But deeper inland, South Africa was dominated by more powerful African tribes. British occupation of the Cape in 1795 found the white settler population already at war with the Xhosa. There was a brief period in 1803 when the Cape was constituted by the Netherlands as a Batavian Republic. The British, presenting themselves as reformists, however reclaimed it in 1806. Relations with the Boers worsened particularly over the treatment of African slaves. The emancipation act in 1834 ended slavery but also brought more pressure on land as Africans were momentarily deemed equal to the whites which meant equal claim to land ownership. This development contributed to the conditions for the famous Boer Great Trek.

The Trek, a major landmark in Afrikaner history, caused the British to fill the void in Natal. They also took over, control of the Trans-Orangia. They later gave it up to the Afrikaners to create the South African Republic and the Orange Free State. South African history is punctuated by the great upheavals caused by the rise of the Zulu empire. The militaristic might of the Zulus, especially under the great general Shaka, conquered and fused the chiefdoms north of Natal. The upheavals saw the birth of the Swazi and Lesotho Kingdoms and the exodus of the Ndebele across the Limpopo river. Inevitably, the Afrikaner trekkers who headed for the highveld of Transvaal encountered bloody conflict with the armies of the Zulu. It was with great pain and effort that the Zulu were to be gradually subdued by British interventions.

Diamonds and Gold
Although finally, the British prevailed over the Boers, it was the latter who ultimately assumed control of the destiny of the country. The discovery of diamonds in the 1860s at Kimberely edged the white communities closer together and pushed the Africans back into subordination. The discovery of gold in 1871 in the Witwatersrand, Transvaal area made the South African Republic the most economically secure and powerful in South Africa. Cecil Rhodes, the British tycoon who made a fortune from diamonds, was instrumental in bringing about the eventual annexation of the two Boer states after having successfully consigned to British rule the lands north of the Limpopo, known later as Southern and Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Nonetheless, unifying South Africa under British supervision proved difficult due to stiff Boer resistance. When the four provinces were finally united in 1910, it was not without the influence of Boer controlled nationalist parties which gained political supremacy.

Political Parties
The national South Africa Party (SAP) was formed from a merger of three Boer parties led by Boer generals Louis Botha and Jan Smuts in 1910. The party formed the first government and quickly signed into law a constitution denying Africans their fundamental rights. SAP, however, split in 1912. Calling itself the National Party (NP), the splinter embarked on a campaign to capture political power. Africans, in turn, formed the African Native National Congress later renamed the African National Congress (ANC). It was led by Pixley Seme and aimed to uplift the status of the original inhabitants of South Africa. The white workers' Labour Party, created by disgruntled settler employees, joined hands with the Afrikaaner Farmers' National Party and swept the 1924 whites only legislative elections. Segregation at places of work became entrenched during this period: Blacks were removed from jobs en masse. Although it managed to make it back into power in 1928, the alliance lost ground as the economy crashed in the 1929-30s.

A revitalised National Party formally merged with the SAP to become the United Party (UP) and conspired to marginalise black people further. New laws excluded blacks from owning land and residing in certain areas. Black people's names were struck off the common election registers. Meanwhile an even more extreme clique calling itself the "purified" National Party split from the UP buttressed by Adolf Hitler's white supremacist doctrines in Germany. The "purified" NP, composed of hardline MPs, was led by Daniel Malan.

NP and the Apartheid Era
The National Party rode an apartheid ticket to win the 1948 elections and created a tangled web of laws, emergency rules and regulations to protect white privilege and power. Daniel Malan led the government under the new system of apartheid. In 1954, J.G. Strydom, a hardliner took over from Malan. Then in 1958 came the man described as the principal architect of apartheid- Hendrik Verwoerd. Verwoerd applied efficiently the rules of official segregation, keeping the black majority out of mainstream society in nearly all areas of life. In the years to follow, the Bantustan system was created which maintained separate impoverished homelands for Africans. Pass laws restricting the movement of Africans were enacted.

Stubborn Minority and the New Republic
Under apartheid, a stubborn minority refused to listen to the demands of the majority and the result was 30 years of violence and oppression of the country's black population. South Africa became a republic on 31 May 1961, after being forced to leave the Commonwealth over the issue of entrenched racism. Although black leaders, meeting at Pietermaritzburg just before the republic was formed, had called for a new non-racial democratic constitution, their words went unheeded by Verwoerd.

Defiance Campaign
Working with the Indian Congress, Coloured People's Congress and Congress of Democrats (a group of white communists and anti-apartheid campaigners), the ANC launched a defiance campaign in 1952 to bring about changes in government policy relating to pass laws, livestock limitation, Bantu authorities, Group Areas, separate representation of voters, and the suppression of communism. The ANC's membership rose to 100 000 as a direct consequence of the defiance campaign.

Sharpeville Massacre
The turning point in the struggle came at Sharpeville. On 21 March 1960, police opened fire on an unarmed crowd of anti-pass campaigners, killing 69 people. Many were shot in the back. In the crisis that followed, the ANC and the Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC) were banned. The massacre opened a new era, and remained symbolically important to the anti-apartheid movement.

The Struggle
The ANC established a military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe in 1961, which tried to force government to the discussion table by targeting key state installations. The PAC launched its own armed wing, called Poqo, the following year. Exiled senior leaders of both organisations established bases outside South Africa as the government cracked down on the black movement, arresting some of the most influential figures, including Nelson Mandela, who were tried for "treason". However, the struggle continued and the banned ANC operated militarily through Umkhonto we Sizwe and politically through the United Democratic Front.

Sanctions
On the international front, South Africa was forced to withdraw from the Commonwealth due to mounting protests from African and other states; the United Nations declared apartheid a crime against humanity in 1966; the anti-apartheid movement, domiciled in London drew more support. At home, the ANC took up arms as its leaders Mandela and Walter Sisulu were jailed for life in 1963. Among the most important sanctions imposed on Apartheid South Africa between 1960 and 1990 were the mandatory arms embargo of November 1977, the financial sanctions that followed P W Botha's Rubicon speech in August 1985, and the United States' Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act (CAAA) of 1986.

Soweto Uprising, Political Violence and Destabilisation
The most significant uprising was at Soweto on 16 June 1976. It began as a protest by school children in Soweto township south of Johannesburg against the government's insistence that Afrikaans be used as a medium of instruction in schools. The revolt soon spread from Soweto to other areas within the country. More than 600 people were shot by security forces by the time it was brutally suppressed. Thousands fled abroad to join the liberation struggle. In the early 1990s, there was an outbreak of unprecedented levels of politically motivated violence in South Africa. The ANC had called for a campaign to render the country ungovernable. Unlike the Soweto and township revolts of 1976-1977 and 1984-1987, the violence of the late 1980s and early 1990s was more widespread. Much of the violence was fanned deliberately by members of the South African security forces to dislocate the inevitable transition to majority rule. South Africa at the same time launched military campaigns against neighbouring states particularly Botswana, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe, to prevent assistance to the ANC.

Eminent Persons Group (EPG)
In 1986 an Eminent Persons Group (EPG) was established by Commonwealth Heads of State. It was allowed to consult a range of opinions and even held talks with Nelson Mandela in prison. The EPG's consultative process, however, ceased abruptly when South Africa launched attacks against Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana. International sanctions were tightened further after that.

End of Apartheid
Poor health forced PW Botha to resign as leader of the NP. He reluctantly stepped down as State President in August 1989. Frederick de Klerk was confirmed as his successor in September the same year. There was absolutely no hope that concessions would calm the restive black population and the government of de Klerk was left with little option but to accept the ANC as a negotiating partner.

ANC Leaders Released
FW de Klerk's government released Walter Sisulu and seven other political prisoners; unbanned the ANC and other parties. In reciprocal actions, the ANC suspended the armed struggle in 1990 and began negotiations with the state. On 11 February 1990, FW de Klerk released Nelson Mandela, ending the ANC leader's 27 years of captivity. South African exiles began to return home as the new order unfurled. De Klerk announced before parliament on 1 February 1991, the repeal of the Group Areas Act and the Population Registration Act and the Land Act, each of which hosted sub-sections denying the 26 million blacks any real freedom. Significantly, whites, in a referendum exclusive to themselves, voted to abolish apartheid. In July 1991, South Africa was re-admitted to world sport by the International Olympic Committee.

TEC and Elections
A multiparty Transitional Executive Council (TEC) was established in September 1993 on approval by parliament to oversee the work of government in ensuring that an atmosphere conducive to elections prevailed. The polls were held on 26-29 April 1994, electing a Constituent Assembly to draft the new constitution. The ANC won an overall majority with 252 seats and 62.65 percent of the vote, but did not make the two-thirds majority that would have empowered it to draft the constitution. The ANC also won control of seven of the nine regional assemblies. National Party (NP) earned 20.4 percent; Inkhata 10.5 percent. And less than two percent went to the Freedom Front, Democratic Party (DP), Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC), African Christian Democratic Party, and others. Nineteen parties in total took part in the elections. Nelson Mandela was chosen to be South Africa's first President by the interim parliament on 9 May 1994. He was formally inaugurated on 10 May 1994. Thabo Mbeki and de Klerk became Deputy Presidents in a Government of National Unity (GNU).

National Party Withdraws
In June 1996, the biggest opposition party in parliament, the National Party (NP) withdrew from the GNU. It found itself unable to contest and influence government decisions within the Government of National Unity because of the overwhelming majority of the ANC. FW de Klerk withdrew the party's partnership and ceased being the second Deputy President. This portfolio has since never been revived.

Transparency
The executive, largely dominated by the ANC, is often subjected to public inquiry through the media, an outspoken opposition, a lively legislature and unfettered judiciary. When the State President Nelson Mandela appeared before the courts over a decision he made to probe the South African Rugby Football Association on its racial imbalance, many of his supporters thought it was demeaning of him. But it set a precedent that exposed the Presidency to interrogation by the other institutions of democracy.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)
The TRC was a baby of the country's transitional constitution. Taking into account the country's deeply divided past and injustices that prevailed, it was noted that for the sake of the endeavour for national unity, there needed to be reconciliation amongst the people. The objectives of the Commission were to promote national unity by establishing a comprehensive picture of the causes, nature and extent of the gross violations of human rights, which were committed during the apartheid era. The TRC was set up by Act of parliament and its 17 members, headed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, were appointed in December 1995. Its human rights' violations committee investigated gross violations of human rights between 1960 and 1994. Public hearings were held in many parts of the country in 1996 and 1997, and over 20 000 statements by victims of gross violations of human rights were recorded. The TRC handed over its report to Government on 29 October, 1998.

People Participation in Democratic Process
The South African parliament has taken the initiative in encouraging people to participate in the democratic process by availing information on the operations of the house through the media and lately on the internet. Laws have been translated into the major vernaculars and citizens have been made aware of how to contact their representatives. Parliament encourages citizens to contact their representatives by phone or letter at Parliament. All MPs' postal addresses, telephone numbers, cell phone numbers, e-mail addresses have been made available on Parliament's site on the internet. Also included on the site are the MPs' shares and other financial interests. The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) carries live broadcasts of parliamentary debates on one of its channels daily. Through the right to information law, government is obliged to give citizens relevant information regarding its operations.

Recent Political Developments
South Africa appeared keen to assert itself in regional politics soon after the transition to democracy. On 9 September 1996 President Mandela became chairman of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) enhancing the country's profile in the region. (The chairmanship expires in August 1999).

Media
There are over 15 daily newspapers in South Africa. According to UNESCO figures for 1995, the country had 1,300,000 copies of dailies circulating per day. There are four television stations one of which is pay-per-view and a fourth one called Midi TV, went on air in October 1998. Radio and television statistics from UNESCO say there were 13,100,000 receivers in the country in 1995. That translated into 316 receivers per 1000 inhabitants. There were 4,500,000 television sets in the country in the same year and this meant 100 sets per thousand.

MEDIA SCAN

Bibliography

1. A Dictionary of South African History. David Philip Publishers South Africa. 1998
2. Commonwealth Year Book 1997. Gunthorp Dale [et al]. - 1997.
3. Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. - 1996.
4. Unfinished Business: South Africa's March to Democracy No. 1-8, SARDC - 1991-94