The End of Apartheid

The long struggle against racial segregation in South Africa that ended with the first multiracial elections.

Background

After the National Party came to power in 1948, apartheid laws classified people by race and enforced separation in housing, education, work and political life. Opponents included the African National Congress and the Pan Africanist Congress, as well as many churches and civic groups.

Course of events

The Sharpeville shootings of 1960 led to the banning of the main liberation movements, and Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life in prison in 1964. The Soweto uprising of 1976, internal resistance and international sanctions increased pressure. President F. W. de Klerk legalised the banned groups, and Mandela was released on 11 February 1990.

Legacy

Negotiations led to the first elections open to all South Africans in April 1994, and Mandela became president. A Truth and Reconciliation Commission was set up to investigate past abuses, and the country still faces inequality inherited from the apartheid era.