Source 22.6: South African “Independence”
Independence in South Africa had a somewhat different meaning than elsewhere in the colonial world, for that country had already ended its colonial relationship with Great Britain in 1910. Thus the struggle in South Africa was against a local entrenched and dominant white minority that had imposed a regime of harsh racial oppression, known as apartheid, that had no parallel in other parts of the world. When that regime ended in April 1994 with the country’s first genuinely democratic elections, its demise marked the conclusion of an era in world history in which Europeans exercised formal political control in the African, Asian, Caribbean, and Pacific worlds. This photograph shows a man standing in line preparing to vote in that historic election by displaying his identification document. Such photographs, of which there were thousands, articulated what was for many the essential meaning of that moment.
Questions to consider as you examine the source:
- Africans had long resented and resisted the requirement to produce on demand an identity card, a kind of internal passport, during the apartheid era. Why, then, do you think that the man in the foreground is proudly displaying his identification document in this photograph?
- How does the image of several whites, also waiting to vote, enhance the message of the photograph?
- Notice that the two African men in the foreground are shown in clear focus, while the whites in the background are displayed in a somewhat blurred fashion. Do you think this was deliberate on the part of the photographer? How does this feature of the photo contribute to the message it conveys?
South African Election
