Second middle of the XX century. South Africa. Meanwhile the ancient metropolis plans to divide the North of Ireland into a Eire free land (catholic pure land) and another protestant land around Belfast, the government of the nation of South Africa tried to make the same in that nation, where whites were only the 10% of the population, but, under apartheid, controlled political, economic, judicial and spiritual powers. There are plans that everyone can see that wondered the possibility to divide the nations into two separated authorities. One White, around Cape Town, and the other Black, in the North, close to Botswana.
First White men that went to the lands of the today known City of Cape of “Buena Esperanza” were portuguese. But they did no settle there. They passed over there to get the Indic Ocean and go to Calcutta and the so called “Molucas” islands. There, of course, lived native peoples. Black men. There are two ethic types of blacks there. The Bantu and Zulu. They fought for the premiership … and they still do (politically today). In the early XVII century the so called Afrikaners arrived to South Africa. They were mainly from the Netherlands. And they settled and founded cities. Moreover, later in time, british arrived there also. And the two white types of men (Netherlanders and british) fought for the control of the land. The most famous battles were combated in the changing times around the end days of XIX century and the sunny first days of that hopeful new century: the XX century.
British won successive wars against the british. I must say that one of the first concentration camps where built on those days. And one of the first case of collective massacre. British caught all the adolescent population of a region, put in a concentration camp, and “thrown the key”. No food, no medicines, nothing from the black regiment that was in charge of them. One by one they were dying until the last one. It is one of the earlier cases of massive killings that has not to be forgotten. And nothing apparently links that with a mad nazi…
British, finally dominated the new Dominion of South Africa, a part of the british empire of the new King (Queen Victoria died on 1901) of United Kingdom. But The so called Afrikaners (that miraculously survived to the anglo boers wars) got more and more power, until the domination of the nation after its independence.
Black population had a little victory against britons. The only one victory of the Native armies against a industrial Army: the 23 of January of 1879. A day in history. Like Little Big Horn in America to the great defeating of United States Army by American native Army, this is an special day for Zulus, when they where able to defeat the superpower Army of United Kingdom. Those year where the days when the europeans divided Africa as their wish, without considering the native nations crosslines and borders. White men in 1885 in Berlin painted a new Africa, that remains today. So Zulu nation and others were minus valorized and oppressed. But after all. The conquest of Transvaal and Orange states by Britain to boers, the South African Union was settled. A century in past, in the first year of XX century.
1945. Nazi system of government has been defeated. The Aryan idea of superiority of a white race. Idea of separate zones that surprisely lived in the United States since the war against the Confederation (It was one of the most important reason to go to a civil war). And South Africa, a Black majority country, settled the apartheid officially in 1948. All types of discrimination must be denounced. Not only the ones that makes the Germans on their free time. Nuremberg is good, but the so called allies had made many similar cases as they formally told the World that Germany made. United States and United Kingdom are not angels. And their then fellow allies, like South Africa made many criminals acts during his history. (Black men are also not an exception, because Bantu nation and Zulu nation tried to exterminate each other). A good Judge is the impartial one, that judges the case, not the men that are been judged.
A long time during the 70’s and the 80’s South Africa was the proscrt state in the world. A “paria” state that even the International Olympic Comittee boycotted not inviting them to any sportive event (including the Olympic games). The arrive of Frederick De Clerk in 1988 made possible a change that posibilitated a opportunity for democracy and freedom in South Africa. The Cold war was close to end. The 40 thousand of Cubans in Angola were close to be repatriated, so the South African government was not needed to the local equilibrate power. So they, South Africa, retired from Namibia in 1990. The last African nation in get independence (Namibia was a German colony till the end of the first world war, when it was ceded to South Africa as a Protectorate). In the early 90’s white South Africans voted on their last time alone. To kill apartheid. And they got it. A majority of them voted to suppress it. And in 1994 long files of white and black men and women were voting a new President. The freedom fighter Nelson Mandela won the election. Not much people know that he started close to a terrorist group, that he was financed by Fidel Castro in the beginning, and that in the final round to get a South African democracy, Mandela and the Zulu leader “fought” for who would be the next leader (it couldn’t, of course, be white).
Today a new nation has been built. It is still being building 10 years after the Mandela rising to presidency. South Africa is an independent power in the community of nations and leads the now reformed league of “Non alienated nations”. It is becoming a pole of prosperity in Africa. And it is free from the United States. As President Thabo Mbeki showed to the world when his government bought Airbus airplanes instead the McDonnell Douglas ones. South Africa is close to Europe in many things that there are in common between the new elite in South Africa and European Union Presidency and its fellow members.
South Africa, a nation that could be considerated a part of the “Western concert” and a very close associated part to European Union, will be “attacked” by two problems in future: AIDS (that is one of the “stabilization” mechanism that will stabilize global population in the middle XXI century) and Water (or as it could be better expressed, its lack). And the global climatic change issue. Because of its situation in the worlds map. A brilliant new center of power in the world that affords new changes to improve and become a strong country. A leader. XXI century can bring South Africa the Chance to lead (by the way there is recent development plan for central Africa, that shall be supervised by them) a new and united Sub Saharan Africa to prosperity, independence and peace.
Comments:
Thank you for this article Juan, now I know a lot more about South Africa than I knew before. I hope I’ll learn spanish fast enough to understand your spanish texts too!
# posted by Anonymous
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