Independence

South Africa fought a tough battle to gain their independence and eventually won it in 1994. The apartheid policies were the biggest obstacle that prevented the South Africans from gaining their independence. D.F. Malan first introduced apartheid to protect the white citizens and to gain control of the blacks. An apartheid is a policy or system of segregation or discrimination on grounds of race (www.dictionary.com). On May 31, 1961, South Africa was extremely unhappy with their situation and they voted for their independence. However, Hendrik Verwoerd (Malan’s successor) didn’t like the sound of their plan for independence, so he only reinforced the apartheid policy more! This reinforcement lead the Africa National Congress (ANC) and the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) to get involved because things were extremely unfair and were getting out of hand (many Africans were killed and tortured) (B). Eventually, these organizations were made illegal because the British government didn’t want them to gain support and become a mega source of power that could possibly threaten the British’s ruling status. They tried to subdue the fire, but they only made it burn brighter because the U.S.A. and U.K. get involved!  The South African government only got more upset because of the U.S.A.’s and U.K.’s involvement and as a result, they intensified their military actions (B). South Africa endured many years under apartheid policies. Fortunately F.W. de Klerk ended apartheid on February. 2, 1990 (B). He also allowed organizations like (AMC) and (PAC) to officially run again. Nelson Mandela, an ANC leader, was released from prison and was elected to be the first legitimate president on May 10, 1994 (B). The people of South Africa took the first step to this mission on April 1994, when they voted for their country’s first ever-democratic government. Today, Africa is a strong democracy where people of both white and black ethnicity live together in a culturally and ethnically diverse country.