South Africa really is a cultural melting pot with a turbulent history. In 1652, the Dutch-East India Trading Company first landed in South Africa at the present day Cape Town, setting off a chain of historical events as the British, Trek Boers, Afrikaners, Xhosas, Zulus, and so many other groups clashed over the next hundreds of years to live in this land. Just reading the brief overview of South Africa's history had me constantly referencing a map and struggling to keep the many historic (and even tragic) conflicts straight in my head.
I also never realized the severity of apartheid in South Africa. Beginning in 1910, a series of laws separated and reduced the rights of the black population. This includes the "Mines and Works Act", cutting black's employment to menial work to guarantee better jobs for whites, the 1913 "Native Land Act" that essentially restricted blacks to reservations constituting 7.3% of South Africa's land, to even "Bantu" educational measures that reduced black children to learning how to wash dishes and weed flower beds.
But through all this emerged "New South Africa", a term I had never heard before but makes perfect sense to use. This New South Africa exists in the modern world as many other nations do, as it lives in a more democratic society, strives to empower women, gathers in the world's largest mining investment conference, and even gears up to face its arch-nemesis in sports, the Aussies. On the surface, South Africa appears very much like other countries. However, the lingering effects of post-apartheid still surfaces in many of the news headlines I scanned. Additionally, much of the country's population still lives in extreme poverty, just one concrete example of how apartheid, which ended only 25 years ago, still affects the South African people today.
However, I believe that with the same resilience that this country's people used to be where they are today that they can overcome these social issues. People like David Gilmour, Deputy Assistant Director of the Bureau of African Affairs, have been a part of this movement in social development. When we hear him speak in our seminar this week, I would like to ask him how has being an American influenced his relations with the South African people and his favorite part of this nation.
I really like how you called South Africa a "cultural melting pot" because in reality thats what it really is. It has such a diverse background and different cultural influences that is basically has a piece of everything. I found it difficult to keep track of the different historical conflicts as well because there was so many.
ReplyDeleteThe New South Africa described in the reading seemed very much like an ordinary country, but in reality there is still so much conflict behind it. There is still good coming out of the country like you listed empowering women and having a known mining investment conference.
I agree that the country is going to be able to oversee their issues, but they still have work to put in. With strong leaders this should make it all the bit easier and smoother process.