UN condemned Apartheid in South Africa: Know more about the 'discriminatory' system

On this day, that is November 6 in 1962, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted a resolution condemning South Africa’s racist apartheid policies. In addendum, it also issued a notice to all its members’ states asking them to end all economic and military relations with the African country.

What is Apartheid?

Apartheid was a policy or system of segregation which was sanctioned by the South African government from 1948-1993.  The word comes from the Afrikaans word for “apartness” and allowed the authorities to racially segregate and politically discriminate the black South African nationals. One of the most hard-hitting sanctions coerced the black majority to live only in secluded areas and prohibited them to enter the 'whites-only' neighbourhood without a 'special pass'.

Credits: Icg.org

It was in 1960, that a massacre of unarmed demonstrators in Sharpeville Near Johannesburg in South Africa led to the killing of 69 blacks that the call to end apartheid gained momentum. As opposition to apartheid within the United Nations grew, the organisation, in 1973, labelled apartheid a “crime against humanity.” The following year, South Africa was suspended from the General Assembly.

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Finally, after decades of strikes, sanctions and increasingly violent demonstrations, many apartheid laws were repealed by 1990. The next year, the South African government repealed the remaining laws and eventually committed to formulating a new constitution.  The year 1993, brought in a new glory after activist Nelson Mandela was elected the President of the country, the country got its first multi-racial, multi-party government and held its first fully final elections.

Credits: globalcitizens.org

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