The World Cup is about to kick off in South Africa but the country hasn't always been so open and welcoming. Between 1948 and 1994 South Africa was under apartheid. This is a legal system that kept the much larger Black population under the control of the White minority.This split in society did not happen overnight and it is a complicated issue but "Cry, Beloved Country" tries to explain the development. Published in 1948 it is the story of a Black Zulu Pastor, Stephen Kumalo, from Ixopo (a small village) whose sister is in trouble and his son missing in Johannesburg. The story is slow paced but wonderfully written. It talks of the bus strikes by the Black communities in Johannesburg over the unfair rise in fares, the growing fear of the White communities about the Black population, the destruction of the tribe system and of many other ideas and issues that led to aprtheid. It ends before apartheid and ends with hope but I found it was mixed with sadness for me as a reader with the benefit of knowing what was to come.
Apartheid was condemned internationally and movements within South Africa worked to try and end it such as the ANC (African National Congress). Nelson Mandela was a member of the ANC and was imprisoned for 27 years but when apertheid ended and he was released he became a major political figure. President of South Africa from 1994 to1999 and receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. You can read about his struggle in his autobiography - "Long Walk to Freedom".
