Apartheid

==== Western influence ====
[[File:South Africa House anti apartheid London 1989.jpg|thumb|Anti-apartheid protest at [[South Africa House]] in London, 1989]]
External Western influence, arising from European experiences in colonisation, may be seen as a factor which greatly influenced political attitudes and ideology. Late twentieth-century South Africa was cited as an "unreconstructed example of western civilisation twisted by racism".<ref>L.H, Gann, "Apartheids Genesis 1935–1962", Business Library, (1994) pp. 1–6. (p. 1.)</ref>

In the 1960s, South Africa experienced [[economic growth]] second only to that of [[Japan]].<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Legasick | first1 = Martin | year = 1974 | title = Legislation, Ideology and Economy in Post-1948 South Africa | journal = Journal of Southern African Studies | volume = 1 | issue = 1| pages = 5–35 | doi = 10.1080/03057077408707921 }}</ref> Trade with Western countries grew, and investment from the United States, France, and the United Kingdom poured in.

In 1974, resistance to apartheid was encouraged by [[Portuguese Colonial War|Portuguese withdrawal]] from [[Mozambique]] and [[Angola]], after the 1974 [[Carnation Revolution]]. South African troops withdrew from Angola early in 1976, failing to prevent the [[MPLA]] from gaining power there, and Black students in South Africa celebrated.

The [[Mahlabatini Declaration of Faith]], signed by [[Mangosuthu Buthelezi]] and [[Harry Schwarz]] in 1974, enshrined the principles of [[peaceful transition of power]] and equality for all. Its purpose was to provide a blueprint for South Africa by consent and racial peace in a multi-racial society, stressing opportunity for all, consultation, the federal concept, and a [[Bill of rights|Bill of Rights]]. It caused a split in the [[United Party (South Africa)|United Party]] that ultimately realigned oppositional politics in South Africa with the formation of the [[Progressive Federal Party]] in 1977. The Declaration was the first of several such joint agreements by acknowledged Black and White political leaders in South Africa.

In 1978, the National Party Defence Minister, [[Pieter Willem Botha]], became Prime Minister. His white minority regime worried about Soviet aid to revolutionaries in South Africa at the same time that South African economic growth had slowed. The South African Government noted that it was spending too much money to maintain segregated homelands created for Blacks, and the homelands were proving to be uneconomical.<ref name=":0" />

Nor was maintaining Blacks as third-class citizens working well. Black labour remained vital to the economy, and illegal Black labour unions were flourishing. Many Blacks remained too poor to contribute significantly to the economy through their purchasing power{{snds}}although they composed more than 70% of the population. Botha's regime feared that an antidote was needed to prevent the Blacks being attracted to communism.<ref>{{cite journal|title = Democratization in South Africa|last = Giliomee|first = Hermann|date = 1995|journal = Political Science Quarterly|volume = 110|issue = 1|pages = 83–104|doi = 10.2307/2152052|jstor = 2152052}}</ref>

In July 1979, the Nigerian Government alleged that the Shell-BP Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) was selling Nigerian oil to South Africa, though there was little evidence or commercial logic for such sales.<ref>{{cite book|last=Weymouth Genova|first=Ann|title=Oil and Nationalism in Nigeria, 1970–1980|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5T3NVGzBmkUC&pg=PA123|access-date=11 April 2012|year=2007|isbn=978-0-549-26666-2|page=123|archive-date=30 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130530041221/http://books.google.com/books?id=5T3NVGzBmkUC&pg=PA123|url-status=live}} Weymouth Genova covers the possibility of Nigerian oil going to South Africa in detail from page 113. Heavily laden tankers have to respect the ocean currents which means they travel clockwise around Africa; oil for South Africa would likely come from the Middle East rather than West Africa. Nigeria had been taking over other oil marketing companies to reduce price differentials across the country; they needed to fill a budget shortfall due to low oil prices and had a history of disputes with BP and the UK Government, so BP assets were seized when Shell's stake in SPDC was not.</ref> The alleged sanctions-breaking was used to justify the seizure of some of BP's assets in Nigeria including their stake in SPDC, although it appears the real reasons were economic nationalism and domestic politics ahead of the Nigerian elections.<ref>{{cite book|last=Weymouth Genova|first=Ann|title=Oil and Nationalism in Nigeria, 1970–1980|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5T3NVGzBmkUC&pg=PA171|access-date=11 April 2012|year=2007|isbn=978-0-549-26666-2|page=171|archive-date=13 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130613193201/http://books.google.com/books?id=5T3NVGzBmkUC&pg=PA171|url-status=live}}</ref> Many South Africans attended schools in Nigeria,<ref>{{cite book|last=Adesanmi|first=Pius|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pQRE3H2F6JUC&q=during+apartheid+many+south+africans+attended+school+in+nigeria&pg=PT53|title=You're Not a Country, Africa|date=2012 |publisher=Penguin Random House South Africa|isbn=978-0-14-352865-4|language=en|access-date=8 November 2020|archive-date=6 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206070301/https://books.google.com/books?id=pQRE3H2F6JUC&q=during+apartheid+many+south+africans+attended+school+in+nigeria&pg=PT53|url-status=live}}</ref> and Nelson Mandela acknowledged the role of Nigeria in the struggle against apartheid on several occasions.<ref>{{cite web|title=South African envoy: Mandela begged Nigeria for money to fight apartheid|url=https://www.thecable.ng/%e2%80%8b-south-african-envoy-mandela-came-nigeria-beg-money|date=31 July 2016|website=TheCable|language=en-US|access-date=27 May 2020|archive-date=26 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726072900/https://www.thecable.ng/%e2%80%8b-south-african-envoy-mandela-came-nigeria-beg-money|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the 1980s, anti-apartheid movements in the United States and Europe were gaining support for boycotts against South Africa, for the withdrawal of US companies from South Africa, and for release of imprisoned Nelson Mandela. South Africa was sinking to the bottom of the international community. Investment in South Africa was ending and an active policy of [[Disinvestment from South Africa|disinvestment]] had begun.{{citation needed|date=November 2023}}