The impact of the collapse of the USSR on South Africa
There were many reasons why Apartheid collapsed.
You can read about the mass uprisings in the townships in the 1980s in another section of this website. The collapse of communism in the Soviet Union was another major cause of the end of Apartheid.
Under Apartheid, South Africa was a fascist state with a capitalist economy. The National Party was strongly anti-communist and said they were faced with a ‘Rooi Gevaar’ or a ‘Red Threat’. The Apartheid state used the label ‘communist’ to justify its repressive actions against anyone who disagreed with their policies.
During the Cold War, there was a contest for influence in Africa, between the US and Western powers on the one hand, and the Soviet Union and Eastern bloc countries on the other. Most of newly independent ex-colonies in Africa got military and economic support from one of the Superpowers.
Despite its racist policies, as the South African government was so opposed to communism, it was supported by many governments in the West, particularly Britain and the USA. The British and American governments used political rhetoric, and some companies even imposed economic sanctions, against Apartheid, but they continued to supply the South African regime with military expertise and hardware.
The collapse of the USSR in 1989 meant that the National Party could no longer use communism as a justification for their oppression. The ANC could no longer rely on the Soviet Union for economic and military support. By the end of the 1980s, the Soviet Union was in political and economic crisis, and it was increasingly difficult for the Soviet Government to justify spending money in Africa.
F.W de Klerk and Nelson Mandela. Picture: bbc.com
In 1989, President F.W de Klerk, the last Apartheid Head of State, unbanned the ANC, the South African Communist Party and the PAC. He states that the collapse of the Soviet Union was decisive in persuading him to take this step:
“The collapse of the Soviet Union helped to remove our long-standing concern regarding the influence of the South African Communist Party within the ANC Alliance. By 1990 classic socialism had been thoroughly discredited throughout the world and was no longer a serious option, even for revolutionary parties like the ANC.
At about the same time, the ANC was reaching a similar conclusion that it could not achieve a revolutionary victory within the foreseeable future. The State of Emergency, declared by the South African Government in 1986, and the collapse of the Soviet Union - which had traditionally been one the ANC’s main allies and suppliers - led the organisation to adopt a more realistic view of the balance of forces. It concluded that its interests could be best secured by accepting negotiations rather than by committing itself to a long and ruinous civil war.”
- F. W de Klerk click here to view the source of this quote.