Difference between revisions of "South Africa"

Revision as of 03:50, September 8, 2007

South Africa located on the southern tip of Africa is the wealthiest, and one of the largest countries on the continent.

It has a very advantageous location for trade routes by sea from Western Europe to India and the Far East. As a result, there was far more immigration by Europeans to South Africa than any other region of Africa, and whites of European ancestry (English and Dutch) ruled South Africa until the late twentieth century. Since then, democracy has brought representative government to the African ethnic groups.

History

The Dutch (or Boers) were the first to establish a European settlement in southern Africa, at Cape Colony on the very southern tip in 1652. This port supplied ships on the way to the Indiana Ocean. The Dutch emplyed Africans in conditions of indentured servitude, and set up farms for the unemployed Africans to work for the colonists' profit. In the 1800s the British arrived and took over Cape Colony, and disfavored the continuation of the Dutch system. The Dutch then moved inland, further north, in what is called the Great Trek. This created conflict with the native Africans.

In the late 1800s, an African ethnic group known as the Zulus rose to power in southern Africa, led by a military African genius named Shaka. But his successors could not retain power. By 1887 the British, with better military technology, defeated the Zulus.

The Boer War broke out between the British and the Boers in 1899. The dispute was sparked by disagreements over land, access to diamonds and gold discovered in South Africa, and whether immigrants should have political rights. The British won this war, and in 1902 established the Union of South Africa to include all the Boers republics. This country was controlled by the British but enjoyed some self-rule.

South Africa was the most complex, and the most prosperous, of the African colonies. As early as the 1600s the Dutch established Cape Town as a city at the southern tip of Africa. But during the Napoleonic Wars the British captured Cape Town (in 1815) and drove the Dutch (the “Boers”) inland. The Dutch favored continuation of slavery; the British abolished slavery in its empire in 1833.

The Boers fought the native Africans (Bantu tribes such as the Zulus) during the Great Trek of the Boers. The Boers founded two inland republics, the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. But the British were more powerful, and controlled wealthy diamond mines. The Brit Cecil Rhodes acquired great wealth through his monopoly of the diamond production in 1889, and he served as prime minister of the British Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896.

A Boer War ensued from 1899 to 1902, and afterwards it was the Boers (the Dutch) who established “apartheid”. Apartheid segregated the majority blacks from the minority whites in South Africa, with the white minority controlling the country.

The British granted South Africa independence in 1910, and it became a member of the British Commonwealth in 1931 with its constitution allowing white rule over the blacks. But the country was prosperous, and all enjoyed a higher standard of living than the remainder of Africa.

The Dutch South Africans (Afrikaner) gained control in 1948 when their National Party rose to power and enforced apartheid throughout South Africa. Homelands (segregated areas) were even established for the rival African tribes, and the whites reserved the best property for themselves. Ever since 1912 the all-black African National Congress (ANC) objected, but it was suppressed. Demonstrations, such as the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre, occasionally broke out but were violently put down. An ANC leader named Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for his role in that demonstration. Riots over school segregation occurred in Soweto in 1976, and in 1977 the government beat an outspoken critic, Steve Biko, to death.

There was increasing pressure worldwide for South Africa to end its racism. Its athletes were banned from the Olympics since the 1960s, and trade restrictions were imposed by other nations. A black South African bishop, Desmond Tutu, called for boycotts of his own nation.

Finally, in 1989, a new South African president named F.W. de Klerk was elected who would change the country. With international approval, de Klerk legalized the ANC, released Nelson Mandela from jail, and obtained repeal of apartheid laws, and agreed to fully democratic elections in 1994. Nelson Mandela then won those elections and the ANC won a majority in the National Assembly, the bigger house in the South African Parliament. A new constitution containing a bill of rights like that in the United States was adopted in 1996, though it also included entitlement and social rights.

South Africa will host the World Cup (soccer) in 2010, the first time it has ever been held in Africa.

Crime in South Africa

One of the largest challenges which South Africa faces is Crime. Crime in South Africa is a major political and social issue. Rape is endemic in South Africa. [1][2] According to a report entitled Murder in South Africa by Robert McCafferty and the Christian Action Network, a serious underreporting of violent crimes has occurred. Victims' surveys have consistently uncovered between 60% and 70% more crime than reported by official sources. Upwards of 50% of crime in many serious categories goes unreported. The number of homicides being reported to international agenicies such as Interpol is below the actual figure, and the South African government's claim that the homicide rate has declined since 1994, rather than risen to be among the highest in the world, is questioned. ^[1]

South African Farm Murders is a highly political issue with some claiming genocide or ethnic cleansing.. According to the Government the murders are "just the result of ordinary crime", but the Agricultural Unions believe it forms part of Genocide committed against the Boers of South Africa. [3] Genocide Watch of New Haven, Concecticut claims 2.2% of Boer farmers have been victims of violent homicide by 2002. Other reports show robbery is not the motive in these homicides. An article in WorldNetDaily cites the homicide rate among South African Boer farmers at 264 per 100,000, while Genocide Watch cites a figure of 311 per 100,000 as of 2002.

A Boer blog site points out that the Dutch Boer's of South Africa who were integrated into the South African state forcibly by British Afrikaners after the Boer War, were not promulgators of the policy of Apartheid implemented by the dominant Afrikaners. The author states the Dutch Boers first faced the loss of their ethnic identity by British Afrikaners during the Aparteid era, and that the policy of the current South African government is now to remove completely the ethnic communities identity. ^[2]

Genocide in South Africa

The African National Congress is promoting Genocide against the boer in South Africa. ^[3][4][5] 1860 Farmers were killed in South Africa since 1994. 400,000 Afrikaners are destitute and starving in South Africa.

There is also a believe that there is a conspiricy to kill white people on a massive scale after the death of Nelson Mandela. One of the operations planned entails 70,000 armed black men "being transported to the Johannesburg city center within an hour" in taxicabs to attack whites. The plans are variously dubbed "Operation Vula," "Night of the Long Knives," "Operation White Clean-up," "Operation Iron Eagle" and "Red October campaign." [4]

The victims of this ongoing onslaught are usually elderly white citizens with the assailents generally being black Africans. [5]

FIFA 2010 World Cup

South Africa won the bid to host the FIFA 2010 soccer world cup. [6]

Same Sex Marriage

As of December 5, 2005, same sex marriage has been legal in South Africa.^[6]

HIV and AIDS in South Africa

South Africa is currently experiencing one of the most severe AIDS epidemics in the world. [7]

Some South African Christians have responded to campaigns for pre-marital abstinence as a way to contain the virus. [8]

References

1. ↑ Murder in South Africa, Report by Robert McCafferty, Christian Action Network. Retrieved 11 July 2007.
2. ↑ Boer, Afrikaner, or White, Which Are You? by Adriana Stuijt. Retrieved from Stop Boer Genocide.com 11 July 2007.
3. ↑ 'Kill the Boer, kill the farmer', By Anthony C. LoBaido, WorldNetDaily.com, July 28, 2002. Retrieved July 12, 2007.
4. ↑ Genocide Watch:Over 1000 Boer Farmers In South Africa Have Been Murdered Since 1991. Retrieved from Genocide Watch July 12, 2007.
5. ↑ http://www.stopboergenocide.com/index2.html
6. ↑ S. Africa's Top Court Blesses Gay Marriage