilet in Mahlodumela Lower Primary School.

Pit Toilets

The pit toilet in Mahlodumela Lower Primary School in which a five-year-old died in 2018 (Gallo).

A tweet from U.S. President Donald Trump in 2018.

Trump Tweet

A tweet from U.S. President Donald Trump in 2018 referring to a racist conspiracy theory promoting the idea of a “white genocide.”

President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Ramaphosa Economic Measures

President Cyril Ramaphosa announcing economic stimulus plans in 2018.

President Jacob Zuma, Atul Gupta, and Eastern Cape Premier Noxolo Kieviet.

Zuma, Gupta, and Kieviet

President Jacob Zuma, Atul Gupta, and Eastern Cape Premier Noxolo Kieviet at a breakfast event in 2012.

Protesters at a 2017 'Zuma Must Fall' rally.

Not My President

Protesters at a 2017 “Zuma Must Fall” rally in Cape Town with a depiction of Atul Gupta.

President Cyril Ramaphosa and Deputy President David Mabuza.

Ramaphosa and Mabuza

President Cyril Ramaphosa and Deputy President David Mabuza at a meeting of the Black Economic Empowerment Advisory Counsil in 2016.

Around the globe anti-apartheid activists called for the boycott of goods from South Africa.

Boycott South African Goods

Around the globe anti-apartheid activists called for the boycott of goods from South Africa and government sanctions.

A banner on a Cape Town church criticizing an arms deal.

Golden Calf

A banner on a Cape Town church criticizing an arms deal in 1999.

Activists protesting corruption.

Right 2 Know Campaign

Activists protesting corruption after a newspaper editor was allegedly fired for exposing corporate corruption.

Security guards in South Africa clashing with police.

Security Guard Strike

Security guards in South Africa clashing with police during a 96-day strike of private security personnel in 2006.

Miners listening to President Jacob Zuma.

Marikana Miners

Miners listening to President Jacob Zuma address them after police killed 34 striking miners.

Treatment Action Campaign marchers.

Treatment Action Campaign

Treatment Action Campaign marchers at an International AIDS Conference in Durban.

The public standing vigil outside Nelson Mandela’s house.

Mandela’s House

The public standing vigil outside Nelson Mandela’s house in Johannesburg after his death in 2013.

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Cite this Site

Zeb Larson , "South Africa: Twenty-Five Years Since Apartheid" , Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective

August, 2019

https://origins.osu.edu/article/south-africa-mandela-apartheid-ramaphosa-zuma-corruption.