Nelson Mandela and Civil Disobedience Essay

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Nelson Mandela and Civil Disobedience Essay

The end of World War Two and the establishment of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights intended to end global injustices and put forth a positive influence on human liberty and dignity; however, the South African policies of apartheid outlined in motion undignified and increasingly oppressive, racially segregated laws polarising South Africa from the rest of the globe. This essay will discuss the effectiveness of the mobilization of both non-violent and violent anti-apartheid campaigns that challenged the white supremacist regime through various forms of resistance. In conjunction with the previous point, the elimination of the apartheid was due to organizations and masses within South Africa, but also by the global citizens who also fought to eliminate the soft development of the apartheid, in the form of media exposure and sports diplomacy.

Foremost, it was three men who defied the hardened measures of the apartheid in South Africa: Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, and Oliver Tambo all strove to topple the systemic oppression through the creation of the African National Congress (ANC) and initiation of mass population movements as countermeasures against their repression and the first step in efforts to secure equal rights. ANC leader Nelson Mandela stated, It is not the kings and generals that make history, but the masses of the people In 1952, Mandela alongside fellow ANC member Walter Sisulu led the first mass, non-violent action: The Defiance Campaign. This campaign took the form of mass civil disobedience, protesting against the laws that mocked the livelihoods of Black South Africans; in particular, the Defiance Campaign fought against the degrading use of compass, passes continued to assist the socio-economic divide between the Black and White populations (Sisulu, 1995.) Roughly over eight and a half thousand Black South Africans were arrested over six months, with passive resistance and defiance an integral aspect of the ANCs call for mass organized defiance to effectively arouse the whole nation (ibid.) Following the semi-success that arose from the Defiance Campaign, the facilitation of the Congress of the People in 1955, culminated in black and white South Africans, calling for recognition of the Freedom Charter written by the ANC, which included the basis of policy reforms including a democratic government in South Africa and, of course, the removal of policies such as the pass-system in the apartheid.

Furthermore, the intent of the Defiance Campaign, as mentioned earlier in the essay, was to reinvigorate the rights of Black South Africans with the complete abolition of the system through absolute non-violent measures (Giliomee and Mbenga, 2008.) However, it is worth noting that despite the initial successes of civil rights progression made by the Defiance Campaign, the South African government’s response to the ANCs non-violent campaigns, involved tighter measures of control, with the facilitation of higher fines alongside government permissibility of the use of police brutality by whipping protestors. Additionally, the Sharpeville massacre that ensued on 21 March 1960 was a response by the government that indicated that to achieve democracy and liberty within South Africa, non-violent measures were not entirely useful to the ANC leaders. (Thompson, 1962.)

Moreover, the ANCs campaigns against the systemic oppression of the Black South to secure a dignified livelihood for the Black population, had an incredible impact both domestically and internationally; with global citizens of the world protesting against their own governments involvement with the South African apartheid regime. The conflict within South Africa resulted in a global anti-apartheid campaign which was represented in many aspects including banners in sports, consumer boycotts, and military and economic sanctions all of which were initiated by the people of the world to contribute to the elimination of the apartheid. The facilitation of the global anti-apartheid movement in sports (including Operation Locust and Stop the Seventy Tour in the global cricket competition of 1970) created a profound impact in spreading awareness of systemic racial oppression. Further to the previous point, the significance of these boycotts can be attributed to the divergence of media on sports to the injustices of the apartheid, with the media having a role in the establishment of discussions surrounding the connections between sport and politics that highlighted the white supremacy in South African sports teams that reflect the colonialist legacy of the state (Nixon, 1992.) In addition to anti-apartheid movements disrupting sports diplomacy, the involvement of organizations such as the American Committee on Africa (ACOA) sought to do what our government itself was not doing (Have You Heard From Johannesburg, 2010) and support the campaign for the elimination of the apartheid regime. The ACOA was inspired by the resilience of the Defiance Campaign and the non-violent protests which led to the publication of the situation in South Africa in the United States, to raise awareness of the repressive system of apartheid alongside raising funds in support of the ANC.

On a final note, by 1990, President F.W. de Klerk, announced the ban on ANC would be removed and Nelson Mandela would be released from prison, marking the beginning of the end of the South African apartheid. Following Mandelas release from prison, the president entailed negotiations occur between the two to unite the citizens of South Africa regardless of race, for the release of Nelson Mandela was the release of us all South Africans at last (Have You Heard From Johannesburg, 2010.) Conversely, whilst the end of the segregation laws and apartheid had ended, the prejudice remained within both Black and White populations with current relations within the state highlighting, that the protests of the ANC and Mandela were successful in eliminating the legal aspect of the apartheid however there are longer lasting ramifications that will take longer to reduce. The TRC announced the apartheid reparations would help in the rehabilitation of South African victims through the implementation of healthcare, education, and housing needs for victims to re-establish the liberty and dignity they had lost during the apartheid. However, as of 2019, the apartheid victims still suffer from rampant unemployment and lack of opportunities due to prejudice. (Gumede, Van Marle and Swart, 2017)

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