South Africa 1960–1994: The People and the State

Led by Nelson Mandela Simulacrum

A non-British depth study for OCR GCSE History A — the relationship between the people and the state in South Africa from the Sharpeville Massacre to the collapse of apartheid and the first free elections.

1. Module 1 ○ Open

   Opposition to the Apartheid Regime c.1960s

   Led by Nelson Mandela Simulacrum

   The question

   How did the apartheid state maintain a system most of its people rejected, and why did resistance turn to armed struggle? You will study the consolidation of apartheid through Separate Development and the Bantustans, the methods of control, the Sharpeville Massacre and its impact, the forms of resistance including the ANC, the Freedom Charter, and the armed campaigns of Umkhonto we Sizwe and Poqo, and the Rivonia Trial of 1964.

   Outcome

   You can explain how the apartheid state maintained itself and how resistance developed in the 1960s, including the shift to armed struggle after Sharpeville and the consequences of the Rivonia Trial.

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2. Module 2 ○ Open

   Growing Resistance and Repression c.1970s

   Led by Nelson Mandela Simulacrum

   The question

   With its leadership imprisoned and exiled, how did resistance renew itself in the 1970s? You will examine the Black Consciousness Movement and SASO, the role of women, trade unions and the Durban strike of 1973, the Soweto uprising of 1976, the ANC in exile, the international Anti-Apartheid Movement, and the regime's response.

   Outcome

   You can explain how resistance diversified in the 1970s — new generations, new ideas, international pressure — and how the cycle of resistance and repression reshaped the struggle.

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3. Module 3 ○ Open

   The Collapse of Apartheid c.1980s–1994

   Led by Nelson Mandela Simulacrum

   The question

   How did a state that resisted change for decades come to dismantle itself? You will study the mounting pressures — sanctions, the United Democratic Front, mass resistance, the Inkatha conflict, the State of Emergency, the failure of "total strategy" and the defeat at Cuito Cuanavale, divisions within the National Party — the roles of de Klerk, Ramaphosa, and Mandela, the negotiations, the unbanning of the liberation movements, and the first free elections of 1994.

   Outcome

   You can explain the collapse of apartheid as the product of many converging pressures, and account for the negotiated transition to democracy and the 1994 elections.

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