South Africa, which history?

Trying to recount the history of this country seems like putting yourself in the middle of a field of land mines. As may testify what we retain of the passage of human kind on earth, South Africa's history is a report typed by the "victorious".

Figure 1 - When the British 
government made its 
determination to uphold the 
annexation clear, the Boers 
turned to armed resistance 
in December 1880

The official version of this country's history was until very recently just a recital of the unstable compromise - established on the back of the black people - between the Boers (or "farmers" - the first white to establish themselves in colonies at the Cape, originally from northern Europe - Holland, France and Germany - and called the "Afrikaners" or "Europeans of Africa" at the end of the 19th century) and the British resulting from the anglo-boer war that took place between 1899 and 1902. And even around this partial story laid two distinct versions. The first was British and was to be considered as "the real one", the second was the one of the Boers which was considered to be "misleading" as it was simultaneously connoted as "archaic" and "africanised". Both of them have since then been revised by white anthropologists and historians. With access to university being granted to a much wider spectrum of the black South Africans, one may bet that revisions of the history may derive even further from reality.

Figure 2 - Voyage of Bartolomeu Dias
(1487-88) 

The southern African cape enters the European history in 1487 when Portuguese navigator Bartholomeu Dias discovers the Cape of Good Hope. At the time, technological innovation in navigation eventually allowed to bypass obstacles to the European expansion - then blocked at the East by the Ottoman Empire -, going West and South. Most of what are established as Southern African historical facts have encountered numerous stories spread from mouth to ear for hundreds of years and hence are the result of multiple, ancient influences. Alternative stories haven't ceased to emerge in the recent years - non-negligibly affecting one's comprehension of the continent's history as a whole.

According to the 1996 Walter Sisulu drafted constitution, South Africa counts some 11 official languages with each province being granted the right to make its own linguistic choices by adopting a minimum of 2 official languages. English is spoken everywhere and Afrikaans in an important number of places. The country counts 9 African languages: zoulou, xhosa, swazi, tswana, venda, tsonga, pedi, sotho and ndebele. The two first being spoken by over 40% of the population. This country is hence characterized by a very important linguistic diversity, many speakers changing from one language to another in a same conversation.

Figure 3 - An artist's impression
of the Apartheid

For each spoken language, a different way of thinking, a different approach on life. So who would have bet that this country - long considered as one of the last civilised nations and for tens of years neglected - could chase its own demons and come back to the path of civil peace and respectability? The racial segregation regime (or Apartheid) established by the ruling white in 1948 was abolished on the 30th of June 1991. In April 1994, the South Africans took part in the first democratic and non-racial elections ever organised in their country. After 27 years of detention, the world's most famous political prisoner, Nelson Mandela, was becoming the most popular head of state of the planet. The new-born "rainbow nation" was then witnessing a true state of grace. For some time, South Africa's destiny was even in the hands of 3 peace Nobel prizes.

Figure 4 - South Africa,
a multiracial country

Despite real and ferocious violence, the country opted for the miracle solution of reconciliation. The profoundly humanistic philosophy of a handful of great men associated with an exceptional pragmatism, fostered one of the most spectacular political reversal of all times - not only avoiding civil war but also the leakage of capital and foreign investments which would have economically sunk the country.

In just 15 years, South Africa has become a democratic and multiracial nation arousing fascination around the world. Nevertheless, reconciliation isn't "all-black" nor is it "all-white" and the road to abolish social and economic segregation remains discouragingly long. In a vast majority of urban centers, one hops without transition - in the time lapse of a street crossing - from the most trendy and wealthy quarters to the most miserable townships.