UNIVERSITY OF PETROLEUM AND ENERGY STUDIES

COLLEGE OF LEGAL STUDIES

DEHRADUN

Project on:
“Transformation of democracy in South Africa”.

Submitted to: Submitted by:

Sam Babu K.C Ashwani Aman
Faculty, Political Science SAP ID-500012368
COLS, UPES Sec: A (BA.LLB) 1st Year

1
 INDEX

 Introduction
 History of South Africa
 Formation and Role of African National Congress
 The Democratic Process Begins

 The CODESA Negotiations

 The Final Election

 Conclusion

2
 INTRODUCTION

“During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African

people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black
domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which
all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal
which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I
am prepared to die”.

-NELSON MANDELA

About a three month back on 18th July, the world celebrated the birthday of the
most lovable grand old man Madiba or the Mandela. Whenever he raised his
closed fist to say ‘Amandla’ he got overwhelming response from the millions
colonized Africans with ‘Ngawethu’.1 This man of sacrifices spent more than three
decade behind the bars in an isolated island for the liberation of South Africa.

The auspicious land of South Arica was first colonized by the Dutch and then by
the mighty Britishers. A series of harsh laws were passed during 1948 to 1994 by
the then ruling National Party promoting apartheid, mass discrimination and sense
of fear among Blacks, colored and other non white residents of South Arica. By
virtue of The Natives' Land Act of 1913 the ownership of land by 'blacks' was
restricted to mere 7% of the country. The government through various apartheid
legislations like Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act of 1949, Immorality Act of
1950, Population Registration Act of 1950, Riotous Assemblies Act of 1956,
Unlawful Organizations Act of 1960, Group Areas Act of 1950, Bantu Authorities
Act of 1951, Prevention of Illegal Squatting Act of 1951, Reservation of Separate
Amenities Act of 1953, Bantu Education Act of 1953, Mines and Work Act of
1
Amandla Ngawethu' means 'Mayibuye i Afrika' - we are determined to seize power or power to the people.
http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/speeches/1980s/sp800626.html

3
1956 etc prohibited marital union between persons of different races, created
separate black homelands, prohibited blacks from entering into the white reserved
areas, segregated education, medical care, and other public services. The black
people ended up with services greatly inferior to those of whites, and, to a lesser
extent, to those of Indians and colored. The black education system was designed
to prepare blacks for lives as a labour class. These all repressing measures led to
mass resentment among various non white population of South Africa leading to
the formation of Africa National Congress (ANC), Pan Africanist Congress
(PAC), South African Indian Congress and other political organizations. The
organizations mainly followed the methods of strikes, boycotts and civil
disobedience actions for showing their disenchantment. The ANC also launched an
armed struggle through a newly formed military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK),
which performed acts of sabotage on tactical state structures.

The South African apartheid policies caught international attention after the
Sharpeville massacre where 69 protestors were brutally killed by the police. The
government after this incident declared a state of emergency and banned both ANC
and PAC which was followed by arrests of large number of leaders. Nelson
Mandela was sent to indefinite incarceration on Robbins Island where he was
subjected to various tortures. The international fora criticized the chain of events
happening in South Africa and build pressure on the national government there to
negotiate with the people of Africa. The United Nation passed various resolutions
condemning apartheid policies of South Africa.2 After a lot of fanfare and
international debate & pressure and consistent disobedience by the protestors, the
then south Africans ruling President De Klerk decided to end the incarceration of
nelson Mandela to negotiate peace talks and future course of action for South
2
Resolutions 1761, 181, 418 were passed by the UN Security Council to put pressure on the south African
government to end apartheid movement to and restore peace. http://www.un.org/ documents/scres.htm

4
Africa. After various rounds of negotiation between the leaders, an agreement was
reached, elections were scheduled and every African above eighteen years of age
was given the right to vote. The ANC won the election and Nelson Mandela
became the first president of free Africa.

5
 History of South Africa

Being situated at the southernmost tip of the second largest continent, South Africa
is the dream land of many. The oldest evidence in the world documenting the
emergence of humankind has been found in South Africa which date back at least
2.5 million years.3 The pious land of South Africa is culturally rich and within
itself encapsulates numerous histories, a lifeblood of many historians and
anthropologists who are working day in and day out on South Africa. The present
South African population consists of 79 percent black Africans, 9.6%, white, 8.9%,
colored and 2.5% Indian/Asian.4 The black Africans are said to be the original
inhabitants of South Africa who are the descendants of the present day Kalahari
‘bushmen’ and ‘Khoikhoi’.5 The African majority is composed of many different
ethnic groups, the largest of which are Zulu, Xhosa, Tswana, and Bapedi.6

Era of Colonialism

Colonialism is the extension of a nation's sovereignty over territory beyond its

borders by the establishment of either settler or exploitation colonies in which
indigenous populations are directly ruled, displaced or exterminated. Colonizing
nations generally dominate the resources, labor, and markets of the colonial
territory, and may also impose socio-cultural, religious and linguistic structures on
the indigenous population. It is essentially a system of direct political, economic
and cultural intervention and hegemony by a powerful country in a weaker one.

3
http://countrystudies.us/south-africa/2.htm
4
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107983.html
5
http://www.southafrica.info/about/history/history.htm
6
http://www.geographia.com/south-africa/

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The land of South Africa will be a preferred choice for every willing colonizer
because of its vast unexploited mineral resources and strategic location favoring
international trade, is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on the west and the Indian
Ocean on the south and east. Various scholars have given different views on South
African early colonial history, the most widely circulated sources has been referred
to for this part of the project. The Cape of Good Hope renamed by Jon II of
Portugal was previously known as Cape of Storms was the most strategic site
discovered as it facilitated sea trade routes from Europe to Aisa and Africa. The
arrival of Europeans in southern Africa was by far the most traumatic experience
the resident communities had ever encountered.

Advent of Dutch

Portuguese seafarers, who pioneered the sea route to India in the late 15th century,
were regular visitors to the South African coast during the early 1500s. Other
Europeans followed from the late 16th century.7 However, the Dutch sailors were
the first in race to have arrived at Cape of Good Hope with an intention to inhabit.
Shortly thereafter, the Dutch East India Company in 1652 established a permanent
settlement with no intention of colonizing the area, instead wanting only to
establish a secure base camp where passing company ships could shelter, and
where hungry sailors could stock up on fresh supplies of meat, fruit, and vegetables
while on a long journey from Europe to Asia. Slowly the Dutch settlers stated
establishing their own farms to cater the growing need of fruits, vegetable, wheat
and wine of the company’s settlement.8

7
http://www.info.gov.za/aboutsa/history.htm
8
http://www.southafrica-travel.net/history/eh_cala1.htm

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Advent of British

The British had by then taken possession of the Cape during the French
revolutionary wars, and held it as a colony from 1795, save for a brief return to
Dutch rule from 1803 to 1806. The British adopted contradictory policies in ruling
their newly acquired Cape Colony in the first three decades of the nineteenth
century. Having seized the Cape from the VOC in 1795, the British returned the
colony to the Dutch government in 1803 when peace had been concluded with the
French. In 1806, however, with the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars, the British
again took the Cape in order to protect the sea route to their Asian empire. Like the
VOC before them, the British tried to keep the costs low and the settlement small.
Local officials continued the policy of relying on imported slave labor rather than
encouraging European immigration with the latter's implication of permanent and
expanding settlement. They also introduced racially discriminatory legislation to
force Khoikhoi and other so-called "free" blacks to work for as little as possible.
The Hottentot Code of 1809 required that all Khoikhoi and other free blacks carry
passes stating where they lived and who their employers were. Persons without
such passes could be forced into employment by white masters. 9 British
sovereignty of the area was recognized at the Congress of Vienna in 1815. The
British founded a strong colony with 25,000 slaves, 20,000 white colonists, 15,000
Khoisan, and 1,000 freed black slaves. Power resided solely with a white élite in
Cape Town, and differentiation on the basis of race was deeply entrenched.10

Era of Apartheid in South Africa

9
http://countrystudies.us/south-africa/11.htm
10
http://www.zuidafrika.nl/introduction/colonisation.html

8
Apartheid is an Afrikaans word meaning "seperateness" - it was a legal system
whereby people were classified into racial groups - White, Black, Indian and
Coloured; and separate geographic areas were demarcated for each racial group.
Apartheid laws were part of South Africa's legal framework from 1948 to 1994. 11
The apartheid policy was designed to oppress, dominate and control blacks,
and in the same breath to enrich white South Africans at the expense of the
oppressed people. The seeds of Apartheid were sowed as early as 1910. Apartheid
officially became law after the Reunited National Party won the white minority
elections on the 28th May 1948. The reason for such a victory was that only whites
were allowed to vote and participate in the Government and the Blacks were
forbidden.12 It is interesting t13o note that the all white Dutch reformed church
embraced the Reunited National Party Apartheid policy and solemnly declared in a
speech made by a prominent church leader "South Africa belongs to us once
more. For the first time since Union, South Africa is our own. May god grant
that it will always remain so"

A quote from Albert Luthuli best sums up the sentiment of black South Africans,
"the Nationalist win did not surprise or interest us, though we realized that there
would probably be an intensification of the hardships and indignities which had
always come our way. Nevertheless I think it is true that very few if any of us,
understood how swift the deterioration was to be".14

The newly elected Nationalist party portrayed a western kind of democracy and
passed a series of discriminatory laws promoting apartheid measures. Starting in
1948, the Nationalist Government in South Africa enacted laws to define and

11
http://www.southafrica.to/history/Apartheid/apartheid.htm
12
http://www.rebirth.co.za/apartheid_history1.htm
13

14
Ibid

9
enforce segregation. What makes South Africa's apartheid era different to
segregation and racial hatred that have occurred in other countries is the systematic
way in which the National Party, which came into power in 1948, formalized it
through the law.15 Politicians in the Nationalist Party created apartheid as a way to
extend racial separation while maintaining white domination. Apartheid became
the system of government through the ratifying of 317 apartheid-related laws. The
union of South Africa was designed with a government acknowledging the rights
of white people while denying those same rights to blacks. The 1950 Population
Registration Act required the populace of South Africa to be divided into three
racial categories: white, black (African), and coloured (of mixed descent). The
organization in charge of this racial classification was the Department of Home
Affairs.16 Those who did not abide by the classification laws were dealt with
harshly. Various segregation laws were passes before the Nationalist Party took
complete power in 1948. Probably the most significant were The Natives Land
Act, No 27 of 1913 and The Natives (Urban Areas) Act of 1923. The former
made it illegal for blacks to purchase or lease land from whites except in reserves;
this restricted black occupancy to less than eight per cent of South Africa's land.
The latter laid the foundations for residential segregation in urban areas. Some of
the main apartheid laws have been discussed below:

(a) Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act, Act No 55 of 1949- This Act

Prohibited marriages between white people and people of other races.
Between 1946 and the enactment of this law, only 75 mixed marriages had
been recorded, compared with some 28,000 white marriages. This Act was
the first major piece of apartheid legislation.

15
http://africanhistory.about.com/library/bl/blsalaws.htm
16
http://home.snu.edu/~dwilliam/f97projects/apartheid/history.htm

10
(b) Immorality Amendment Act, Act No 21 of 1950- It prohibited adultery,
attempted adultery or related immoral acts (extra-marital sex) between white
and black people.

(c) Population Registration Act, Act No 30 of 1950 – It led to the creation of

a national register in which every person's race was recorded. A Race
Classification Board took the final decision on what a person's race was in
disputed cases.

(d) Group Areas Act, Act No 41 of 1950- It forced physical separation

between races by creating different residential areas for different races. It led
to forced removals of people living in "wrong" areas, for example Coloureds
living in District Six in Cape Town.

(e) Suppression of Communism Act, Act No 44 of 1950- This Act Outlawed

communism and the Community Party in South Africa. Communism was
defined so broadly that it covered any call for radical change. Communists
could be banned from participating in a political organisation and
restricted to a particular area.

(f) Bantu Building Workers Act, Act No 27 of 1951- It Allowed black people
to be trained as artisans in the building trade, something previously reserved
for whites only, but they had to work within an area designated for blacks.
Made it a criminal offence for a black person to perform any skilled work in
urban areas except in those sections designated for black occupation.

(g) Separate Representation of Voters Act, Act No 46 of 1951 - This act led
to the removal of Coloureds from the common voters' roll.

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(h) Prevention of Illegal Squatting Act, Act No 52 of 1951- It gave the
Minister of Native Affairs the power to remove blacks from public or
privately owned land and to establishment resettlement camps to house these
displaced people.

(i) Bantu Authorities Act, Act No 68 of 1951- It provided for the

establishment of black homelands and regional authorities and, with the aim
of creating greater self-government in the homelands.

(j) Natives Laws Amendment Act of 1952- It narrowed the definition of the
category of blacks who had the right of permanent residence in towns.
Section 10 limited this to those who'd been born in a town and had lived
there continuously for not less than 15 years, or who had been employed
there continuously for at least 15 years, or who had worked continuously for
the same employer for at least 10 years.

(k) Natives (Abolition of Passes and Co-ordination of Documents) Act, Act

No 67 of 1952- Commonly known as the Pass Laws, this ironically named
act forced black people to carry identification with them at all times. A pass
included a photograph, details of place of origin, employment record, tax
payments, and encounters with the police. It was a criminal offence to be
unable to produce a pass when required to do so by the police. No black
person could leave a rural area for an urban one without a permit from the
local authorities. On arrival in an urban area a permit to seek work had to be
obtained within 72 hours.

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(l) Native Labour (Settlement of Disputes) Act of 1953 – It prohibited strike
action by blacks.

(m) Bantu Education Act, Act No 47 of 1953- It established a Black

Education Department in the Department of Native Affairs which would
compile a curriculum that suited the "nature and requirements of the black
people". The author of the legislation, Dr Hendrik Verwoerd (then Minister of
Native Affairs, later Prime Minister), stated that its aim was to prevent Africans
receiving an education that would lead them to aspire to positions they wouldn't
be allowed to hold in society. Instead Africans were to receive an education
designed to provide them with skills to serve their own people in the homelands
or to work in labouring jobs under whites.

(n) Reservation of Separate Amenities Act, Act No 49 of 1953 – It forced

segregation in all public amenities, public buildings, and public transport
with the aim of eliminating contact between whites and other races.
"Europeans Only" and "Non-Europeans Only" signs were put up. The act
stated that facilities provided for different races need not be equal.

(o) Natives (Prohibition of Interdicts) Act, Act No 64 of 1956 – It denied

black people the option of appealing to the courts against forced removals.

(p) Bantu Investment Corporation Act, Act No 34 of 1959- It provided for

the creation of financial, commercial, and industrial schemes in areas
designated for black people.

(q) Extension of University Education Act, Act 45 of 1959- It Put an end to

black students attending white universities (mainly the universities of Cape

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 Town and Witwatersrand). Created separate tertiary institutions for whites,
Coloured, blacks, and Asians.

(r) Promotion of Bantu Self-Government Act, Act No 46 of 1959- It

Classified black people into eight ethnic groups. Each group had a
Commissioner-General who was tasked to develop a homeland for each,
which would be allowed to govern itself independently without white
intervention.

(s) Urban Bantu Councils Act, Act No 79 of 1961- It created black councils
in urban areas that were suppoed to be tied to the authorities running the
related ethnic homeland.

(t) Terrorism Act of 1967- It allowed for indefinite detention without trial and
established BOSS, the Bureau of State Security, which was responsible for
the internal security of South Africa.

(u) Bantu Homelands Citizens Act of 1970- It Compelled all black people to
become a citizen of the homeland that responded to their ethnic group,
regardless of whether they'd ever lived there or not, and removed their South
African citizenship.

The above mentioned laws are some amongst the 317 apartheid laws passed by the
Nationalist Government.

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 Formation and Role of African National Congress

The African National Congress is not jut about a party but it is about assimilation
of thoughts which felt the wrath of distressness, haplessness and The White Rule.
It started as a voice, though to become the largest democratic party in South
Africa. This part of the project shall discuss some of the major inactions taken by
the ANC against the apartheid government. January 8, 1912, was a red letter day
in the history of South Africa when chiefs, representatives of people's and church
organisations, and other prominent individuals gathered in Bloemfontein and
formed the African National Congress with its aim to bring all Africans together as
one people to defend their rights and freedoms. 17 The formation of the ANC was
not an accident of history, it was a logical development of history, a continuation
of the anti-colonial struggle of African people which began with colonialism
itself.18 The ANC in the beginning adopted measures like persuasions to British
government to appeal against the unjust laws like Land Act of 1913 but were
ignored. The ANC In 1919 led a massive campaign in Transvaal to oppose against
the system the passes which mandated the blacks in South Africa to carry it all

17
http://www.anc.org.za/show.php?doc=ancdocs/history/gendocs.html
18
http://www.anc.org.za/show.php?doc=/ancdocs/history/unity.html

15
time and supported the militant strike by African mineworkers in 1920. ANC
received a new life and energy in the 1940s, which changed it from the careful
organization it was in the 1930s to the mass movement it was to become in the
1950s. Harsher racism brought greater co-operation between the organizations of
Africans, Coloureds and Indians.19

The South Africa was going to witness a windfall change in its history with the
formation of Youth League in 1949 which had the potential to shape the face of
South Africa. The prominent leaders of youth league were Nelson Mandela,
Walter Sisulu and Oliver Tambo believed that Africans would be free only by
their own efforts and aimed to involve the masses of people in militant struggles. 20
The Youth League drew up a Programme of Action calling for strikes, boycotts
and defiance was adopted by the ANC in 1949. As a result of mass movement,
"Non-Europeans" walked through "Europeans Only" entrances and demanded
service at "White's Only" counters of post offices. Africans broke the pass laws
and Indian, Coloured and White "volunteers" entered African townships without
permission. The success of the Defiance Campaign encouraged further campaigns
against apartheid laws, like the Group Areas Act and the Bantu Education Act.

The government tried to stop the Defiance Campaign by banning it's leaders and
passing new laws to prevent public disobedience but the campaign had already
made huge gains. It brought closer co-operation between the ANC and the SA
Indian Congress, swelled their membership and also led to the formation of new
organisations; the SA Coloured people's Organisation (SACPO) and the Congress
of Democrats (COD), an organisation of white democrats. These organizations
19
In 1947, the ANC and the Indian Congresses signed a pact stating full support for one another's campaigns.
20
Supra note 1

16
together with the SA Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU) formed the Congress
Alliance to represent the interest of South African people.21

The ANC together with its allied parties drafted Freedom Charter indicating that
South Africa belongs to all who live in it irrespective of race, color and sex and
demanded equal rights and opportunities for blacks, colored and Indians. The then
ruling Nationalist Government treated the freedom charter as reflection of
communist movement and brought the leaders to trial in the infamous Treason
Case.22

Towards Umkhonto We Sizwe

A section of the ANC who called themselves Africanists, opposed the Freedom
Charter. They objected to the ANC's growing co-operation with whites and
Indians, who they described as foreigners. The differences between the Africanists
and those in the ANC who supported non-racialism, could not be overcome. In
1959 the Africanists broke away and formed the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC).
However, though having different ideologies, both ANC and PAC together
supported the cause of nation. A major incident occurred in 1960 when both the
ANC and PAC participated in an anti –pass campaign, gathered in large numbers
at Sharpville in the Vaal and at Nyanga and Langa near Cape Town without their
passes. At Sharpville the police opened fire on the unarmed and peaceful crowd,
killing 69 and wounding 186.The massacre of peaceful protestors at Sharpville

21
Ibid
22
The Government had banned ‘communism’ in 1950. The Treason Trial was the main attack on the Freedom
Charter. Throughout 1955 and 1956 the police conducted a series of raids on offices and private homes of hundreds
of opponents of apartheid to seize documents, letters, pamphlets, even pieces of clothing in preparation for trial.
Finally, early on the morning of 5 December 1956, hundreds of policemen throughout the country descended on the
homes of leaders of the Congress Alliance and arrested them. One hundred and fifty-six people - 104 Africans, 23
Whites, 21 Indians and 8 Coloureds - were charged with high treason, a capital offence in South Africa. However,
after the appreciation of evidences, the court acquitted and discharged all the accused.

17
brought a decade of peaceful protest to an end. The government banned the ANC
and the PAC. A state of emergency was declared and thousands of Congress and
PAC activists were arrested and detained.23

The ANC realized after massacre of the peaceful protestors and subsequent
banning of the ANC that peaceful protest is not sufficient enough to change the
mind of the apartheid Nationalist party. The ANC went underground and continued
to organise secretly. Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) was formed to "hit back by all
means within their power in defence of their people, their future and their
freedom". Umkhonto we Sizwe was a new independent body, formed by Africans
of all races to carry on the struggle for freedom and democracy by new methods,
which were necessary to complement the actions of the established national
liberation organizations.24 In 18 months MK carried out 200 acts of sabotage
destroying government installations, particularly those connected with the policy
of apartheid and race discrimination. In retaliation government passed laws to
make death a penalty for sabotage and to allow police to detain people for 90 days
without trial. In 1963, police raided the secret headquarters of MK and arrested the
leaders leading to the famous Rivonia Trial where the leaders of MK were charged
with attempting to cause a violent revolution. 25Nelson Mandela, one of the pioneer
of umkhanto we seize who had returned South Africa after undergoing military
training and was secretly monitoring the acts of sabotage was finally arrested on 5 th
August, 1962 and sentenced to five years' imprisonment with hard labour for
leaving the country without a passport. In 1963, when many fellow leaders of the
ANC and the Umkhonto we Sizwe were arrested, Mandela was brought to stand
23
Supra note 1
24
http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/history/mk/rkmk.html
25
The Rivonia Trial was a trial that took place in South Africa between 1963 and 1964, in which ten leaders of the
African National Congress were tried for 221 acts of sabotage designed to "ferment violent revolution” to overthrow
the apartheid system. All of them were given life sentence after conclusion of trial with acquittal of Lionel
Bernstein.

18
trial with them for plotting to overthrow the government by violence. On June 12,
1964, eight of the accused, including Mandela, were sentenced to life
imprisonment. From 1964 to 1982, he was incarcerated at Robben Island Prison,
off Cape Town; thereafter, he was at Pollsmoor Prison, nearby on the mainland.26

The Democratic Process Begins

Consistent struggle by the ANC forced the government to reconsider its policies
and as a result, the ANC, its allies and other political organizations were unbanned.
This was the first time when the apartheid government showed a little sign of
peaceful negotiation. A series of negotiations were to commence between the ANC
and the National Party but before that a demand was put forth by the ANC to the
National Party for the release of Nelson Mandela. Similar international pressure in
guise of financial, trade, sport and cultural sanctions were also mounting on the
government for the early release of Nelson Mandela and ending apartheid. In
February 1985 President P.W. Botha offered Mandela conditional release in return
for renouncing armed struggle. Mandela spurned the offer, releasing a statement
via his daughter Zindzi saying "What freedom am I being offered while the
organisation of the people remains banned? Only free men can negotiate. A
prisoner cannot enter into contracts.” Mandela was finally released on 11
February, 1990 when F.W. de Klerk took over the National Party as its new
president and felt the need of negotiating with Mandela for restoring peace in
South Africa in the face of growing violence.27
A series of negotiation took place between the governing National Party, the
African National Congress, and a wide variety of other political organizations
26
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1993/mandela-bio.html
27
http://www.capetown.at/heritage/history/newSA_mandela.htm

19
during 1990 and 1993. On 4th May 1990, government and ANC leaders met for a
three day summit at Groote Schuur, the President's House in Cape Town which
resulted in the Groote Schuur Minute, a commitment between the two parties
towards the resolution of the existing climate of violence and intimidation as well
as the removal of practical obstacles to negotiation including indemnity from
prosecution for returning exiles and the release of political prisoners. 28On 6 August
1990 the South African government and the African National Congress extended
the consensus to include several new points in a meeting held in Pretoria which
came to be known as Pretoria Minutes.29 Another critical step taken towards
formal negotiations was The National Peace Accord of 14 September 1991 signed
by representatives of twenty-seven political organisations and national and

28
Some of the important commitment agreed upon between the two parties which came to me known as Groote
Schuur Minute are:

1. To discuss and advise on norms and mechanisms for dealing with the release of political prisoners and the
granting of immunity in respect of political offences to those inside and outside South Africa.
2. Granting of temporary immunity from prosecution of political offences committed before today, will be
considered on an urgent basis for members of the National Executive Committee and selected other
members of the ANC from outside the country, to enable them to return and help with the establishment
and management of political activities, to assist in bringing violence to an end and to take part in peaceful
political negotiations.
3. The government undertakes to review existing security legislation to bring it into line with the new
dynamic situation developing in South Africa in order to ensure normal and free political activities.
4. The government reiterates its commitment to work towards the lifting of the state of emergency. In this
context, the ANC will exert itself to fulfill the objectives contained in the preamble.
5. Efficient channels of communication between the government and the ANC will be established in order to
curb violence and intimidation from whatever quarter effectively at
http://africanhistory.about.com/od/apartheiddocuments/l/bl-GrooteSchuurMinute.htm.

29
Important texts of the Pretoria minutes have been reproduced below:
1. The final report of the Working Group on political offences dated 21 May 1990, as amended, was accepted by
both parties for the release of ANC-related prisoners and the granting of indemnity to people in a phased manner and
to report before the end of August.
2. ANC announced suspension of all armed actions by the ANC and its military wing Umkhonto we Sizwe with
immediate effect.
3. The Government has undertaken to consider the lifting of the State of Emergency in Natal as early as possible in
the light of positive consequences that should result from this accord.
4. In view of the new circumstances now emerging there will be an ongoing review of security legislation at
http://africanhistory.about.com/od/apartheiddocuments/l/bl-PretoriaMinute.htm

20
homeland governments, and prepared the way for the Convention for a Democratic
South Africa (CODESA) negotiations.30

The CODESA Negotiations

On October 25 1991, ninety-two organisations that were united in their opposition

to apartheid gathered in Durban to form the Patriotic Front. The Front deliberated
over the negotiation process. During the two days of discussion the mechanism and
technicalities of transition and a changeover of political leadership were clarified.
At the end of the conference, all organisations agreed that an interim government
was required to manage the transition. Because the National Party government had
a vested interest, it was not deemed suitable to manage and monitor the transfer of
power. Clear guidelines were put forward on the responsibilities of the interim
government. That is, to take non-partisan control of the security forces, the
electoral process, state media, and define areas of budget and finance, to allow
international participation of South Africa in global affairs and to elect a
constituent assembly based on a one-person-one-vote basis in a united South
Africa, which would draft and adopt a democratic constitution.

CODESA I

The first plenary session of the Convention for a Democratic South Africa
(CODESA) began on December 21 1991, at the World Trade Centre in
Johannesburg presided over by Chief Justice Michael Corbett, Petrus Shabort and

30
http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/governence-projects/constitution/codesa.htm

21
Ismail Mohamed as presidi. About 228 delegates from nineteen political parties
attended and pledged their commitment to negotiations by signing the Declaration
of Intent. The negotiating parties elected five working groups to deal with under
mentioned issues:

a) The new constitution

b) The setting up of the interim government
c) The future of the homelands
d) Time period for the implementation of the changes
e) The electoral system

CODESA 1 played a significant role in laying the foundation for multi-racial

discussions.

CODESA II

CODESA II began on the May 15, 1992 to discuss two major areas viz. the issue
of disbanding the ANC's military wing, MK, and the role of the public broadcaster,
the South African Broadcasting Corporation. The ANC agreed to put a stop on
military activities performed by its military wing and The NP reluctantly agreed to
the restructuring of the SABC as the ANC felt that a neutral broadcasting body was
required to provide fair coverage of the political developments and negotiation
process leading up to elections.31 However CODESA II was a failure as most of the
important issues like the interim government and the constitutions that could not be

31
http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/governence-projects/constitution/codesa.htm

22
resolved in CODESA I and were carried forward in CODESA II, also could not
eventually be resolved. As a result, the Management Committee declared a
deadlock on these issues. CODESA 2 had thus failed.

The deadlock and thus the failure of CODESA 2 were received with dismay both
inside and outside South Africa. The US pleaded with both the ANC and the NP to
resolve their differences and resume talks. Mandela and De Klerk once again
made attempts to meet. A few months after CODESA 2, a Multi-Party Negotiation
Process (MPNP) began to pursue the issues that CODESA had failed to resolve.

The formation of the multi-party negotiation process

After the Convention for a Democratic South Africa's ( CODESA) collapse, F. W.

De Klerk and Nelson Mandela exchanged memoranda and the NP considerably
softened its demands. By August 1992, the ANC had agreed to establish a 'channel
bilateral' for maintaining quiet dialogue, nominating Cyril Ramaphosa to hold talks
with the NP's Roelf Meyer . They made considerable progress and on 26
September Mandela and De Klerk held a summit to sign the Record of
Understanding . They agreed on the principles of an interim government at the
national and regional levels empowered by an interim constitution. They also
agreed on a formula for an elected assembly that would serve as an interim
parliament and draft a constitution based on principles agreed in prior multi-party
negotiations. They agreed that to improve efficacy, in future negotiations, the ANC
and NP would first reach agreement on a bilateral basis before going to other
parties for multilateral negotiation in sum, others could either agree to be a part of
the process or be left behind. This put considerable pressure on the other parties to

23
agree with the consensus or be left behind. This forced most of the parties to
cooperate with the ANC and National Party negotiating processes. Multi-party
Negotiating Process (MPNP) opened at the World Trade Centre. It convened 26
participating parties comprising political groupings, national and homeland
government representatives and traditional leaders. For the first time the PAC, CP
and Volksunie participated; only the far-left AZAPO and several extreme
Afrikaner parties refused to join.32

Shortly after the MPNP began, an extremist group assassinated the popular militant
leader Chris Hani . Amidst the outpourings of grief, anger and frustration that
threatened to engulf the country in protest and violence, Mandela appealed for
calm; the leadership recognized the killing as an attempt to derail the negotiations.
The ANC, NP and other moderate parties realized that they needed to move
quickly to reach agreements that could begin to bring home the fruits of the
transition, most visible of which would be the country's first non-racial democratic
elections. To expedite the process, the Negotiating Council agreed a new
Declaration of Intent, noting the urgent need to reduce violence and inspire broad
public confidence in the process and a clear vision of the milestones marking the
transition process.

At the beginning of June 1993, the Negotiating Council agreed to set the election
date for 27 April 1994. Amidst much debate and fanfare the Plenary minus most of
the COSAG group finally ratified the election date.

From July to August, the MPNP engaged in intense negotiations over various draft
interim constitutions and the structure of the Transitional Executive Council that
would be the central governing authority. On 18 th November 1993, the Negotiating

32
http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/governence-projects/constitution/mpnp.htm

24
Council adopted a comprehensive package agreement including an electoral act
and the interim constitution giving legal basis for the transitional institutions and
specifying non-negotiable constitutional principles - that became the basis for
South Africa's democratization pact.33

The Final Elections

In the April 1994 national and provincial elections, nineteen political parties,
representing the country's diverse constituencies, participated in the electoral
process. Each voter received two ballots and cast two votes (enabling each voter to
choose different parties at the national and the provincial levels). Voters selected a
political party, not an individual candidate, to represent them in the National
Assembly and in the provincial legislature.34 Each party had prepared ranked lists
of delegates for the national and the provincial legislatures. Political parties
gained seats in each body proportionally, according to the number of votes each
party received, and party delegates became legislators based on their ranking on
the appropriate list.

The elections were finally held on 27 th April 1994 and the ANC won an
overwhelming majority of the votes (62%), followed by the National Party with
20%.Nelson Mandela was sworn in as the new president of the independent South
Africa with De Klerk and Thabo Mbeki as deputies.

International Opposition to apartheid & Role of United Nation in South

Africa
In addition to the constant struggle by the ANC and its allies, International
opposition and United Nation played a considerable role in bringing an era of
apartheid to an end. Until the occurrence of Sharpeville massacre in 1960 most of
33
http://www.c-r.org/accord/peace/accord13/samul.shtml
34
http://countrystudies.us/south-africa/77.htm

25
the countries in United Nation believed that South Africa's racial policies were its
internal matter and United Nation had no jurisdiction to look into that matter.
However the Sharpeville incident changed their outlook and for the first time
Security Council agreed on concerted action against the apartheid regime,
demanding an end to racial separation and discrimination. On 6 November 1962,
the United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 1761, condemning South
African apartheid policies.35 In 1966, the UN held the first of many colloquiums on
apartheid. The General Assembly announced 21 March as the International Day for
the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, in memory of the Sharpeville massacre.
In 1971, the General Assembly formally denounced the institution of homelands,
and a motion was passed in 1974 to expel South Africa from the UN, but this was
vetoed by France, Britain and the United States of America, all key trade associates
of South Africa.

On 7 August 1963 the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 181
calling for a voluntary arms embargo against South Africa, and in the same year, a
Special Committee Against Apartheid was established to encourage and oversee
plans of action against the regime. From 1964, the US and Britain discontinued
their arms trade with South Africa. 36 In 1977, the voluntary UN arms embargo
became mandatory with the passing of United Nations Security Council
37
Resolution 418 Economic sanctions against South Africa were also frequently
debated as an effective way of putting pressure on the apartheid government. In
1962, the UN General Assembly requested that its members sever political, fiscal

35
In November 1962, the United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 1761, a non-binding resolution
establishing the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid and called for imposing economic and other
sanctions on South Africa. All Western nations were unhappy with the call for sanctions and as a result boycotted
the committee.

36
E S Reddy, United Nations and Apartheid- A Chronology at http://www.anc.org.za/un/un-chron.html
37
http://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs/2004/afr911.doc.htm

26
and transportation ties with South Africa. In 1968, it proposed ending all cultural,
educational and sporting connections as well. Economic sanctions, however, were
not made mandatory, because of opposition from South Africa's main trading
partners. In 1978 and 1983 the United Nations condemned South Africa at the
World Conference Against Racism, and a significant divestment movement started,
pressuring investors to disinvest from South African companies or companies that
did business with South Africa.

After much debate, by the late 1980s the United States, the United Kingdom, and
23 other nations had passed laws placing various trade sanctions on South Africa.
A divestment movement in many countries was similarly widespread, with
individual cities and provinces around the world implementing various laws and
local regulations forbidding registered corporations under their jurisdiction from
doing business with South African firms, factories, or banks. 38 However it cannot
be conclusively said that UN was the only force behind South African
Independence but it certainly exerted considerable pressure on the apartheid
government due to mass international condemnation and severing of cultural, trade
and economic ties.

38
Supra note 36

27
 CONCLUSION

During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people.
I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black
domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which
all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal
which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I
am prepared to die.

Mandela finally achieved what he wanted after fighting for numerous years with
the racist government through ANC and its military wing Umkhanto We Seize.
The man who spent more than three decade behind prison, the man who spend half
of life without his family, made the apartheid National Government negotiate with
him for a prosperous Africa where every person dreams to live in peace and
harmony and look towards equal opportunity in every sphere of life without
discrimination on the ground of sex, color and race. The transition to democracy in
South Africa was full of awful events that many a times hit the international
headlines. The apartheid policies and measures adopted by the ruling National
Party for white dominance were no less. The appalling statutes like Groups Area
Act and Bantu Education Act were a clear reflection of what the National
Government wanted to achieve and establish, not only became a subject of
criticism but violated every iota of Human Rights. The ‘whites only’ restaurants,
schools, recreation centers, beaches, roads etc speak a better story for itself. The
peculiarity of racist government in South Africa was that it tried to institutionalize
every single piece of apartheid policy it adopted with law as the world knows that
28
apartheid government in South Africa had passed more than 317 apartheid laws
that diluted the concept of humanism, which never existed after the pious land of
South Africa was colonized. The history also witnessed the massacre of
Sharpeville and Soweto where hundreds of unarmed Africans were brutally
murdered by state police in name of law and order, shattered the confidence of
people of South Africa and ANC which changed its mode of disobedience from
peaceful means to an armed struggle after witnessing such harrowing massacres.
The United Nation which finally heard the call of haplessness of South African
blacks passed resolutions imposing sanctions to make government reconsider its
policies and put an end to the apartheid regime. Meanwhile internal resistance had
increased by manifold and became unbearable on the apartheid government, finally
brought it down to the negotiating table with African political parties. After series
of negotiations with the Klerk government on issues like power sharing, interim
constitution etc election dates were announced where for the first time Blacks were
given the right to vote and choose his man of choice. The elections results were
expectable with ANC winning 62 percent of the total votes. Mr. Mandela was
sworn in as the new president of the free South Africa who promised to take South
Africa to a new zenith of development and happiness.

29
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books:
1. Mandela Nelson, 1995, Long Walk to Freedom, 1st edn, New Bay Back Ltd,
London

E- Sources
1. http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/speeches/1980s/sp800626.html
2. http://www.un.org/documents/scres.htm
3. http://countrystudies.us/south-africa/2.htm
4. http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107983.html
5. http://www.southafrica.info/about/history/history.htm
6. http://www.geographia.com/south-africa/
7. http://www.info.gov.za/aboutsa/history.htm
8. http://www.southafrica-travel.net/history/eh_cala1.htm
9. http://countrystudies.us/south-africa/11.htm
10.http://www.zuidafrika.nl/introduction/colonisation.html
11.http://www.southafrica.to/history/Apartheid/apartheid.htm
12.http://www.rebirth.co.za/apartheid_history1.htm
13.http://africanhistory.about.com/library/bl/blsalaws.htm
14.http://home.snu.edu/~dwilliam/f97projects/apartheid/history.htm
15.http://www.anc.org.za/show.php?doc=ancdocs/history/gendocs.html
16.http://www.anc.org.za/show.php?doc=/ancdocs/history/unity.html
17.http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/history/mk/rkmk.html

30
 18.http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1993/mandela-bio.html
19.http://www.capetown.at/heritage/history/newSA_mandela.htm
20.http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/governence-
projects/constitution/codesa.htm
21.http://africanhistory.about.com/od/apartheiddocuments/l/bl-
GrooteSchuurMinute.htm
22.http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/governence-
projects/constitution/codesa.htm
23.http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/governence-
projects/constitution/mpnp.htm
24.http://www.c-r.org/accord/peace/accord13/samul.shtml
25.http://countrystudies.us/south-africa/77.htm
26.http://www.anc.org.za/un/un-chron.html
27. http://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs/2004/afr911.doc.htm

Documentaries
1. ITN Documentary of Nelson Mandela
2. Nelson Mandela Interview on “Ending Poverty”.

31