NEXT UP! 2 138 South Africa and the apartheid era At the southernmost tip of the African continent lies South Africa. After being colonised for hundreds of years by the Dutch and the British, the country gained its independence from Great Britain in 1934. But independent South Africa did not manage to rid itself of the racism that had been practised for so many years by the colonisers. In 1948, the white National Party introduced a policy to South African law called apartheid. Apartheid is Afrikaans for “separation” or “apartness”. It was a racist policy that discriminated against non-white people. The government’s basic idea was that “inferior people” should receive inferior treatment. The law stated that if you were black or coloured, you were not allowed to go wherever you wanted. You could not own land, vote or marry a white person. A black resistance movement called The African National Congress (ANC) wanted to abolish apartheid, and as a result its leader, Nelson Mandela, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1964. Before reading Draw a mind map and write South Africa in the middle. Extend lines and write down all the associations you can make with the country. southernmost – syðstur to gain – öðlast independence – sjálfstætt to rid itself – losa sig við a policy – hér: stefna Afrikaans – upprunalega hollenskt tungumál, eitt af opinberum tungumálum Suður-Afríku inferior – óæðri to vote – kjósa a resistance movement – andspyrnuhreyfing to abolish – afnema life imprisonment – ævilangt fangelsi In 1952, South African natives took over a train compartment marked “For Europeans only” and rode into Cape Town. Thirty-four were arrested.
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