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Dutch Trading Routes in the 17 th -century Spice Trade. 1652: The first white settlers, led by Jan van Riebeeck, arrive on three Dutch ships. Encounter the Khoikhoi and San peoples. The Dutch East India Company controls the Cape of Good Hope until 1795; British gain control of the Cape in 1795.
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1652: The first white settlers, led by Jan van Riebeeck, arrive on three Dutch ships. Encounter the Khoikhoi and San peoples. • The Dutch East India Company controls the Cape of Good Hope until 1795; British gain control of the Cape in 1795. • Anglo-Boer (Dutch Word for “Farmer”) War: 1899-1902; British win, but suffer great losses. • 1910: British colonies and the Boer republics joined to form South Africa. • 1912: African National Congress (ANC) founded. • 1948: National Party comes to power; “Apartheid” (Afrikaans for ‘separation’) implemented
Demographic Facts of South Africa • 47 million (2006 census) • 80% Black • 9.5% white (during apartheid, the white population was at 11%) • 9% Colored • 2.5% Indian • Afrikaner: South Africans of Dutch descent • Xhosa, Zulu, English, Afrikaans– 3 of 11 languages
1950 - Population classified by race. Group areas act passed to segregate blacks and whites. Communist party banned. ANC responds with campaign of civil disobedience, led by Nelson Mandela. • 1960 - Seventy black demonstrators killed in Sharpeville Massacre for protesting Pass Laws. ANC banned. • 1961 - Mandela heads ANC's new military wing, which launches sabotage campaign. On 16th December, 1961, Umkhonto We Sizwe: “Spear of the Nation.” • 1964 - ANC leader Nelson Mandela sentenced to life imprisonment. • 1976 - More than 600 killed in clashes between black protesters and security forces during uprising which starts in Soweto.
1984-89 - Township revolt, state of emergency. • 1989 – F.W. de Klerk replaces P.W. Botha as president, meets Mandela. Public facilities desegregated. Many ANC activists freed. • 1990 - ANC unbanned, Mandela released after 27 years in prison. • April 1994: First non-racial elections; ANC wins; Mandela becomes President of a democratic South Africa
Truth and Reconciliation Commission • Chaired by Archbishop Desmond Tutu • “Reconciliation” – the opposite of revenge • “Third Way”: not blanket amnesty; not punishment; remembrance with forgiveness • To avoid a bloody transition and to heal a nation • Past enemies must live together and move forward (unlike in Nuremberg Trials) • Ubuntu: one’s humanity emerges in relation to the humanity of others.
Conditions for Amnesty Application • Period covered: 1960-1994 • Individual applications • Politically motivated human rights violations • Full disclosure and in open hearings • Application had to be submitted before May 1997 Over 7,000 applications for amnesty were received
Testimonials from Victims • Over 23,000 testimonials received • Many were delivered in open hearings that were broadcast (through radio, television, and print media) throughout the country; 4 hours/ day for 2 years; in all 11 languages • 17 TRC commissioners • Transparent and open process • Dignity of sufferers restored; their suffering acknowledged • Impossible to say anymore “We did not know.”