What It Was Really Like To Live Under Apartheid

The human rights abuses under apartheid were something the world could not ignore, and over time nearly every nation in the world had some kind of anti-apartheid organization, whether it be a government, religious groups, universities, trade unions and civil organizations, according to South African History Online.

According to the U.S. Department of State, uprisings against the South African government usually did not end well for those who stood against the National Party. In 1960, 69 unarmed people were killed and 186 were wounded when South African police opened fire on Black protesters in Sharpeville. On June 16, 1976 high-school students in Soweto began protesting for better education, and more than 600 people were killed, according to the BBC.

By the 1980s the system of apartheid had eroded from both internal strife and external forces, such as the condemnation of other nations, which affected the nation's "revenue, security and international reputation," per the U.S. Department of State. In 1990, Prime Minister F.W. de Klerk, of the crumbling National Party, released political prisoners, such as anti-apartheid leader and icon Nelson Mandela, freed after 27 years of incarceration.

Four years later in 1994, Mandela was elected South Africa's first Black president. While apartheid had technically ended, the ramifications of the past still linger today. According to the Associated Press, President Cyril Ramaphosa said in 2019, 25 years after apartheid ended, "Ours is still a deeply unequal country." 

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