An outline for teachers planning on teaching Apartheid in South Africa as part of Modern History Unit 2: AOS2

1. HTAV AC 2021
Challenge & Change - Apartheid

2. Stephen White
● Head of Humanities – Oxley Christian
College
● 2021 – teaching Year 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 History
● Twentieth Century History – 14 years
● Contributing author to the HTAV Modern
History 1 & 2 textbooks incl. Apartheid
SPeaker

3. Twentieth Century History
Unit 2: 1945-2000
Area of Study 2: Challenge & change
Topic: Apartheid falls under both regional
conflicts & social/political movements
Study
Design
2021

4. Key questions:
● What were the significant causes of challenge to
and change in existing political and social orders in
the second half of the twentieth century?
● How did the actions and ideas of popular
movements and individuals contribute to change?
● What impacts did challenge and change have on
nations and people?
Study
Design
2021

5. Outcome:
● On completion of this unit the student should be
able to explain the causes and nature of challenge
and change in relation to two selected contexts in
the second half of the twentieth century and
analyse the consequences for nations and people.
Study
Design
2021

6. Key knowledge:
● conditions and events that gave rise to the challenge and change to power
● the ideas that influenced the challenge and brought about change
● key individuals and/or groups involved in the movement for change
● the methods employed by groups and individuals to implement change and
express views, such as diplomacy, meetings and marches, civil disobedience,
armed conflict, hijackings, bombings
● the responses of established political and social orders, both positive and
negative
● the extent to which goals were achieved and change occurred
● the short- and long-term consequences of particular events and movements
● the key concepts that underpinned challenge and change in the period:
decolonisation, nationalism, theocracy, self-determination, racism, sexism,
feminism and egalitarianism.
Study
Design
2021

7. Modern History
Unit 2: Changing world order
Area of Study 2: Challenge & change
Topic: Apartheid falls under both regional
conflicts & social/political movements
Study
Design
2022-2026

8. Key questions:
● What caused the challenges to existing political
and/or social structures and conditions?
● How did the actions and ideas of popular
movements and individuals contribute to continuity
and change?
● To what extent did change occur?
● What were the perspectives and experiences of
those who demanded and/or resisted change?
Study
Design
2021

9. Outcome:
● On completion of this unit the student should be
able to explain the challenges to social, political
and/or economic structures of power and evaluate
the extent to which continuity and change
occurred.
Study
Design
2021

10. Key knowledge:
● the causes, significant events and conditions that challenged traditional
social, political and/or economic structures of power
● the local and global ideas that influenced continuity and/or change, such as
decolonisation, nationalism, theocracy, self-determination, state-building,
nation-building, racism, sexism, feminism, egalitarianism and equality
● significant individuals, movements and/or groups who challenged existing
structures of social, political and/or economic power and contributed to
change
● the methods employed by individuals and/or groups to express their views
and demand change, such as diplomacy, nation-building, meetings and
marches, cultural expression, civil disobedience, violence and terrorism, armed
conflict, the media and social media
Study
Design
2021

11. Key knowledge cont:
● the responses and actions of established social, political and/or economic
powers who sought continuity by resisting challenges and changes
● the extent to which change occurred and goals and ideas were successfully
achieved and implemented
● the perspectives and experiences of those who challenged and demanded
change and those who resisted change
● the short-term and long-term consequences of particular events, ideas and
movements.
Study
Design
2021

12. 01
Overview

13. Key questions:
● What was apartheid?
● How was apartheid justified by the white South African
government?
● How did the South African government enforce
apartheid?
● How did black and coloured South Africans protest
against the apartheid laws?
● What was the role of key individuals and groups in
challenging apartheid?
● How and why did the apartheid system end ?
Overview

14. Key events:
1948 Formation of the National Party
1952 Defiance Campaign begins
1955 Freedom Charter
1961 Sharpeville Massacre
1964 Mandela jailed
1976 Soweto Uprising
1990 Mandela released
1994 ANC wins first fully democratic elections
Overview

15. Key individuals:
● Nelson Mandela – leader of the ANC
● Steve Biko – activist
● P.W. Botha – PM & president 1978-1989
● F.W. De Klerk – President 1898-1994
Others to consider:
● Walter Sisulu, Oliver Tambo, Desmond Tutu, Winnie
Mandela, Miriam Makeba… there are thousands!
Overview

16. Key groups:
● African National Congress
● National Party
● Black Consciousness Movement
Others to consider:
● Pan African Congress, POQO, SASO, Black Sash
Movement, MK (Spear of the Nation), South African
Security Forces, United Nations
Overview

17. Key terms:
● Apartheid – separateness
● Black, white & coloured
● Afrikaans, Afrikaner
● Segregation
● Black consciousness
…and many more. Here is a link to my Quizlet set
of key terms: Apartheid key terms
Overview

18. There is no easy walk to freedom
anywhere and many of us will have to
pass through the valley of the shadow
of death again and again before we
reach the mountain tops of our desires.
- Nelson Mandela 1953

19. 02
Getting started

20. Image
analysis Create a set of apartheid-era images
● Bus stop activity (describe, analyse,
hypothesise) in groups
● QR Code treasure hunt
● PPT with reaction worksheet

33. Group
brainstorm WE DEFY!
Imagine that you are a member of the ANC committee
and are tasked with making plans for a defiance
campaign against the National Party government and
its apartheid laws. Brainstorm in your group to develop
some strategies you can use to protest, while following
the strict criteria set out below.

34. Group
brainstorm CRITERIA
● You cannot use weapons to help you.
● You do not have much money.
● You should plan for the consequences of your
actions e.g. fines, jail.
● You will not harm anyone.
● You DO have large numbers of supporters inside and
outside of South Africa.
● You can get lots of positive publicity if you carry out
the right sort of actions.

35. Group
brainstorm DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
● Would anything positive have come out of your
plans?
● What would have been some negative
consequences of your plans?
● What would black and coloured South Africans have
had to consider before getting involved in the
Defiance Campaign?

36. 03
Pre-apartheid era

37. Pre-apartheid
era ● Dutch East India Company & establishment
of Cape Colony in 1652
● Limited British & Dutch interest
● Development of Boer identity
● Initial contact with the Zulu & Xhosa
● Beginnings of competition for land
● Discovery of gold & diamonds from 1866
● The ‘scramble for Africa’ begins
● Laws passed taking land from black Africans

38. I contend that we are the first race in
the world, and that the more of the
world we inhabit the better it is for the
human race
- Cecil Rhodes, governor of Cape
Colony, 1877

39. Pre-apartheid
era ● British colonisation
● First Boer War 1880-1881
● Second Boer War 1899-1902
● The British employed scorched earth tactics
& established concentration camps
● 28,000 Boer women & children died
● Development of the Boer fear of being
overwhelmed by the black population
● Self-governing Union of South Africa

40. Pre-apartheid
era ● Implementation of the first segregation laws
● Natives’ Land Act (1913)
● 7% of all land available to blacks (80% of the
population)
● Establishment of Bantustans (homelands)
● Pass laws used to restrict movement of
blacks
● Poverty, hunger, rapid decline in quality of
life

41. 04
Establishing the
apartheid state

42. Since no man has a natural authority
over other men, and since might never
makes right, it follows that agreements
are the basis for all legitimate authority
among men
- Jean Jacques Rousseau, 1772

43. Establishing
apartheid ● Link to Enlightenment ideas of equality,
freedom, & legitimacy of power (Rousseau)
● Discuss Australian rights, freedoms &
restrictions
● National Party develops a colour policy to
define who is white, black & coloured
● National Party Colour Policy 1948
● Racial categories defined in the Population
Registration Act (1950)

44. Establishing
apartheid Racial categories
… ‘coloured person’ means a person who is not a white
person or a native ...
… ‘native’ means a person who in fact is, or is generally
accepted as a member of any aboriginal race or tribe of
Africa ...
… ‘white person’ means a person who in appearance
obviously is, or who is generally accepted as a white
person, but does not include a person who, although in
appearance obviously a white person, is generally
accepted as a coloured person.

45. Establishing
apartheid Colour Policy excerpt
We can act in only, one of two directions. Either we must
follow the course of equality-, which must eventually
mean national suicide for the White race, or we must take
the course of separation (apartheid) through which the
character and the future of every race will be protected
and safeguarded with full opportunities for development
and self-maintenance in their own ideas, without the
interests of one clashing with the interests of the other,
and without one regarding the development of the other
as undermining or a threat to himself.

46. Establishing
apartheid Apartheid laws
● Grand apartheid (racial classification, Bantustans)
● Petty apartheid (discrimination in education, housing,
access to public buildings & facilities
● 148 apartheid laws were legislated incl.
○ Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act (1949)
○ Population Registration Act (1950)
○ Group Areas Act (1950)
○ Bantu Education Act (1953)
○ Separate Amenities Act (1952)

47. Establishing
apartheid Powers for the security forces
● Banning orders
● Detention without trial
● Use of violence on anyone held in custody
overlooked, up to & incl. murder
● Press censorship

48. Establishing
apartheid Effects of apartheid laws – perspectives
Mr and Mrs M. and their three children are typical of those forced apart.
Although they each had a permit, the husband was working in [the African
township of] Alexandra and the wife in Johannesburg, so they are not
permitted to seek joint accommodation in another township. As he has
not lived in Alexandra for 15 continuous years he does not qualify for a
house. The husband is awaiting allocation of a bed in hostel, the wife has
been told to go to a hostel and that the children must be sent away.
Where? To the homeland that is no homeland for they have never known
it … to grandparents now dead … to strangers somewhere who might let
them live in their own barren huts if the parents can send sufficient
money … anywhere. Away.
Black Sash (February 1973), in Hilda Bernstein, For their Triumphs and for their Tears: Women in Apartheid South
Africa (Cambridge, MA.: International Defense & Aid Fund for South Africa, 1975), 33–34.

49. Establishing
apartheid Effects of apartheid laws – perspectives
Mrs Victoria Madi, 53, was born in Swaziland, but has lived in
South Africa since 1936. She married in 1937 has five children all
born in South Africa. When her husband died, she was told she no
longer qualified to remain in the urban area of Johannesburg and
must return to the country of her origin—Swaziland. Mrs Madi
works in Johannesburg, all her children live in Johannesburg, where
two are still at school, she has not been to Swaziland for 33 years
and does not know anyone there.
Rand Daily Mail (3 November 1969), in Hilda Bernstein, For their Triumphs and for their Tears: Women in
Apartheid South Africa (Cambridge, MA.: International Defense & Aid Fund for South Africa, 1975), 35.

50. 05
Challenges to apartheid

51. Sebatana ha se bokwe ka diatla [the
attacks of the wild beast cannot be
fought off with only bare hands].
- Nelson Mandela, 1960

52. Establishing
apartheid Defiance Campaign 1952
● ANC plan to expose injustices of apartheid to the
world through large scale mobilisation
● National Day of Protest 26th June 1952
● Strikes, demonstrations, curfew & pass violations,
acts of civil disobedience
● 8000 volunteers jailed
● Government responded with harsher fines & longer
prison sentences, Public Safety Act passed
● Campaign did not achieve aims but did show large
scale & growing opposition to apartheid

53. Establishing
apartheid The Black Sash 1955
● The Black Sash was founded in 1955 as an
organisation of white women committed to
promoting the rights of blacks and coloureds.
● The stood in public places wearing a black sash in
protest
● They supported Africans legally, particularly in the
area of pass laws
● Just one group representing many which had been
active since 1913

55. Establishing
apartheid Freedom Charter 1955
● The ANC, together with many other organisations,
drafted this revolutionary document which
consolidated demands for a free, just & equal society
● Addressed legitimacy of power & sovereignty of the
people
● Focused on basic rights incl. housing, education,
voting & equality before the law
● Freedom Charter text
● Freedom Charter music video

56. Establishing
apartheid Government response
● Regarded the Charter as a communist document
● Arrested & charged 156 organisers incl. Mandela with
high treason
● 30 of the 156 endured a four year trial but all were
acquitted as violence was not proven to be used
● Known as the Treason Trial

57. Establishing
apartheid Sharpeville Massacre 1961
● On 21 March 1961 about 5000 Blacks had gathered
outside a police station to protest pass laws
● Without warning police opened fire, killing at least 69
and wounding over 200
● Most of those killed had been shot while running
away
● The government declared a state of emergency and
banned all political meetings
● Within a month the PAC & ANC had been banned

58. Establishing
apartheid Armed struggle
● After lengthy discussion the PAC and ANC turned to
armed struggle and went underground
● The ANC formed Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK); the PAC
formed POQO
● They began with acts of sabotage designed to
damaged state-controlled facilities
● The banning of the ANC and PAC saw many
members go into exile & undergo military training.
They did not believe they could defeat apartheid
militarily – it was just one aspect of the struggle

59. Establishing
apartheid Rivonia Trial 1963-64
● 10 members of the ANC were arrested and charged
with conspiring to commit guerrilla warfare and
spread communist ideals
● Included Mandela, Sisulu, Goldberg & others
● Mandela gave a powerful statement from the dock
in which he said he was prepared to die for his cause
● The death penalty was expected by the ANC
● 9 of the 10 were sentenced to life in prison; 8 incl.
Mandela were sent to Robben Island

60. Establishing
apartheid Mandela’s closing address - excerpt
I have fought against white domination, and I have
fought against black domination. I have cherished the
ideal of a democratic and free society in which all
persons live together in harmony and with equal
opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and
to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am
prepared to die.
Full text of Mandela's address

61. 06
Black Consciousness

62. Black
Consciousness Steve Biko
● Born in 1946 to a poor family
● Went on to study medicine at university
● Became involved in politics but was frustrated by the
existing anti-apartheid groups led by white liberals
● Helped to create the South African Students
Association (SASO)
● Developed the concept of black consciousness
● Received a banning order in 1973
● Arrested in 1977 & died violently in police custody
● Led to waves of outrage & protest

64. …he was the spark that lit a veld fire across South
Africa. His message to the youth and students was
simple and clear: Black is Beautiful! Be proud of your
Blackness! And with that he inspired our youth to shed
themselves of the sense of inferiority they were born
into as a result of more than three hundred years of
white rule.
- Nelson Mandela on Biko, 2002

65. 07
Soweto Uprising

66. Soweto
Uprising ● The uprising was a student response to a
government decision mandating African schools
were to teach half of all lessons in Afrikaans
● Most African teachers did not know the language
● English was seen as far more useful for employment
● On 16th June 1976 up to 20,000 students marched in
Soweto to protest the new decree
● Organised by SASO & influenced by Black
Consciousness
● Their goal was to reach a nearby stadium and stage a
rally

67. Soweto
Uprising Police response
● Efforts to stop the march were unsuccessful
● Police fired directly into the crowd, killing two
children & wounding many more
● 12 year old Hector Pieterson was the first victim
● News spread to other townships, leading to a wave
of violence throughout South Africa
● Government claims of only 23 killed were inaccurate
– closer to 200, possibly as many as 700

69. Soweto
Uprising Historical perspectives analysis
● Use a variety of sources – student testimony, police
records, newspaper reports
● In the HTAV Modern History 2 textbook there is a
case study with a range of sources
● Questions ask students to sort fact from opinion,
identify bias, apply knowledge, develop questions for
further inquiry, make inferences, & explain the
effects of apartheid on black African students

70. 08
Apartheid under pressure

71. [This] is a highly volatile land, and its
inhabitants sit on a powder keg with a
very short fuse indeed, ready to blow
us all up into kingdom come
- Bishop Desmond Tutu, 1984

72. Apartheid
Under
Pressure ● The economy began to slow in the 1970s leading to
rising unemployment by the 1980s
● The black population was growing at a much faster
rate than the white population
● Resistance to apartheid continued to intensify
● International pressure on South Africa was increasing
● Apartheid had become too expensive to maintain
● Neighbouring countries began setting up black
governments
● The SA government continued to ramp up its
repressive tactics against resistance

73. Apartheid
Under
Pressure Total Strategy
● In response to what PM Botha saw as a ‘total
onslaught’ the government acted by:
● Strengthening the armed forces through increased spending and
conscription
● Destabilising neighbouring black-governed countries which showed
support for the ANC
● Introducing limited reforms, including an increase in funding to black
schools, granting limited independence to four homelands, relaxing pass
laws and other restrictions for blacks living in urban areas, & abolishing
some apartheid laws such as the Mixed Marriages Act
● Restructuring the parliament to include separate chambers for whites,
coloureds, and Indians
● Dramatic increasing repression of the anti-apartheid movement

74. Apartheid
Under
Pressure Township violence
● Total strategy was a failure & the limited reforms did
not work
● Resistance intensified, incl. in schools
● Trade unions became more active
● Anti-apartheid groups continued to incite protests
● Violence in the townships escalated dramatically
during the 1980s
● Massacres of blacks by police were commonplace
● A state of emergency was declared in July 1985 but in
many regions police simply gave up

75. Apartheid
Under
Pressure International pressure
● The UN & wider international community had always
condemned apartheid
● Major economic partners such as the US began to
enforce economic sanctions against SA
● A variety of boycotts were implemented incl.
products, sporting events & concerts
● The resulting financial crisis did not sway Botha
● Polls indicated blacks were opposed to sanctions as
they created further financial pressure

76. Apartheid
Under
Pressure The influence of music
● Many popular musical artists leant support to the
fight against apartheid
● This raised public awareness & added to the pressure
placed on democratic governments to act
● Examples of songs raising awareness:
○ Biko by Peter Gabriel
○ Silver & Gold by U2
○ Freedom Now by Tracy Chapman

77. 09
The end of apartheid

78. Never, never and never again shall it be
that this beautiful land will again
experience the oppression of one by
another… the sun will never set on so
glorious a human achievement
- Nelson Mandela, inaugural speech as
president, 10th May 1994

79. The
end
of
apartheid Mandela & De Klerk
● Botha resigned after suffering a stroke in 1989, under
pressure from the government
● Conservative De Klerk replaced him & gave hope to
the protest movement by unbanning the ANC &
PAC, releasing political prisoners & promising a new
constitution
● The dire economic situation was an influence
● Mandela was released unconditionally in 1990 after
27 years in prison, and after a separate (rejected)
offer of conditional release in 1985

80. The
end
of
apartheid Mandela & De Klerk
● With the nation on the brink of civil war, Mandela
appeared on national TV & called for peace
● Fierce negotiation between De Klerk & Mandela
continued
● Eventually a constitution was agreed upon, & a date
set for the first free universal elections in South
African history

82. The
end
of
apartheid 1994 Election
On 27 April 1994, millions of South Africans lined up to
vote, most for the first time in their lives.
Despite continuing violence from both sides, the
election was successfully conducted, resulting in an
overwhelming victory for Mandela and the ANC.
● ANC 62.5%, National Party 20.5%, Others 17%
● ANC won 7/9 provinces
● Mandela appointed president, De Klerk his deputy
● Mandela’s ‘long walk to freedom’ was over
● Video of Mandela's speech

83. 10
Questions for students

84. Questions
for
students ● How did white South Africans justify their belief in white racial superiority?
● Explain how the lives of black South Africans were controlled by the apartheid laws. Use
the ‘explain’ answer structure with and introduction, three paragraphs and signposting.
● Create a mind map outlining the main points and demands of the Freedom Charter.
● Compare the strategies of the ANC and the PAC in the fight against apartheid.
● Explain why the Sharpeville Massacre was so significant.
● Describe the philosophy and methods of Steve Biko and the Black Consciousness
Movement.
● Outline the tactics of oppression and repression used by the South African government to
enforce apartheid.
● Describe how the international community protested the apartheid regime.
● How did international protests transform Nelson Mandela into a household name around
the world?
● Describe the role played by F.W. de Klerk in ending the apartheid regime.
● What problems did the ANC face in its pursuit of free and democratic elections?
● ‘It was only when all else had failed, when all channels of peaceful protest had been barred
to us, that the decision was made to embark on violent forms of political struggle.’ – Nelson
Mandela, 1964. To what extent is this statement an accurate reflection of the actions of the
anti-apartheid movement between 1948 and 1964?

85. 11
Resources

86. Resources My resources
If you would like some tried & tested apartheid
resources I use with my class, please email me
swhite@oxley.vic.edu.au & I will email you a Dropbox
link to access the following:
Course activities outline with weekly topic summaries, reading guide,
glossary, & homework; primary sources collection; Soweto perspectives
case study; a range of worksheets for various aspects of the course;
assessment tasks & more.
These notes will be uploaded to the HTAV website for your access.

87. Resources Online resources
Overcoming apartheid
South African History Online
Apartheid Museum
InternetModern History Sourcebook - Africa since 1945

88. RESOURCES Recommended reading
South Africa 1948-2000: The rise and fall of apartheid by
Martin Roberts (Pearson, 2001)
A History of South Africa by Leonard Thompson (Yale
UP, 2014)
A Short History of South Africa by Gail Nattrass
(Biteback Publishing, 2017)
Nelson Mandela: A very short introduction by Elleke
Boehmer (OUP, 2008)
Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela (Little,
Brown & Co., 1995)

89. RESOURCES Recommended films
Cry Freedom (1987)
Invictus (2009)
Catch a Fire (2006)
Mandela – Long Walk to Freedom (2013)

90. RESOURCES Forthcoming from HTAV
The new Modern History 2 textbook includes a new
chapter on the anti-apartheid movement in South
Africa. It will include many of the learning activities
discussed today.
There are other textbooks of course, and I have used them –
but this is an HTAV conference! Booklist whatever you think
is best for your students!