South Africa Essays (926 words) - South Africa, Africa, Xhosa People

South Africa South Africa is a place of hurt, heart, and change. Over the years, South Africa has either been through rough times in the traditional tribal part, or being descriminated because of their color of skin. South Africa has two major tribal groups; The Nguni/South Ndebele, and the khoi/San. The South Ndebele, together with the Zulu, Xhosa and Swazi, belong to the South Nguni ethnic group. In the case of the South African Ndebele group, the area is the Southern part of South Africa. Here, they have lived, worked on farms, and hunted for generations. They are a very communal tribe. They work together, share together, help each other out, and hunt with each other. This group is very dependent on all of their family. On the other hand the Khoi/San group is the complete opposite of the Nguni/South Ndebele. They live in the Kalahari Desert, they are Nomadic, and rely on livestalk to live. They might be more Independent then the Nguni, but they still get alittle help from their families too. Like they go hunting together. Unlike the Nguni the Khoi/San use poisoned arrows to kill their livestalk.Little did these groups know what they were going to be going through the next 300 years; colonialism. In 1652 South Africa was forever changed when Dutch established a rest stop in South Africa.Apartheid also unofficially started. At that time, the area was occupied by the Khoi/San clans. The pressure on the Khoi/San increased as more Dutch and French settlers arrived. By the 18th century, most Khoi/San had lost their land to these European settlers. Cape Town became a major port as a way station for the Europeans. The colonists were mostly farmers and cattle herders. They became known as the Boers. They developed their own culture and language (Afrikaans). In the 1770's, the Boers encountered the Bantu, who were migrating. The Nguni Bantu clans settled between the Drakensberg Mountains and the sea. The Sotho clans settled in the interior, north of the Cape Colony. The 19th century competition for land led to the conflict between the Bantu clans, which led to the boer war, 1899-1902. Hundreds and thousands died during the wars, entire clans disappeared and it resulted in the creation of many Bantu nations. Now they are unable to communicate with each other, and now they don't have any power to stop the Europeans. British forces twice occupied the Cape region, in 1795 and 1806. In 1814, toward the end of the Napoleonic Wars, Great Britain purchased the Cape Colony from the Dutch for 6 million Britidh pounds. After 1820 thousands of British colonists arrived in South Africa, and they demanded that English law be imposed. English became the official language in 1822. The Khoi/San were given protection, and slavery was abolished in 1833. When the Dutch, or the Afrikanns found out that slavery was ebolished they got angry, because they thoght that the Bilble said that black people were supposed to be slaves, which then created the Boer war. It is now 1948, the Europeans have now taken over South Africa. Four Years earlier a man named Nelson Mandela became a lawyer, and joined the A.N.C. so he could help the salvaging African people. Even though he played a very important roll in Apartheid, colonialism, and their human rights, that still didn't stop the Europeans from torturing them for the next 46 years. Nelson Mandela was a nice man, but in 1956 Mandela went on trial for treason, but was acquitted in 1961. During this time he married Nkosikazi Nomzamo Madikizela. He was again arrested in August of 1962, he was sentenced to five years in prison. While in prison, Mandela, along with several others, was convicted of sabotage and treason and in June 1964 was sentenced to life imprisonment. During this period Mandela became a worldwide symbol of resistance to white domination in South Africa. In prison he acted nice to everybody. When an Officer told him to do something, he politely answered Yes sir, but he did this for a reason. He did that so the officers could feal the guilt for what they have been doing to all the black people. The goverment soon got pressured by the people to let