South Africa

 [<div align="right">(photo: &copy;2005 John Englander)</div>]

The South Africa section of Facing History and Ourselves' Transitional Justice Online Module is currently being revised. The readings below represent only a portion of this section. Be sure to check back soon for more.

Readings: 
  • South Africa - An Overview

    In the spring of 2004, South Africa celebrated ten years since the end of apartheid. But when did the transition to a post-apartheid South Africa begin? And how is such a transition accomplished?

  • Dismantling Apartheid, Inside Out

    When Justice Richard Goldstone was appointed as a justice of the Transvaal High Court in 1980, he used the opportunity to combat the oppressive laws of apartheid from within the system.

  • Reclaiming Dignity

    With the end of apartheid, South Africans are no longer expected to adhere to certain traditions and yet they choose to adhere to others. Here we reflect on episodes from memoirs and literature to appreciate how much of transitioning involves acknowledging past indignities and attempting to right them.

  • “Just 20 Minutes More”: Writing a New Constitution

    Cyril Ramaphosa, chairperson of the South African Constitutional Assembly, discusses what it was like to drag "the apartheid government...kicking and screaming into the democratic South Africa" during protracted negotiations for South Africa's first democratic constitution.

  • District Six: “The Home We Live In”

    Sixty thousand non-white residents were removed from District Six, an historically mixed neighborhood in Cape Town, South Africa, following the 1966 Group Areas Act. Former residents Linda Fortune and Noor Ebrahim remember their old neighborhood.

  • The History of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)

    The TRC is often the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks about South Africa following apartheid. The TRC, however, was far from the first thing on the minds of the negotiators who reached the historic compromise. This reading highlights the details of the formation of the TRC.

  • Political Cartoons from South Africa

    Jonathan Shapiro's "Zapiro" cartoons and Stephen Francis and Rico's "Madame and Eve" cartoons demonstrate how political cartoons in South Africa serve as effective forms of social commentary.