This Day in History: 6 November 2020
6 November 1962
58 years ago, today, the UN condemned apartheid in South Africa, calling on all its members to end economic and military relations with the nation. In 1960, a massacre of unarmed demonstrators at Sharpeville near Johannesburg occurred where 69 Black people were killed and over 180 were injured. The international movement to end apartheid gained wide support, but few Western powers or South Africa's other main trading partners favoured a full economic or military embargo against the country. Nevertheless, opposition to apartheid within the UN grew, and the UN resolution in 1973 labelled apartheid as a "crime against humanity." The country was suspended from the General Assembly in 1974.
This government-sanctioned racial segregation and political discrimination against South Africa's non-white majority was enforced from 1948 to 1993. The black South Africans were forced to live in segregated areas and could not enter white-only neighbourhoods unless they had a special pass. Although white South Africans represented only a small fraction of the population, they held the vast majority of the country's land and wealth. In 1990, after decades of strikes, sanctions and demonstrations, many apartheid laws were repealed. The next year, the government repealed all remaining laws and began to write a new constitution. In 1993, the first free elections were held, electing political activist Nelson Mandela as South Africa's new president.
Want to find out more about the history of apartheid in South Africa? Click here for more information, or here for more about Nelson Mandela.
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