The history and development of human rights in South Africa

By sam26767890

  • British arrival at the Cape

    After many wars fought with the Dutch and the Xhosa throughout the 1800s, the British took control of the Cape and freed all of the Dutch's slaves. They continued using the natives for labour, but it was more fair in payment and treatment. By 1900 the last of the Dutch territories had surrendered to Britain, after the end of the anglo-boer war.

  • Start of the second boer war

    In 1899, the Dutch and the British got into another war, this time over the right to vote for foreigners in the country, as the non-white population were still not allowed to vote back then. Britain used troops from many of their colonies, as well as many conscripted natives, while the Dutch only had their own men. This was not without its fair share of human rights violations, as Britain used scorched earth war tactics, which involve setting fire to everything that could help the enemy win.

  • Major scrutiny held by the suffrage movement

    Emily Hobhouse, a suffragette from Britain, is documented as criticising the conditions in the British prison camps used for the Dutch, which by 1902, over 25000 Dutch women and children had died in. Many others that fought for the Dutch were held as well, and by the same time, over 15000 black people had died in them.

  • Unionisation of the British colonies in Africa

    In 1910, Britain attempted to combine all of its neighbouring african colonies into a union under the British constitutional monarchy. Only white people were allowed to vote at the time, and black people only held 8% of the land, even though they made up 90% of the population.

  • World War 1

    Many South Africans supported the war effort against the german forces, and most blacks did as they thought that it would raise their standing in society. When the dust had blown over, they were still treated unfairly.

  • Apartheid begins

    There was always segregation against blacks in South Africa, but this was the time where the NP, the party in power, started creating legislation more strongly against the non-white population, who were the majority at the time.

  • Nelson Mandela Freed

    Nelson Mandela, a freedom fighter, was freed from jail after 27 years as apartheid ended, and he was elected president for the ANC. They ended all racist legislation and started reparations and economic organisations to help non-whites get a place in society at the same level as white people. This continues even today as the conditions from apartheid are still quite apparent in demographics now.