1989, it was the climax of the apartheid era. This was the year that apartheid took turn for the better, for the better of the people and society. It was the year the oppressed gradually transformed into the democratic citizens of South Africa. It was the year F. W de Klerk took over to make South Africa into a better country, a democratic county, a country where citizens could finally stand up to apartheid. Apartheid has brought struggle and tension between different races but today it has made us grateful for the deeds our apartheid fighters has done for the freedom we have and share today.
1989 P. W Botha resigned due to a stroke thus therefore allowing F. W de Klerk to take power of South Africa. He was the man that helped us build the foundation to the success of our democratic country we live in today. He was the man that gave our apartheid fighters the permission to protest against apartheid. He was the man that released the political prisoners even Nelson Mandela. He is one of the reasons we live in a society where we have our rights and are able to use them.
1989 was the year that all fighting and protesting had paid off and what is ironic is that de Klerk was a white man but yet he never continued the reign of apartheid. The ANC and NP found common ground in this year and this was the beginning of a rainbow nation. The years 1989 to 1991 experienced some earth shaking events in the global geo-political power equation. The world witnessed the breaching of the Berlin Wall in November 1989. The Communist regimes in Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, East Germany, Bulgaria, and Romania collapsed.
The Term Paper on The apartheid system in South Africa
The term “apartheid” was one of the most politically charged words in the second half of the 20th century, and still remains notorious today. Apartheid translated from Afrikaans means “separateness” or “apartness”. However when the National Party came to power in South Africa in 1948, it took on a much more sinister meaning and today is associated with racial ...
Dubcek and Havel, former prisoners of the communist regime, were together welcomed by huge crowds; whilst in Romania, the huddled bodies of the Ceaucescus lay in a snowy courtyard; in Tianamen Square screams and tracer bullets broke the night’s silence. All these were symptoms of the extraordinary drama that welcomed the last decade of the millennium. The release of Mr. Mandela from life imprisonment heralded at the same time the beginning of the end of white domination.
It is still possible for many people to think of what happened in South Africa on May 10 as a temporal and reversible change. In the negotiations that seemed to go on endlessly we defied the logic of our past, and broke all the rules of political theory, to create a powerful spirit of unity from our shattered nation. The transfer of power to the majority in South Africa was a major development in a century characterised by momentous developments. This change has raised many questions.
In this paper no definitive judgement will be made about the achievements or lack thereof by the GNU headed by the African National Congress. The legacy the GNU inherited from almost a hundred years of white minority rule, to try to take risks from the mess that white rule created on the basis of programmes embodied in the ANC’s Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP).
The GNU is trying to extricate the country from the sad legacy of white minority rule dating back to 1910. All the occurrences during that millennium had boiled down the future our generation has today.
If we look at the trouble those people went through to fight for reformation in other countries besides South Africa, it gives us an understanding that those people were willing to put their lives on the line because of the inequality and injustice. It helps us understand that during that time things were horrific and that change had to take place in order for the generation ahead would not suffer as they did. We should be grateful for our freedom we share today because now our future ahead is much brighter and opportunistic because we are all equal and receive equal opportunities. 411 words
The Term Paper on Development and Social Change 2
DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIAL CHANGE STRATEGIES IN KENYA IN THE 21ST CENTURY DEFINATIONS Strategy is a high level plan to achieve one or more goals under conditions of uncertainty. Strategy is important because the resources available to achieve these goals are usually limited. Strategy is also about attaining and maintaining a position of advantage over adversaries through the successive exploitation of ...
