This is a collection of the writing of the famous activist and black consciousness leaders Steve Biko, prefaced by Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
In 2006, almost a hundred years after the founding of the National Party, the unthinkable happened: the once mighty party of apartheid collapsed into the African National Congress, its sworn enemy for almost a century. While a string of blunders saw party support plummeting, such a humiliating end was wholly unexpected. Is it true that the NP's leaders had betrayed their supporters? What role did the NP play during the negotiations to ensure increased wealth among the black and white South African elite? And is greater material welfare enough to keep Afrikaners satisfied, or are we seeing a resurgence of Afrikaner nationalism in the 'De la Rey' phenomenon? These and other issues are addressed in White Power & the Rise and Fall of the National Party. Vast in scope and details, this book provides an overview of South African politics and society from 1900 to the present, with particular focus on the last 15 years. It covers contemporary debates on apartheid abuses, the 'leaders' betrayal', collaboration with the ANC and the 'De la Rey' phenomenon. It will be of interest to all readers wanting to understand current politics, whether they supported or opposed the NP.
"[Nelson Mandela] has done so much to change his country, and the world, that it is hard to imagine the history of the last several decades without him." --from the foreword by President Barack Obama Foreword by President Barack Obama Nelson Mandela is one of the most inspiring and iconic figures of our age. Now, after a lifetime of recording thoughts and events, hardships and victories, he has opened his personal archive, which offers unprecedented insight into his remarkable autobiography. From letters written in the darkest hours of his twenty-seven years of imprisonment to the draft of an unfinished sequel to Long Walk to Freedom, Conversations with Myself gives readers access to the private man behind the public figure. Here he is making notes and even doodling during meetings, or transcribing troubled dreams on the desk calendar in his prison cell on Robben Island; writing journals while on the run during the anti-apartheid struggle in the early 1960s, and conversing with friends in almost seventy hours of recorded conversations. Here he is neither icon nor saint. An intimate journey from the first stirrings of political consciousness to his galvanizing role on the world stage, Conversations with Myself is a rare chance to spend time with Nelson Mandela the man, in his own voice: direct, clear, private.
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Written by leading thinkers within the African National Congress (ANC), this compilation sets out to provide short yet informative introductions to the party’s history, politics, and policy. Based on a series of lectures given at Parliament to ANC members, this record looks at the principles and processes that led to the organization’s founding in 1912 and examines how they have influenced policy and practice for almost a century. Intended for ANC supporters and the wider public alike, this account argues that the diversity of influences on the ANC is indicative of a living and growing movement that has been sensitive to both the national and international environment in which it has found itself.
The Fall of Apartheid tells the extraordinary story of how apartheid came into being, secured its ascendancy over the richest and most developed society in Sub-Saharan Africa, and then collapsed. For the first time it reveals the full story of the secret meetings between Africans and Afrikaners in Britain, in which South Africa's current president, Thabo Mbeki, had a direct line to President Botha. Robert Harvey's fascinating narrative helps to illuminate not just the South African problems but also more general issues of conflict- and problem-solving.
On 21 March 1960 several hundred black Africans were injured and 69 killed when South African police opened fire on demonstrators in the township of Sharpeville, protesting against the Apartheid regime's racist 'pass' laws. The Sharpeville Massacre, as the event has become known, signalled thestart of armed resistance in South Africa, and prompted worldwide condemnation of South Africa's Apartheid policies. The events at Sharpeville deeply affected the attitudes of both black and white in South Africa and provided a major stimulus to the development of an international 'Anti-Apartheid'movement.In Sharpeville, Tom Lodge explains how and why the Massacre occurred, looking at the social and political background to the events of March 1960, as well as the sequence of events that prompted the shootings themselves. He then broadens his focus to explain the long-term consequences of Sharpeville,explaining how it affected South African politics over the following decades, both domestically and also in the country's relationship with the rest of the world.
The Boer War of 1899-1902 was an epic of heroism and bungling, cunning and barbarism, with an extraordinary cast of characters - including Churchill, Rhodes, Conan Doyle, Smuts, Kipling, Gandhi, Kruger and Kitchener. The war revealed the ineptitude of the British military and unexpectedly exposed the corrupt underside of imperialism in the establishment of the first concentration camps, the shooting of Boer prisoners-of-war and the embezzlement of military supplies by British officers. This acclaimed book provides a complete history of the Boer War - from the first signs of unrest to the eventual peace. In the process, it debunks several of the myths which have grown up around the conflict and explores the deadly legacy it left for southern Africa.
First published in the late 1960s, this analysis investigates African National Congress’ history and policies. Covering the ruling South African Party’s past and present conflicts, including the circumstances before the downfall of the Apartheid, this comprehensive and detailed chronicle examines why the armed struggle was so distinctive and what made a transfer of state power necessary. It also considers why African nationalist sentiment is important and explores the relationship between revolution and democracy.
In the space of a single decade, the African National Congress has changed from a party for the poor and oppressed to the political home of the powerful and opulent. Yesterday's freedom fighters are today's corporate raiders. Boardrooms are the battleground now. Within the ANC different groups have contrasting backgrounds and political cultures: the exiles, back in Africa after many years in Europe, the USA and UK; the "islanders", a close knit group of former Robben Island prisoners; and the "inxiles", the local political activists who fought apartheid from within South Africa. But transformation comes at a price, and for the urbane Thabo Mbeki, this means nothing less than total loyalty and uncritical support. As both his political adversaries and erstwhile allies have discovered to their cost, the man who followed in Nelson Mandela's footsteps brooks no opposition, tolerates no dissent. In capturing the ANC's soul, South Africa's second black president has stifled its spirit. This book not only explains why and how he has done so, but also offers invaluable insights into the arcane machinations behind political decisions that touch the lives of millions every day. The first detailed analysis of the presidency of Nelson Mandela's successor, and possibly the most powerful man in Africa.
Jan Smuts was one of the key figures behind the creation of the League of Nations; Wilson was inspired by his ideas, including the mandates scheme. He pleaded for a magnanimous peace, warning that the treaty of Versailles would lead to another war.
