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Nelson Mandela
He was a key figure in the fight against apartheid. He was arrested in 1912 and spent 27 years in prison for his activism. In 1990 he was released from prison and became the leader of the African National Congress. -
Apartheid
A system of racial segregation in South Africa that lasted from 1948 to 1990s. -
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Pass laws
In the 19th century, the new pass laws were enacted for the purpose of ensuring a reliable supply of cheap, docile African labor for the gold and diamond mines. In 1952, the government enacted an even more rigid law that required all African males over the age of 16 to carry a “reference book” containing personal information and employment history. Protest against these humiliating laws fueled the anti-apartheid struggle—from the Defiance Campaign (1952–1954). -
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South Africans forced to move
From 1960 to 1983, the apartheid government forcibly moved 3.5 million black South Africans in one of the largest mass removals of people in modern history. In one
incident over four days in 1985, Africans resisted being moved from Crossroads to the new government-run Khayelitsha township farther away; 18 people were killed and 230 were injured. -
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Mandela
Convicted and sentenced to five years at Robben Island Prison, he was put on trial again in 1964 on charges of sabotage. Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in prison. He was released in 1990. Mandela subsequently led the ANC in its negotiations with the minority government for an end to apartheid and the establishment of a multiracial government. Nelson Mandela was elected as South Africa’s first black president in 1994. -
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Bantustans
The Bantustans (also known as “homelands”) were a cornerstone of the “grand apartheid” policy of the 1960s and 1970s, justified by the apartheid government as benevolent “separate development.” The Bantustans were created by the Promotion of Bantu Self-Government Act of 1959, which abolished indirect representation of blacks in Pretoria and divided Africans into ten ethnically discrete groups, each assigned a traditional “homeland.” -
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End to apartheid
Mandela worked to negotiate an end to apartheid and in 1994, South Africa held its first multiracial elections, with Mandela becoming the country's first black president. Even before his release in 1990, Mandela began negotiating with the government to end apartheid. Through those negotiations, he helped prevented a bloody civil war.