quick and dirty on the South African apartheird

A history of colonization often lays the foundation for political instability. Colonial authorities codify their own values into domestic laws. White colonial authorities in South Africa concentrated their power through the institutionalization of discrimination which consequently established long-lasting institutions where white minority rule will continue to protect itself. South Africa saw laws restricting African rights, “especially land ownership” which saw the annexation of lands under the guise of pseudo-legitimate laws.  Professor Douek once said that the apartheid was “state-sanctioned racism encoded in the laws and norms of state and society”. South Africa’s colonial past allowed this codification of discriminatory laws to represent a legitimized political stance on which the National Party grounded its platform on, thus sparking civil war and political violence. 

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State motivations were to maintain concentrated power and wealth over a seemingly subservient majority of black Africans. Not only was the state motivated to maintain the societal class distinction afforded to them by a colonial past, but also to preserve the economic benefits of a marginally poorer population who constituted the cheap labor market that white elites were so dependent on. Rebel motivations, on the other hand, were much simpler, to resist an unjust state. After the Sharpeville massacre of 69 unarmed African protesters and 200 wounded, African human rights saw the only choice was to militarize through the foundation of the MK. 

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Rebel strategies were extensive and ideologically motivated. The African National Congress’ (ANC) strategies included the non-racialism of the armed wing MK. The ANC Framed apartheid as a “class problem of the rich exploiting the poor, with racial discrimination as a subsidiary problem”. This widening of the scope of impact that the National party had on society allowed for the mobilization of a larger demographic than just Black Africans. Rebels went out of their way to avoid civilian casualties in the 1976 Soweto Uprising, thus preserving the societally perceived legitimacy of the movement. Moreover, the ANC amassed international diplomatic support from countries such as Canada and other Nordic Countries. This strategy aimed at building up international awareness and pressure on the apartheid regime, a feat that would prove detrimental in the dissolvement of the apartheid. Furthermore, the MK received Soviet weapons and training which reinforced the ANC threat against the oppressive state. Rebel strategies were disruptive more than antagonistic and consisted of power lines bombed and sabotage operations of oil refineries and military bases. The aim of these operations was primarily to hearten South Africa's black majority as well as inspire and mobilize the oppressed. The ANC further collaborated with the umbrella movement of the United Democratic Front (UDF) made up of unions, community organizations, which allowed for the engagement of civil society. As the final few years of the apartheid approached, international pressures began crystalizing into legitimate external threats.  Chase Manhattan Bank in New York, for example, began rejecting loan requests from South Africa as a consequence of domestic pressures to boycott and divest the apartheid, a feat that would have been impossible without the ANC’s efforts to amass international support.  

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State strategies, on the other hand, were much more volatile and targeted. From a legal front, the creation of laws to restrict African mobility or political power were some of the state’s chief strategies. Only the white minority was allowed to vote, the government actively restricted black upward mobility or access to education. The state attempted to demoralize the black population by institutionalizing the oppression through arbitrary searches and laws such as the “pass laws” which restricted the mobility of Africans to certain areas unless they held a pass. The government would target unarmed protestors and members of civil societies through security forces and death squads in order to claim plausible deniability over the deaths of civic activists. The government developed strong political ties with NATO in order to limit international pressures or threats on the sovereignty of the regime. State strategies also included the development of economic ties with the US, UK, France, Italy, sold weapons to the South African apartheid regime in order to give these entities a financial stake in the success of the apartheid. Counterinsurgency tactics were also deployed in the form of psychological operations aimed at discrediting or demoralizing MK, such as with the  ‘Joint Management System’. This system was a tool used to deploy spies in African communities in order to leak secrets and grant easier access to these communities. The state was also notorious for its political assassinations of ANC operatives such as the Security Officer Joe Gqabi and ANC leader Ruth First. Another strategy was the sparking of ‘Black on Black’ violence. African forces secretly worked for the regime to kill Africans who opposed the regime in order to mask their efforts behind deniable culpability and discredit the MK and the anti-apartheid movement. By making it seem like these communities are ungovernable, and the leadership incapable of leading, the state sought to undermine African communities and dilute their struggle.

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This civil war left legacies of domestic and regional insecurity, poverty, and violence. South Africa today faces high levels of societal and criminal violence as well as extreme levels of inequality, which to this day reflects the legacy of apartheid: a majority of whites are comfortably wealthy, a majority of black Africans remain financially insecure.