Week 1: Development & History of South Africa

By Mickey Liebrecht

Much of what we first learn in South Africa begins – like the history books within the schools of the country during Apartheid – in the early 1600s when the Dutch first colonized the region. This is helpful information and very much the beginning of the racial oppression, tension, and division within the country that eventually led to the tragic, wrongful events of Apartheid – which is the time period with which the development of South Africa to it’s modern state is mostly sourced from.

This chapter of History in South Africa – and Namibia – of atrocity started in WW2, when British troupes arrived in the country, claiming they were there to protect South Africa from the Germans. Then WW2 ended, and the British did not leave. They instead colonized the already colonized region, but also were appointed or appointed themselves into governing and law making positions. They then created the separation laws of Apartheid in 1948. In the Apartheid museum you’ll read that initially Apartheid was just meant to separate people so they could cater to their different needs – as whites would have different needs than blacks they would say – but as you read on and think about it, you realize this is complete and utter BS. At least that’s what I’ve seen as you get into the specific laws and policies the black, “colored”, and Asian communities were subjugated to. The history after this date is chalk full of pain and misery, some stories of human anguish that I never thought possible to be committed by a human being, happened to the most wonderful people I’ve spoken with whom are still living today. Even visiting museums such as the Apartheid, Hector Pieterson, and Constitutional Court are emotionally tolling as you read the descriptions of the events that took place and look at the guns, chains, and torturous devices used to hurt the people within the photos and now within my life; Antoinette Sithole was only 16 when she participated within the protest of June 16^th 1976, which was initially meant to be peaceful and only a march against the use of Afrikaans as the teaching medium for black students. Things turned violent when the police shot at the students in attempt to stop and scatter them. Antoinette's little brother Hector was killed as a result of this, along with many others, and in the coming years the protests and rebellion was quiet. The people were healing from the wounds inflicted on that day, until students began to fight again in the ‘80s.

Antionette while being a woman harbouring immense emotional pain from her past, is without a doubt one of the funniest human beings I’ve ever met. She deserved better from life. However, in sharing her story with us, she opened our eyes to the horror and vulnerability her people were constantly exposed to during the time of Apartheid. It was a hard, but necessary lesson to learn. And useful not just for understanding the History and Development of South Africa as it is today, but also for understanding more of my own emotions to my own life’s horrors. Though none of my life was lived in intense poverty or racial Apartheid, I did lose a good friend of mine to violence when I was Antoinette's age in high school. I felt her loss on a more personal level due to this event I believe, and thus could understand more the ‘mental darkness’ that comes with such horrors and their many impacts on people’s lives. It meant a lot to me that she cared so much for me while I was with her, and that she and her husband shared the stories they did with us.

Fall 2017 class photo with Antoinette Sithole at the Hector Pieterson Memorial and Museum in Soweto.
In the background is Sam Nzima's, famous photo showing unconscious Hector being carried
by Makhubo, with Antoinette running alongside.