Perspectives

Created by: Katie Cromack, Alexandra Duncan, Alexis Kidd, & John Kline

This month for our media project we wanted to learn more about the impact of South Africa’s Apartheid System.  Apartheid, or separateness, was a system that was legally put into effect in South Africa in 1948 by the white minority in order to oppress two racial groups: The colored people, Africans who assimilated the Afrikaner culture, and the majority black people, Africans of an ethnic group, like the Xhosa and Zulu.  Under this system, each racial group was confined to a single location, interracial communication was non-existent, and non-whites were denied significant freedoms, including the ability to hold government office. Apartheid finally ended in 1994, when the African National Congress (ANC) took power and Nelson Mandela became President in the country’s first democratic election after years of riots and protests.

As independent observers, we wanted to hear from all the stakeholders.  We interviewed Margaret, a black Xhosa woman from Kwanokuthula, a township outside Plettenberg Bay, who works as a home based care provider; Mandy, a white South African who runs Plett Aid, an organization that runs home based care in the townships outside Plettenberg Bay; Leroy, who is originally Italian but has lived in South Africa since early childhood and runs a backpacker’s hostel in Plettenberg Bay; and Elize, a colored woman from the township New Horizon and who works as a home based care worker. These are their stories and opinions.