Key Features of Apartheid, How the Cold War Affected Africa - Assignment Example

Final exam Key features of apartheid The core of apartheid system was to bring back the English influence into South Africa. This was to ensure that Boers got a part of overall political and economic supremacy. There were several characteristics of apartheid. The first characteristic is the spatial segregation of the existing races. The foundations for racial segregation in South Africa commenced in 1923 where a black urban areas was coined. This act brought forth a system where individuals had to possess identification passes and their access was controlled (Dubow 56). This resulted into the development of the spatial segregation that existed and the legal discrimination seen. The act was further expanded in 1950 where a group areas act was established. This act allocated the four ethnic groups in south Africa different areas of residence and prohibited any south African to reside in an area that was occupied by another race or to purchase property in that area. The identification pass was a crucial document in the 1950 era and it made every South African to have a tribal identity. The second one is the registration according to the races. In the 1950, there was a registration passed to register the population. All the residents in South Africa were to be registered in a race register. There was the race classification office that was established to oversee this process. The classification was conducted in a criteria taking into consideration of the outer space, the general acceptance and a social standing (Dubow 70). Classification into a certain ethnic group impacted on the political rights, economic status and social relationship of these individuals. South Africans were therefore, supposed to carry along their passports to ease this classification according to race. Another characteristic is social discrimination. The immorality act passed by parliament prohibited sex between the whites and the blacks. Marriages between the two were also prohibited and marriages that occurred abroad were invalid in South Africa. The healthcare system also favored the whites more than the blacks with the homelands either having fewer doctors or no doctors at all. Economic discrimination was also another characteristic where non whites were prohibited from acquiring certain jobs. Diplomas and certificates were also more issued to the whites than the South Africans and the Indians in the country. Moreover, political deprivation was also evident with laws banning any South African from political participation. The state applied apartheid laws by referring to them every time an action contrary to the laws was committed. This happened especially against the South Africans in the area since most of the laws and acts enacted were directed towards them. The state referred to the laws before taking a disciplinary action against the South Africans who went against the enacted laws. For instance, the late Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for going against the criminal law amendment act. This law ensured that every individual who advocated for the aims of communism was prosecuted. Thus, these laws made it easier for the state to take actions against the individuals going against the set laws and regulations. How the cold war affected Africa Before the cold war, most African countries received large economic aides from super powers. However, these aides decreased after the cold war. Now these countries were desperately looking for new aides and friends. This is led to rivalry by superpowers to be replaced by international indifference. Africa lost the political luster that it had after the cold war. Thus, considering that there was no geographical, economic or strategic reason to move it to the top of their economic agenda, then Africa had to take the required initiative. The abandonment was more vivid in the horn of Africa especially in Ethiopia and Somalia. This is considering that these countries were the centre for the struggle for the influence on African continent in 1970s. However, now, the countries hosted orphans from the era of the cold war. Considering that superpowers were no longer interested in Africa, then African despots could no longer insure their power grip by making the super powers compete against one another. This led to the question of how Africans could now sustain themselves and their population considering that they had been dependent on super powers’ aide. Considering that had to deal with their political and also the economic futures. Africa was not only faced with economies that had been wrecked by mismanagement and also the civil war, they had to deal with worst AIDS Epidemic in the area. After the cold war, AIDS had infected over six million individuals and was continually devastating the middle classes. The diminishing aide to African continent was predicted to worsen considering the hardening of the rich nations due to recession and facing other competing demands for assistance. These rich nations turned their attention to the Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Thus, many African countries were moving to seek for greater economic ties. For instance, South Africa which was moving towards the end of the apartheid era, the Africans desired more economic ties with other industrialized nations. This seemed problematic considering the state that African countries had been left in after the cold war. However, the united nation came to provide the desired financial aid to the African countries. Despite that African was not opposed to bilateral agreements, there was need to channel more aide through various international organizations. This would solve the problem of how these African countries could receive technical grants and other financial aids without having any commitments attached. This could demonstrate the good faith of either the donor or other creditor nations to the African countries. This could also reduce temptation of various African countries to play off other super powers considering that this temptation could develop from the aspect of unrealistic or even the irresponsible leadership. Thus, the shortcomings mainly of the economic sector that African countries experienced after the cold war could be reduced by the assistance of the United Nations. This could assist African countries in their transition from economic dependence in the colonial era to self sufficiency. Works Cited Dubow, Saul. Apartheid, 1984-1994. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley, 2014. Read More