Anti Apartheid movement in South Africa proved triumphant




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The anti Apartheid movement was the world-wide effort to abolish the South African Government's system of racial "Apartheid", meaning apartness.

For decades, instigated by the Afrikaner-dominated National Party in 1948, the white minority maintained political and economic power by relegating other racial groups to second-class citizen status, without the right to vote, living in separate areas, with separate systems of education and healthcare.
An anti Apartheid movement sprang into existence both inside and outside South Africa.

The internal anti Apartheid movement in South Africa took a step forward in 1949, when the (until then) conservative African National Congress (ANC) adopted a policy advocating resistance in the form of civil disobedience, strikes and protest marches.
In 1955, at Kliptown near Johannesburg, the anti Apartheid movement received a further boost with the adoption of the Freedom Charter, which espoused the vision of a non-racial South Africa.

A second organization joined the anti Apartheid movement in 1959, when the more-militant Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) split from the ANC;
High on their list of objectives for the anti Apartheid movement was the abolition of the cruel law whereby Blacks had to carry a "Pass" at all times.
It was at one of these Pass-Law demonstrations that the anti Apartheid movement took a tragic turn in 1960 with the infamous "Sharpeville Massacre", when police opened fire and killed 69 protestors.
This event had a dramatic influence on the direction of the anti Apartheid movement; The following year, the ANC decided to adopt armed resistance against the brutal state.

The anti Apartheid movement had become more intense; A massive stay-away from work was organized, and further demonstrations took place.
The government declared a state of emergency in the face of the anti Apartheid movement, allowing them to detain people without trial.
Both the ANC and PAC were declared "banned" organizations, and some 18,000 demonstrators were arrested, including most of the leadership of the two movements.

As the armed elements of the anti Apartheid movement began to follow their policy of sabotage, several of the ANC leaders were tried for treason at the famous "Rivonia Trial" in 1964.
Eight, including ANC leader Nelson Mandela, were sentenced to life imprisonment.
Henceforth, the anti Apartheid movement was largely led from outside South Africa, by ANC members who had escaped into exile.

Evidence of the international anti Apartheid movement was the imposition of sanctions by the United Nations against the South African government; These measures lasted for years.

In 1976, the anti Apartheid movement again saw public brutality, when schoolchildren in the township of Soweto went on strike against being forced to use the Afrikaans language; A mass rally on June 16 saw police again opening fire on a crowd, and dozens died.
Around the same time, the death in detention of Steve Biko, leader of the South African Students Organization, further inspired the anti Apartheid movement.

A significant (minority) percentage of white South Africans were also involved in the anti Apartheid movement, either through parliamentary opposition, or cultural activities. Again, there were many examples of detention without trial.
Opposition movements like the National Union of South African Students and the End Conscription Campaign, along with many musicians and several internationally-prominent South African writers, played their part in raising awareness of the anti Apartheid movement.

During the 1980's the country was frequently declared to be in a State of Emergency;
Demonstrations occurred everywhere, black neighborhoods were constantly patrolled by soldiers and police in armored vehicles; arrests continued by the thousands, and the ANC and PAC retaliated by bombing "soft" targets.

It was during that decade that the anti Apartheid movement finally prevailed, as the government began to admit the need for change;
It could no longer sustain the effort required to oppress an overwhelming majority of the population, in the face of constant internal chaos, while being internationally ostracized.
In 1990, F.W. de Klerk, the new head of the white government, freed Nelson Mandela from prison, and opened negotiations with the anti Apartheid movement, leading in 1994 to the first truly nation-wide elections and the inauguration of Nelson Mandela as South Africa's first black president.


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Weeping , written by Dan Heymann (sometimes mis-spelled as Dan Heyman ), is a famous protest song that emerged from the South African anti Apartheid movement during the mid-1980's, and this song of freedom has been recorded by many artists, including noted South African band Bright Blue and, more recently, Josh Groban , in a collaboration with Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Vusi Mahlasela , who has previously released a solo recording of this song of protest . The anti Apartheid lyrics Weeping contains are among the most-recorded freedom song lyrics of any protest song to have come out of South Africa. The Weeping song (rights to which are partially controlled by Muffled Music ) led to a February, 2006, encounter between singer Josh Groban and songwriter Dan Heymann (occasionally mis-spelled as Heyman ) at New York City's Sony Studios, a legendary institution which has given many a song freedom to soar. It was a thrill for Dan to hear his anti Apartheid song being recorded by such a high-caliber team. Having been a musician in contact with various anti-Apartheid movements during the Freedom-Struggle in South Africa, when examining the Weeping lyrics , Dan was thrilled to feel the connection of his lyric to protest song tradition. When the time came to add backing vocals, nobody needed to teach Vusi Mahlasela lyrics to the Weeping song , having already performed it live so many times, and this new rendition of Dan's familiar rhyming- lyric protest song should give the song freedom to reach many new listeners. Many protest songs were inspired by the anti Apartheid movement and Dan is proud that his freedom song has been so well-received, particularly when there are already so many wonderful anti-Apartheid protest song lyrics in existence.