By FLAVIO AGUIAR*
The regime of racial discrimination instituted from 1948 onwards and known as Apartheid reached a scope and cruel refinement rarely seen in human history.
Exactly 30 years ago, the Apartheid regime came to an end in South Africa. The main figures in this peaceful end to one of the most heinous regimes of racial segregation in human history were the leader of the African National Congress (ANC), the black Nelson Mandela, after serving 27 years in prison, and the leader of the South African National Party (NP), the white Frederik William De Klerk, who was president of the country between 1989 and 1994. That year, in the country's first truly universal and democratic election, Nelson Mandela was elected president, a position he held until 1999.
The Apartheid regime was officially established in South Africa in 1948, when the National Party, led by Daniel Malan, won the elections, promising to maintain the political, economic and cultural supremacy of the white minority, made up mainly of the then-called Boers, descendants of Dutch settlers, today called Afrikaans.
It is true that the segregationist regime aimed at the black majority had distant antecedents, promoted by the European colonialism of the Portuguese, the East India Company and the British Empire, which dominated most of the region until almost the beginning of the First World War. However, the regime of racial discrimination instituted from 1948 onwards and known as Apartheid reached a scope and cruel refinement rarely seen in human history, “perfecting” previous segregations.
It is said that its main architect was Hendrik Verwoerd, who was prime minister between 1958 and 1966. An example of this “improvement”: the so-called “Immorality Act”, of 1927, prohibited marriage between white and black people. The Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act, of 1949, prohibited marriage between white people and people of any other race.
Apartheid recognized the existence of four races in the country: whites, Asians, initially called Indians, “colored”, which in Brazil the IBGE would call “pardos”, and blacks. Interestingly, the identity documents of whites, Asians and “colored” recorded the race of their owner; those of black people did not, condemned as they were to a kind of human anonymity.
Apartheid legislation was vast and comprehensive, and its violation was considered a crime against the state, or treason, with extremely severe punishments. It established racial segregation in all aspects of life, from sexual intimacy to the workplace. It covered permits for residence, workplaces, public services, transport, education, health, leisure and everything else that life could encompass.
Despite strong internal and international resistance, apartheid governments were far from remaining isolated. Due to the Cold War, they had strong support among conservative politicians, such as Ronald Reagan in the United States and Margaret Thatcher in England, in the international banking and financial system, in the arms industry and in the police intelligence services of several countries on all continents, including Africa. It became a strong defender of the remnants of European colonialism in Africa and a supporter of right-wing politicians in countries that were freeing themselves from it.
Arrested on August 5, 1962, Nelson Mandela became the main leader and symbol of resistance against the regime, being convicted of high treason some time later. He spent a little over 27 years in prison, and was subjected to a very harsh regime. He was allowed to write only two letters a year, each with a maximum of 500 words and subject to censorship before being sent.
De Klerk was the white politician who came to the conclusion that the days of Apartheid were numbered, and set out to hasten its end before it was too late for a negotiated solution. Among other things, he hastened Mandela's release, which happened in early February 1990. Four years later, Mandela left his home in the Soweto neighborhood of Johannesburg and walked triumphantly to the Presidential Palace.
Although apartheid legislation has been wiped off the map and is now considered a crime against humanity, its scars are far from gone. A 2022 World Bank report gave South Africa the uncomfortable position of being the most unequal country in the world. For example, the remaining traces of the division of residential neighborhoods are clearly visible, among others. Non-governmental organizations and government agencies recognize the existence of racism and serious differences in opportunities, employment and services to the detriment of the black population, which makes up more than 80% of the country's 62 million inhabitants, and those over 30 years of age knew life under apartheid.
However, despite the difficulties, the feeling that is felt in the daily dealings with almost everyone is one of joy and a measured optimism. Of course: living under Apartheid must have been so horrible that any other way of life is welcome.
* Flavio Aguiar, journalist and writer, is a retired professor of Brazilian literature at USP. Author, among other books, of Chronicles of the World Upside Down (boitempo). [https://amzn.to/48UDikx]
Originally published in the “O Mundo Agora” section of Radio France Internationale (Brazil).
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