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Hi hive mind,
I've recently read a few books set in the immediate Post Apartheid era in South Africa. I was only 8 at the time, so was a bit unawares of it, and I suppose that it was too current to have been taught in schools at the time. As such, I don't know a huge amount about it.
Are there any good documentaries that folk can recommend? I can remember watching the Ken Burns Vietnam stuff and it giving me what I feel is a really good overview of why/how/what happened.
Theres fair few to go at on Iplayer - I was going to list them but it's esier to just search 'Apartheid' in the serch box:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/search?q=Apartheid&page=1
I only know as I stumbled on the Reggie Yates one the other day and found it very interesting.
Not a documentary but an insight to the “justice” served upon opposer and opposer sympathisers based on Jenkins accounts
Escape from Pretoria on prime.
Michael Buerk did a very good one if you can uncover it. I hitchhiked in SA, Botswana and Zimbabwe in the early 80s. Witnessed apartheid as well as a bit of the civil war in Matabeleland. Brutal times.
It's such a long and winding history. We still don't teach colonialism in schools, which was the root of apartheid. The atrocities committed through the ideology of white supremism and colonial supremism obviously aren't just limited to southern Africa either. Did you know aboriginals and other indigenous people were not counted as Australian citizens until 1967 and had no rights under the 'Commonwealth'? We had segregation in the UK, see the Bristol Bus Boycott. etc etc
Not a documentary but for 'popular' watching, "A United Kingdom" is a fictionalised account of Sir Seretse Khama's life, touching on colonial rule across southern Africa, being from effective royalty (born to the chief of the dominant people of what was Bechuanaland), and Botswana's road to independence.
The stories of the freedom fighters during the later decades of apartheid are really interesting and inspiring. I don't know any documentaries, but searching for Walter Sisulu, Steve Biko, Oliver Tambo, Ruth First could bring up something.
You can find lots of history of European colonial rule in Africa, much of it very dark and depressing; the Herero and Namaqua genocides in what is now Namibia, the butchery of Belgium / their King in what is now Congo. Apartheid in South Africa grew from British and Dutch colonialism.
For a more light-hearted and uplifting watch, find The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan's trip to Zimbabwe. There is a very brief moment when they visit the Cecil Rhodes grave, it gives a quick indicator of the outstanding divide between people's opinions even now.
He also doesn't touch on apartheid too much, but watching Eddie Izzard's marathons around South Africa is also pretty uplifting!
Bishop Desmond Tutu thought apartheid in the ME was worse than that in SA.