Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search

December 2, 2008 9:03:28 AM CST

Learn about Newser Points »

apartheid

apartheid news stories

14 Stories

 Singer Makeba 
 Dies After 
 Concert 

MIriam Makeba collapses as she exits stage in Italy

New York Times New York Times Nov 10, 08 5:54 AM CST
(Newser) - The South African singer and activist Miriam Makeba, known to many as “Mama Africa,” died today of an apparent heart attack, the New York Times reports. Makeba, who was 76, was exiled from South Africa in 1960. Her music was also banned from her home country in 1976 after she spoke out against apartheid at the UN. She collapsed early this morning as she left the stage following a concert in Italy. More »

More about:  music • South Africa • political activism • apartheid

Interim Prez Takes Reins in South Africa

Motlanthe viewed as able to ease tensions within ruling party

BBC BBC Sep 25, 08 11:30 AM CDT
(Newser) - Kgalema Motlanthe was sworn in as South Africa’s caretaker president today after winning three-quarters of a parliamentary ballot, the BBC reports. The left-leaning intellectual is seen as someone who can ease rifts between supporters of Jacob Zuma, head of the African National Congress party head, and former President Thabo Mbeki. More »

 Mandela Finally
 Removed From
 US Terror List 

US takes icon off terrorist watch list

CNN CNN Jul 2, 08 4:52 AM CDT
(Newser) - Former South African President Nelson Mandela is finally being removed from US terrorism watch lists , CNN reports. The 90-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate was designated a terrorist because he battled against the old apartheid regime in South Africa. His name was never officially removed from the US lists until a new bill was signed into law yesterday by President Bush. More »

 S. Africa Reclassifies
 Chinese as 'Black' 

Group can now benefit from post-apartheid equality programs

Times (UK) Times (UK) Jun 19, 08 11:15 AM CDT
(Newser) - South Africa's high court has decided Chinese people should be reclassified as black, the London Times reports. The country's 20,000 citizens of Chinese origin had complained that they were left out of programs aimed at reversing inequalities created under apartheid, despite having been discriminated against under white rule. A controversial policy forces large companies to give some of their equity to black-run entities. More »

More about:  South Africa • race relations • apartheid • racial inequality • Chinese

Opinion

Mugabe's Horrors Transcend Race

Yes, he's a black leader of an African nation; he's also a tyrant

Atlanta Journal-Constitution Atlanta Journal-Constitution Jun 14, 08 4:22 PM CDT
(Newser) - Once, Westerners cared about southern Africa. In the late 20th century, outraged Americans of all stripes spoke out against apartheid, an outpouring that ultimately helped liberate both South Africa and Zimbabwe. Now, Zimbabwe is under the thumb of another murderous tyrant—this time a black one—and the West remains strangely and disgracefully silent, writes Cythia Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. More »

More about:  Zimbabwe • Africa • Robert Mugabe • Zimbabwe elections • apartheid

McCain and Obama Joust on Iran Threat, Divestment

Republican mocks plan to talk 'as if it were some sudden inspiration;' Dem hits back

Chicago Tribune Chicago Tribune Jun 2, 08 3:54 PM CDT
(Newser) - John McCain smacked Barack Obama on Iran today, telling a pro-Israel lobbying group the Democrat wanted to meet with “the world’s chief sponsor of terrorism … as if it were some sudden inspiration.” As the Republican proposed to lead a world divestment campaign echoing that against South African apartheid, he said a President Obama, meanwhile, would get “an earful of anti-Semitic rants.” More »

More about:  Barack Obama • John McCain • Iran • apartheid • AIPAC

 Thousands Protest
 South African Violence 

Largest newspaper calls for president to step down for failure to stop killing

Reuters Reuters May 25, 08 6:55 AM CDT
(Newser) - Thousands of South Africans marched through Johannesburg yesterday to protest anti-immigrant rampages that have claimed at least 50 lives. Carrying placards comparing the violence to apartheid, marchers brought traffic to a standstill, Reuters reports. The action was organized by labor unions and churches. The nation's largest newspaper today called for the resignation of President Thabo Mbeki for failing to stop the mob violence. More »

More about:  Africa • apartheid • ethnic violence • mob

 High Court OKs Apartheid Cases 

Claims against big corporations can proceed in federal court

Reuters Reuters May 12, 08 7:14 PM CDT
(Newser) - Apartheid victims can sue corporations that dealt with South Africa’s government before 1995, the Supreme Court said today. But the judges did not render a decision, as four of the nine recused themselves, likely due to personal stock holdings. The claims seek $400 billion from companies including Exxon, Citigroup, and GM. More »

More about:  General Motors • US Supreme Court • Citigroup • South Africa • Exxon • apartheid

'Urine Stew' Vid Sparks Furor
in S. Africa

Anti-integration students force-fed
black workers vile soup

Mail & Guardian (South Africa) Mail & Guardian (South Africa) Feb 28, 08 1:19 PM CST
(Newser) - South Africans have reacted with outrage and violence to a homemade video showing white college students forcing black employees to eat dirty meat and soup mixed with urine. The four Afrikaners, who don't disguise their faces, made the video to protest racial integration at the formerly all-white University of the Free State, reports the Mail & Guardian . Classes were suspended yesterday as staff and students marched in protest, and police fired stun grenades at one crowd. More »

More about:  South Africa • race relations • apartheid • human rights violations

Mbeki Likely
to Lose ANC Leadership

Controversial Zuma predicted to defeat
prez for party helm

Mail & Guardian (South Africa) Mail & Guardian (South Africa) Dec 13, 07 10:39 AM CST
(Newser) - With only three days to go until the African National Congress meets to choose a new leader, South African President Thabo Mbeki looks set to lose his position at the top of his party and might be forced to retire before the end of his term. Jacob Zuma, Mbeki's highly controversial rival, has shored up a seemingly unstoppable support—though he might yet again be charged with corruption, says the Mail and Guardian . More »

More about:  South Africa • Thabo Mbeki • Jacob Zuma • African National Congress • apartheid

Rhodesian
PM Ian Smith
Dies at 88

Broke from Britain and defended white minority rule for 15 years

Guardian (UK) Guardian (UK) Nov 20, 07 9:47 PM CST
(Newser) - Ian Smith, the Rhodesian leader who unilaterally declared independence from Britain in 1965 and defended white rule for 15 tumultuous years, died today at 88. Seen as a symbol of  African colonial-era racism, Smith was unrepentant during his lifetime, arguing that what is now Zimbabwe suffered more under the tenure of current President Robert Mugabe, the Guardian reports. More »

More about:  Great Britain • obituary • Zimbabwe • Robert Mugabe • South Africa • independence • apartheid • colonialism • Rhodesia

Economist: No To South Africa Sports Quotas

Athletic affirmative action ‘mocks’ merit in racially mixed nation

Economist Economist Oct 25, 07 5:53 PM CDT
(Newser) - The World Cup-winning South African rugby team shouldn’t be saddled with racial quotas, says the Economist : It’s exactly the wrong kind of affirmative action and would “mock the principle of merit.” One might think, the piece allows, the South African case would be the ultimate argument for quotas, as rugby “was a totem” of white nationalism during apartheid; but such move would actually hurts black athletes and the whole team. More »

More about:  South Africa • athlete • apartheid • affirmative action • rugby

In the Ashes of Apartheid, a Shopping Mall

Mandela marks opening of huge mall in once-
impoverished Soweto

BBC BBC Sep 27, 07 3:19 PM CDT
(Newser) - Nelson Mandela cut a ribbon today to mark the opening of a massive shopping mall in Soweto, the Johannesburg township that was the center of the struggle against apartheid, and his own home before he went to prison. The Maponya Mall, with 200 shops and an eight-screen theater, is the largest in southern Africa, the BBC reports. More »

More about:  South Africa • Nelson Mandela • apartheid • Johannesburg

(Newser) - After pleading guilty, five former security officials in South Africa received suspended jail sentences today for their involvement in a bizarre, apartheid-era murder plot. Onetime law and order minister Adriaan Volk and four others admitted they had tried to kill Frank Chikane, a priest and anti-apartheid activist, in 1989 by lining his underwear with a deadly nerve toxin. More »

More about:  murder • trial • South Africa • racism • civil rights • hate crime • apartheid

14 Stories

Today's Most Popular

Loading...

Premium Articles from HighBeam

Find more articles like this

What is Newser?

2008 Codie Finalist

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser a team of editors and writers culls the most important stories from hundreds of U.S. and international sources and reduces them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. It's the Newser guarantee: we can take any report or column or video and pack what you need to know into 120 words or less. Newser's short-form aggregation, visual format, and unique information tools help you get more of the kind of news you want, in a quicker and more entertaining way. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »