HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 25 YEARS OF FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY Historical context olonialism was a brutal system of Apartheid colonialism used patriarchy to reinforce dispossession through wars, reinforced the subjugation of women, with such laws as the by policies, practices and laws such as Native Administrative Act of 1927 that relegated successive hut and poll taxes that forced African women – until the dawn of democracy in black people of the land, to become cheap labour 1994 – to legal minors, unable to inherit, contract Con white farms and in the mines. or represent themselves without a male guardian. Even white women only got the vote in 1930. The Union of South Africa of 1910 consolidated the system of white minority rule, paving the way First Democratic Elections – 1994 for further legalised discrimination based on race, Following a long negotiation process, South ethnicity and gender. Africa’s first democratic election was held in April 1994 under an interim Constitution. The whites-only Parliament passed laws that entrenched white and patriarchal privileges, and South Africa held its first democratic elections on facilitated the structural under-development of the 27 April 1994. Nearly 20-million South Africans black majority and women. queued outside voting stations to cast their ballots. Political apartheid began long before the National For the first time in history, all South Africans over Party (NP) came into power in 1948 shown by the age of 18 – irrespective of race, colour or the Land Acts of 1913 and 1926 respectively; creed – had the right to vote. Freedom Day, 27 Representation of Natives Act of 1936 that removed April, is now a national holiday. Nelson Mandela black male voters in the Cape from the common was inaugurated as South Africa’s first democratic voters’ roll and placed them on a separate roll; the President on 10 May 1994. Group Areas Act of 1950, the Job Reservation Act of 1951 and the Promotion of Bantu Self-Government The advent of democracy in 1994 not only meant Act of 1959, to name but a few. one person, one vote, but it also saw the introduction of a Bill of Rights that provides for ‘Separate development’ was further entrenched redress and guarantees basic human rights – through a variety of laws legislating, among other including civil, political, socio-economic and things, separate houses of Parliament, racial environmental rights. classification of amenities, education, influx control, forced removals, citizenship (through the creation of “Bantustans”) and marriages. 01 he interim Constitution divided South • The Commission on Restitution of Land Rights Africa into nine new provinces in place was constituted on 1 March 1995 to assist of the previous four provinces and claimants in submitting their land claims, receive 10 “homelands”, and provided for the and acknowledge all claims lodged and advise Government of National Unity (GNU) to claimants on the progress of their land claims. be constituted by all parties with at least 20 seats in Tthe National Assembly. • South Africa hosted and won the 1995 Rugby World Cup. It was South Africa’s first chance The NP and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) formed for the whole previously segregated country to part of the GNU until 1996, when the NP withdrew. The unite behind the national team, in the sport that African National Congress (ANC)-led government has been viewed as the very personification of embarked on a programme to promote the apartheid. reconstruction and development of the country and its institutions. Constitution of the Republic of South Africa of 1996 The GNU implemented the Reconstruction and A significant milestone in the democratisation of Development Programme, which was a socio- South Africa was the exemplary Constitution-making economic policy framework which sought to address process, which in 1996 delivered a document that the immense socio-economic challenges brought has evoked worldwide admiration. about by apartheid. So, too, have been the national and local This called for the simultaneous pursuit of demo- government elections subsequent to 1994 – all cratisation and socio-economic change, as well as conducted peacefully, with high levels of participation reconciliation and the building of consensus compared with the norm in most democracies, and founded on the commitment to improve the lives of accepted by all as free and fair in their conduct and all South Africans, particularly the poor. results. President Mandela formally opened the Constitutional Court on 14 February 1995. It required the integration of South Africa into a rapidly changing global environment. Pursuit of these objectives was a consistent focus of government during the First Decade of Freedom, seeking the unity of a previously divided society in working together to overcome the legacy of a history of division, exclusion and neglect. Converting democratic ideals into practice required, among other things, initiating a radical overhaul of the machinery of government at every level, working towards service delivery, openness and a culture of human rights. It has required a more integrated approach to planning and implementation to ensure that the many different aspects of transformation and socio- economic upliftment cohere with maximum impact. 02 03 resident Mandela signed into law where the necessary information was available, the Constitution of the Republic of received interim reparations. South Africa on 10 December 1996. It replaced the interim Constitution As final reparations, government provided a drawn up at multi-party talks in once-off grant of R30 000 to individuals or 1993 to govern the transition to democracy. survivors who appeared before and were P designated by the TRC, over and above the The highest law in the land, the Constitution and programmes for material assistance. The final its Bill of Rights sought to guarantee an open, report of the TRC was published in 1998. transformative society in which human rights would be entrenched. 1999 National and Provincial Elections South Africa held its second National and In 1996, South Africa hosted and won the 1996 Provincial Elections on 2 June 1999, which African Cup of Nations. National soccer side saw the ANC majority increasing to just short of Bafana Bafana defeated Tunisia 2-0 in the final at two-thirds and the election of Thabo Mbeki as the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg. President and successor to President Mandela. Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) It saw a sharp decline in the popularity of the On 15 April 1996, the TRC, under the leadership NP (then the New National Party [NNP]) and its of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, began its first formal replacement by the Democratic Party as the hearings in East London City Hall. The TRC was official opposition in Parliament. These two established to help deal with violations of human parties formed the Democratic Alliance (DA), rights during the apartheid era. which the NNP left in 2001. The TRC helped inculcate a commitment to Since 2001, participatory democracy and accountability and transparency in South Africa’s interactive governance have been strengthened public life, at the same time helping to heal wounds through the practice of public participation, roving inflicted by the inhumanities of the apartheid era. executive council and mayoral meetings, in which members of the Executive, in all three spheres of During 2003, Parliament accepted government’s government, including The Presidency, regularly response to the final report of the TRC. Out of 22 communicate directly with the public about the 000 individuals or surviving families appearing implementation of programmes of reconstruction before the commission, 19 000 were identified as and development. needing urgent reparation assistance – virtually all, 03 here are continuing programmes to National anthem project the symbolism of the struggle In 1997, a shortened, combined version of and the ideal of freedom. These include Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika and The Call of South Africa the Freedom Park and other symbols became the national anthem of South Africa. and monuments, and such matters as records of history, remaking of cultural and art forms The Presidential Jobs Summit in 1998 and the Tand changing geographical and place names. Growth and Development Summit in June 2003 brought these sectors together to take advantage In 1999, the iSimangaliso Wetland Park became of the conditions in South Africa for faster growth the first site in South Africa to be inscribed on the and development. World Heritage List by the United Nations (UN) Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation At the summit, a comprehensive set of agreements (UNESCO). was concluded to address urgent challenges in a practical way and to speed up job-creating growth By 2019, there were 10 World Heritage and development. Sites in South Africa, namely: Robben Island (Western Cape); iSimangaliso Wetlands Park Partnership between government and civil society (KwaZulu-Natal); Cradle of Humankind (Gauteng); was further strengthened by the creation of a Ukhahlamba-Drakensberg Park (KwaZulu-Natal); number of working groups through which sectors Mapungubwe Heritage Site (Limpopo); Cape of society – business, organised labour, higher Floral Kingdom (Western Cape); Richtersveld education, religious leaders, youth and women – Cultural and Botanical Landscape (Northern engage regularly with the President. Cape); Vredefort Dome (Gauteng); ǂKhomani Cultural Landscape (at the border with Botswana and In the first decade of freedom, government Namibia), and Makhonjwa Mountains, known as placed emphasis on meeting basic needs through the Barberton Greenstone Belt (Mpumalanga). programmes for socioeconomic development such as the provision of housing, piped water, The ethos of partnership informed the establishment electricity, education and healthcare, as well as of the National Economic Development social grants for those in need. and Labour Council. It brings together government, business, organised labour and The integration of South Africa into the global development organisations to confront the political, economic and social system has been a challenges of growth and development for South priority for democratic South Africa.