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Presentation

SOUTH AFRICA - 16 years after the demise of Apartheid.

Taile Leswifi, PhD Student-Civil and Environmental Engineering\Michigan Technological University

Tuesday March 30-Dillman Hall(214), at 6.00-7.00pm

South Africa was colonized by the English (British) and the Dutch in the seventeenth century. The British colonial rulers introduced a system of Pass Laws in the Cape Colony and Colony of Natal during the 19th century. The laws were passed to restrict the movement of blacks into these areas and also to prohibit their movement from one district to another without a signed pass. Afrikaner National Party (Dutch) invented apartheid in 1948 as a means to cement their control over the economic and social system. South African inhabitants were classified into racial groups (“Blacks”, “Whites”, “Coloured”, and “Indian”) and residential areas were segregated by means of forced removal. Protests against apartheid were met by banning of opposition and anti-apartheid leaders were imprisoned. The people of South Africa match the street protesting against apartheid despite the outcomes up until the reforms to Apartheid could not quell the mounting opposition. In 1990 President Frederik Willem de Klerk began negotiations to end apartheid. Nelson Mandela, African National Party (ANC), at that time was released from prison after 27 years. In 1994 he became the first Black South African President and he led SA to the new South Africa. The presentation will focus on the 16 years following the end of apartheid, the accomplishments of the new nation and the remaining challenges to overcome.