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Johan Velde Van Der Merwe
General Johan Velde van der Merwe () was a South African police officer. He held senior positions in the Security Branch and was Commissioner of the South African Police from 1990 to 1995. He was implicated in the use of death squads, torture, and other human rights abuses as part of the apartheid government's crackdown on the then opposition. Early life Van der Merwe was born in Ermelo in August 1936 to a family of conservative National Party supporters. He attended Ermelo High School and enjoyed sport. After leaving school, he joined the South African Police in 1953. Career in the police Early career Interviewed after retirement, van der Merwe related that he enjoyed his initial training. In 1961 he was posted to Standerton and placed in charge of administration of the new headquarters. From 1963 to 1966 he worked in an administrative role at Security Headquarters. From 1966 to 1970, he commanded a border post at the South Africa-Lesotho border. When interviewed, he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South African Police
The South African Police (SAP) was the national police force and law enforcement agency in South Africa from 1913 to 1994; it was the ''de facto'' police force in the territory of South West Africa (Namibia) from 1939 to 1981. After South Africa's transition to majority rule in 1994, the SAP was reorganised into the South African Police Service (SAPS). History The South African Police were the successors to the police forces of the Cape Colony, the Natal Colony, the Orange River Colony, and the Transvaal Colony in law enforcement in South Africa. Proclamation 18 formed the South African Police on 1 April 1913 with the amalgamation of the police forces of the four old colonies after the founding of the Union of South Africa in 1910. The first Commissioner of Police was Colonel Theo G Truter with 5,882 men under his command. The SAP originally policed cities and urban areas, while the South African Mounted Riflemen, a branch of the Union Defence Force, enforced the state's wr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cosatu
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is a trade union federation in South Africa. It was founded in 1985 and is the largest of the country's three main trade union federations, with 21 affiliated trade unions.One Union expelled, and seven Unions voluntarily suspended their participation in COSATU History On 30 Nov 1985, 33 unions met at the University of Natal for talks on forming a federation of trade unions. This followed four years of unity talks between competing unions and federations that were opposed to apartheid and were "committed to a non-racial, non-sexist and democratic South Africa." COSATU was officially established on 1 December 1985. Among the founding unions were the affiliates of the Federation of South African Trade Unions (FOSATU), the small National Federation of Workers, and some independent unions, notably the National Union of Mineworkers. Elijah Barayi was the organisation's first president and Jay Naidoo the first general secretary. S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jacob Zuma
Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan name Msholozi, and was a former anti-apartheid activist, member of Umkhonto we Sizwe, and president of the African National Congress (ANC) between 2007 and 2017. Zuma was born in the rural region of Nkandla, which is now part of the KwaZulu-Natal province and the centre of Zuma's support base. He joined the ANC at the age of 17 in 1959, and spent ten years in Robben Island Prison as a political prisoner. He went into exile in 1975, and was ultimately appointed head of the ANC's intelligence department. After the ANC was unbanned in 1990, he quickly rose through the party's national leadership and became deputy secretary general in 1991, national chairperson in 1994, and deputy president in 1997. He was the deputy president of South Africa from 1999 to 2005 under President Thabo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
President Of South Africa
The president of South Africa is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of South Africa. The president heads the executive branch of the Government of South Africa and is the commander-in-chief of the South African National Defence Force. Between 1961 and 1994, the office of head of state was the State President of South Africa, state presidency. The president is elected by the National Assembly of South Africa, National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament of South Africa, Parliament, and is usually the leader of the largest party, which has been the African National Congress since the first multiracial election was held on 27 April 1994. The Constitution limits the president's time in office to two five-year terms. The first president to be elected under the new constitution was Nelson Mandela. The incumbent is Cyril Ramaphosa, who was elected by the National Assembly of South Africa, National Assembly on 15 February 2018 following the resignation of J ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Chikane
Frank Chikane (born 3 January 1951 in Bushbuckridge, Transvaal) is a South African civil servant, writer and cleric. He is a member of the African National Congress and moderator of the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs for the World Council of Churches (WCC). Biography Chikane was born to James and Erenia Chikane and he grew up in Soweto attending Naledi High School. As the son of a preacher in the Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa, a South African Pentecostal church, Chikane was able to receive an education. After finishing primary school, Chikane went to the University of the North to study sciences in hopes of becoming a physician. However, while at the university, Chikane became involved in the Black Consciousness Movement (or the Stephen Biko movement), and met future post-apartheid South African President and businessman, Cyril Ramaphosa, among others, the chair-person of Bidvest, a business listed on the JSE. Chikane led protests at the universi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Third Force (South Africa)
The "Third Force" was a term used by leaders of the ANC during the late 1980s and early 1990s to refer to a clandestine force believed to be responsible for a surge in violence in KwaZulu-Natal, and townships around and south of the Witwatersrand (or "Rand"). The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) found that: while little evidence exists of a centrally directed, coherent or formally constituted "Third Force", a network of security and ex-security force operatives, frequently acting in conjunction with right-wing elements and/or sectors of the IFP, was involved in actions that could be construed as fomenting violence and which resulted in gross human rights violations, including random and target killings. Uses after 1994 Today, the high rate of protest in South Africa is often attributed to a "third force", often assumed to be linked to foreign intelligence agencies, opposition political parties and white intellectuals. In this context the term 'third force' functio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sydney Mufamadi
Fholisani Sydney Mufamadi (born 28 February 1959) is a South African politician. He was Minister of Safety and Security from 1994 to 1999 and Minister of Provincial and Local Government from 1999 to 2008. Early life Mufamadi was born on 28 February 1959 in Alexandra Township, Johannesburg, the eldest of the four children of Masindi and Reuben Mufamadi. He grew up in Meadowlands, Gauteng, and Tshisahulu, Venda (today Limpopo Province), where he first looked after his grandfather's cattle before attending school. Both his father and mother worked in Johannesburg, selling home-brewed alcoholic beverages to supplement the family income. His mother was subsequently arrested for illegally selling alcohol, and thus he experienced the apartheid era legal system first-hand at an early age. Education Mufamadi completed his schooling at Khwevha High School in Shayandima, Venda, in 1977. He holds a Master of Science degree in State, Society and Development from the University of London, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mail & Guardian
The ''Mail & Guardian'' is a South African weekly newspaper and website, published by M&G Media in Johannesburg, South Africa. It focuses on political analysis, investigative reporting, Southern African news, local arts, music and popular culture. It is considered a newspaper of record for South Africa. History The publication began as the ''Weekly Mail'', an alternative newspaper by a group of journalists in 1985 after the closure of two leading liberal newspapers, ''The Rand Daily Mail'' and ''Sunday Express''. ''Weekly Mail'' was one of the first newspapers to use Apple Mac desktop publishing. The ''Weekly Mail'' criticised the government and its apartheid policies, which led to the banning of the paper in 1988 by then State President P. W. Botha. The paper was renamed the ''Weekly Mail & Guardian'' from 30 July 1993. The London-based Guardian Media Group (GMG), the publisher of ''The Guardian'', became the majority shareholder of the print edition in 1995, and the name was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Interim Constitution (South Africa)
The Interim Constitution was the fundamental law of South Africa from the first non-racial general election on 27 April 1994 until it was superseded by the final constitution on 4 February 1997. As a transitional constitution it required the newly elected Parliament to also serve as a constituent assembly to adopt a final constitution. It made provision for a major restructuring of government as a consequence of the abolition of apartheid. It also introduced an entrenched bill of rights against which legislation and government action could be tested, and created the Constitutional Court with broad powers of judicial review. History An integral part of the negotiations to end apartheid in South Africa was the creation of a new, non-discriminatory constitution for the country. One of the major disputed issues was the process by which such a constitution would be adopted. The African National Congress (ANC) insisted that it should be drawn up by a democratically elected consti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Government Of National Unity (South Africa)
Nelson Mandela took the oath as President of South Africa on 10 May 1994 and announced a Government of National Unity on 11 May 1994. The cabinet included members of Mandela's African National Congress, the National Party and Inkatha Freedom Party, as it was required under the terms of the Clause 88 of the Interim Constitution of South Africa that all parties winning more than 20 seats in National Assembly be given representation in the cabinet. Background In the election of 27 April 1994, the African National Congress obtained the majority of seats in the National Assembly, and thus could form the government on its own. The two chief parties who made use of the provision for a GNU were the National Party and the Inkatha Freedom Party, both of which obtained cabinet portfolios for their leaders and other members of parliament. President Nelson Mandela also invited other parties to join the cabinet, even though they did not obtain the minimum twenty seats in the National As ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Inkatha Freedom Party
The Inkatha Freedom Party ( zu, IQembu leNkatha yeNkululeko, IFP) is a right-wing political party in South Africa. The party has been led by Velenkosini Hlabisa since the party's 2019 National General Conference. Mangosuthu Buthelezi founded the party in 1975 and led it until 2019. The IFP is currently the fourth largest party in the National Assembly of South Africa, in 2014 yielding third place to the Economic Freedom Fighters, formed in 2013. Although registered as a national party, it has had only minor electoral success outside its home province of KwaZulu-Natal. Policies Policy proposals of the IFP include: * Devolution of power to provincial governments * Making the head of state and head of government posts separate, with a ceremonial figurehead as head of state. * Mixed-member proportional representation for the National Assembly. * Liberalisation of trade * Lower income taxes * More flexible labour laws * Autonomy for traditional African communities and their lea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mangosuthu Buthelezi
Prince Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi (born 27 August 1928) is a South African politician and Zulu traditional leader who is currently a Member of Parliament and the traditional prime minister to the Zulu royal family. He was Chief Minister of the KwaZulu bantustan during apartheid and founded the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) in 1975. He also served as Minister of Home Affairs from 1994 to 2004. Buthelezi was one of the most prominent black politicians of the apartheid era and his legacy in that period remains controversial. He was the sole political leader of the KwaZulu government, entering when it was still the native reserve of Zululand in 1970 and remaining in office until it was abolished in 1994. Critics described his administration as a de facto one-party state, intolerant of political opposition and dominated by Inkatha (now the IFP), Buthelezi's political movement. In parallel to his mainstream political career, Buthelezi held the chieftaincy of the Buthelezi clan and was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
