Robert Harvey. The Fall of Apartheid: The Inside Story from Smuts to Mbeki. New York and
London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2001. xv + 257 pp. $65.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-333-80247-2.
Reviewed by Annelies Verdoolaege (Ghent University, Belgium)
Published on H-SAfrica (April, 2003)
Apartheid: A Political Ideology with a Relatively Short, but Very Intense Life
Apartheid: A Political Ideology with a Relatively to establish some contacts between the African National
Congress (ANC) and the Afrikaner intellectual establishShort, but Very Intense Life
ment in Stellenbosch. In Chapter 2 we are told about a
This book is especially interesting for people who almeeting between an ANC delegation and a number of
ready have some background in South African politics. British business tycoons. Both of these initial contacts–
This is the case because names of political actors and or- between the ANC and the academics on the one hand and
ganizations are sometimes mentioned without a lot of ex- between the ANC and the business sector on the other–
planation. In addition, readers will be in a better position are seen as a first step towards the actual peace negotiato appreciate the story of apartheid as told in this book
tions, which were to take place a couple of years later.
when they are familiar with current developments in
>From Chapter 3 onwards the author gives a chronopost-apartheid South Africa. In fact, The Fall of Apartheid
talks about both the rise and the fall of apartheid, a his- logical overview of the coming into existence and the rise
tory that occupies almost exactly the whole of the twen- of apartheid. His story begins in the year 1902, after the
tieth century. The main aim of the book is to show how Boer War in which the Afrikaners were defeated by the
important candid communication and trust are when try- British. We learn how, in those years, the Afrikaners felt
ing to solve political conflicts. To fulfil this aim the work humiliated and how they were repressed by the British.
focuses on the negotiations, meetings, and talks between With regard to the Africans, British rule was racist, althe different parties of the South African political spec- though this racism was not as institutionalised and letrum. As part of this focus certain political leaders are put galised as would be the case under the Afrikaners. The
in the forefront. Clearly, Harvey considers the role of a real foundations for apartheid were put into place in the
number of key figures crucial for the South African po- first decades of the twentieth century, namely with the
litical transformation. Besides South African politicians, Natives Land Act of 1913 and the Natives Affairs Act
like Nelson Mandela, F. W. De Klerk, Thabo Mbeki, Neil of 1920. Gradually, the Afrikaners gained more politiBarnard, and Sampie Terreblanche, the author also em- cal power; Afrikaner nationalism had been growing as a
phasizes the role of British political figures, especially result of increasing insecurity and poverty and in 1938
the National Party was created by Hertzog and Malan.
Michael Young.
After the elections of May 1948 the National Party came
This book consists of two parts, “The Elect” and “Rain- to power, which resulted in a cabinet with only Afrikanbow Nation.” Part 1 starts with two introductory chapers. The elections of 1948 are often seen as the beginning
ters; these chapters are situated in the year 1986 and
of apartheid, because from then onwards the ideology of
are actually “flash-forwards.” Chapter 1 recounts the en- apartheid was effectively put into practice. A large numdeavors of the British political adviser Michael Young ber of acts restricted the freedom of Africans and in 1953
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Prime Minister Verwoerd established the homelands.
sively. The story continues with the first meeting between Botha and Mandela in July 1989 and the downfall
In 1960 the Sharpeville massacre took place and this of Botha some months later. Under De Klerk, the contacts
can be seen as a watershed in South African politics. with the ANC intensified and for the first time there were
Soon after, the ANC and the Pan Africanist Congress face-to-face talks between the president’s office and the
(PAC) were banned and the international community ANC executive. In the chapter “The De Klerk Revolution”
started to speak out against apartheid. The next fourteen
we get the culmination point of the negotiations with
years are called “the crowning glory of the Afrikaner Rethe un-banning of the opposition parties and the release
public” by the author (p. 64). During those years, mainly of Mandela. The author then provides many fragments
the English-speaking community was targeted by the from personal interviews with Afrikaners, in which we
Afrikaners, especially in the business sector and on the get to know their viewpoints on the fall of apartheid. The
level of education. Africans started to become more and final chapter talks about the events preceding the 1994
more militant, for example in the Black Consciousness
elections. Important topics at that time were the Codesa
Movement of Steve Biko. In 1978, the moderate wing of
talks, the increasing violence in the townships, and the
the Afrikaners gained control over the government for murder of Chris Hani. The book finishes symbolically
the first time since 1948. From then onwards the govern- with the first democratic elections on April 26, 1994.
ment had to confront the social and economic reality of
the twentieth century. It was especially the Afrikaner
I would like to mention two typical features of this
business and the defence establishments who came to book. In the first place, The Fall of Apartheid is very inrealize that changes were necessary. In the 1980s in- teresting to read especially because of the wealth of quoternational opposition to apartheid increased and South tations, fragments, and citations. Almost every political
Africa became a pariah state in terms of sport, culture, leader talked about is quoted in one place or another. We
and diplomacy. Under president Botha some superficial get fragments from talks between peacemakers and we
transformations were introduced, but in fact Botha was even learn what people said at some secret meetings. In
clearly committed to preserving the essence of apartheid. addition, fragments from acts, political speeches, and letThe explosion of violence after 1985 and the increasing ters are given throughout the book. This gives the work
negative effects of the international boycott convinced a very personal touch and it makes it really fascinating
many Afrikaner politicians that the time was right to talk to read–it is always intriguing to hear what certain fawith the opposition.
mous people said literally, especially at secret meetings.
This aspect also indicates that the author really wanted
At this point, the second part of the book begins. In to emphasize the importance of personal communication
this part the reader gets a detailed account of the negoti- in the South African transition.
ation talks preceding the 1990 transformation. To begin
with, there were the secret talks between an imprisoned
Secondly, Harvey expresses a surprising benevolence
Nelson Mandela and the minister of justice Kobie Coet- with regard to the Afrikaner community. Especially in
see, and the meetings in Great Britain between the ANC the first part of the book, the author keeps on stressand Afrikaner businessmen and intellectuals. The author ing the heroic, courageous, and devoted character of the
is very positive about these meetings as there seemed to Afrikaners. He also argues many times that apartheid,
be trust and reason on both sides. The atmosphere was as a kind of racial revenge, was almost inevitable considalways rather informal and both parties were surprised ering the way the Afrikaners had been oppressed by the
about the goodwill of the opposite side. All of these ini- British. Examples of this perspective include: “Afrikaner
tiatives took place without Botha being informed, since racialism represented the yearnings of a strange, wanhe continued to rule like a military dictator. Later on, dering people, sandwiched between colonial oppreswhen Botha did know about the talks, he did his best sion and a huge, threatening black underclass” (p. 25);
to isolate Mandela from the ANC leadership outside the “Afrikaner nationalism was to draw its inspiration from
country. In these chapters, Harvey gives a lot of details the voortrekker pioneers of a century before and the
about the negotiations, for example by quoting literally Elysian simplicity of a pure pastoral lifestyle that had
from the meetings or by elaborating on the topics that only existed briefly then, if at all” (p. 39); and “Like the
were discussed. The Mells Park meetings, where British Jews fleeing from Egypt in search of the Promised Land,
politicians mediated between the two South African par- the history of the Afrikaners has been one of persecuties, especially receives a great deal of attention. Also tion and self-sufficiency in the face of overwhelming and
the role of Prime Minister Thatcher is discussed exten- hostile force. Now, after an epic struggle, they had been
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forced to surrender to long-term inevitability” (p. 244).
It is understandable that Harvey does not want to generalize about the evilness of Afrikaners, since this has often been the case recently. It is very laudable as well
that he stresses the goodwill among political leaders on
both sides of the South African political landscape. In this
way, the inherent positive aspects of human nature are
emphasized, which one can surely appreciate. However,
looking back into history and considering the suffering
South Africans have gone through, it might have been
better to moderate somewhat the positive description of
the Afrikaners.
Finally, we have to take into account that the scope of
this book is very narrow. The disadvantage of this narrow focus is that the reader does not get a lot of information about the black struggle under apartheid. This information could have been useful to get a better insight into
the reasons for the fall of apartheid. The advantage is that
the main topic of the book, the interaction between the
“warring” parties, is described in great detail. In this way,
the reader gets quite a unique perspective on twentiethcentury South African politics.
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Citation: Annelies Verdoolaege. Review of Harvey, Robert, The Fall of Apartheid: The Inside Story from Smuts to
Mbeki. H-SAfrica, H-Net Reviews. April, 2003.
URL: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=7438
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