THEME ONE

THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

INFORMING CONTEMPORARY
SOUTH AFRICAN POLITICS
News making headlines as of 18
July 2025
South Africa Across the globe
PRE-COLONIAL
AFRICA
Africa’s pre-colonial and colonial inheritance
(Thomson, 2000,8)
 (Falola and Flemming, 2009)

 Pre-colonial communities were never completely isolated. Interaction between

neighbours, across regions, and even outside of the continent were common.
 Societies interacted with one another through commerce, marriage, migration,
diplomacy and warfare. Their fertile land, trade routes, or cattle forced
interaction with other communities.
 People have lived in Africa for more than three million years, and thus it
possesses a rich and varied history.
 Kings and leaders, such as those of Ghana, controlled their areas’ local
markets and received tributes from traders. Camels and donkeys connected
distant societies, and allowed trade to occur across the Sahara.
 Areas with mineral wealth, such as Great Zimbabwe, developed mining
capabilities and traded these for manufactured goods from overseas.
 With this said, there were more than 10 000 states and kingdoms before the
arrival of the Europeans, and African civilizations varied greatly in size and
structure.
Types of Government In Pre-Colonial Africa (1)

 Each of these societies had a system of government.

 That is, each society had a set of rules, laws, and traditions, sometimes called customs
, that established how the people would live together peacefully as part of larger group.
 Centralized Kingdoms and Empires
 Some African societies were large empires governed by kings who had near absolute power.
 Empires of ancient Egypt in North Africa, of Nubia and Axum in North East Africa, of Ghana,
Mali and Songhai in West Africa, and Zimbabwe in Southern Africa. These are examples of
large kingdoms or empires that developed a complex system of government.
 The political systems of African kingdoms shared similarities with European kingdoms. The
king, such as Mansa Musa of Mali and Sonni Ali of Songhay, had near absolute power and
there was no separation of power. The king and his councilors and advisors carried out
executive, legislative, and judicial functions. Given that political control was concentrated, or
centralized, in the hands of a few people, political scientists refer to these societies as
centralized states.
 The king’s power was often based on his ability to collect revenue and tribute, usually
through the control of trade, and to control and use an army to defend his sovereignty.
Moreover, there were no independent judicial systems. Officials appointed by the king were
responsible for criminal justice. In short, the king was chief executive, chief law-maker, and
chief judge.
Types of Government In Pre-
Colonial Africa…cont (2)
 Centralized Small Kingdoms and City-States
 Not all African peoples lived in large kingdoms. There were a variety of
social and political systems in Africa.
 In addition to the large kingdoms, there were smaller centralized political
units, some of which historians call City States since they were made up
of large urban-like areas.
 These geographically smaller states shared much in common with the
larger African kingdoms. The primary difference was size.
 The system and practice of governance that centralized power in the hands
of a king and a supporting caste of political advisors and elites in these
smaller kingdoms was similar to that of larger kingdoms. Moreover, control
of trade and a strong military were also important factors in the
development and maintenance of these smaller states.
 Oyo, Ife, Illorin, and Ibaban are examples of West African city-states.
Sofala, Kilwa, Mombasa, and Lamu are examples of East African city-states.
Types of Government In Pre-
Colonial Africa…cont (3)
 Decentralized or Stateless Political Societies
 There were many African societies which have been classified by political historians as
stateless or de-centralized.
 These terms are used to describe societies that did not have a well-defined and
complex or centralized systems of government, such as political systems of Ghana, Oyo
or Zimbabwe.
 Decentralized or stateless political societies in Africa were often made up of a group of
neighboring towns or villages that had no political connection with a larger kingdom or
nation.
 Most stateless and decentralized societies did not have a system of chiefs. However,
some of these societies had chiefs. In these societies the position of chief was weak and
was often not hereditary.
 Chiefs were usually selected by a group of elders. In such a system, chiefs were
selected not based on their family connections, but on their reputation as person who
contributed to the welfare of the group.
 Some decentralized societies did not have chiefs. They were governed by a council of
elders that was comprised of many of the elderly people in the community.
COLONIAL AFRICA
Colonialism and Colonial Rule in
Africa
 Colonialism means one powerful country controlling another country or countries
and/or foreign territories. - In this module it refers to European control or
occupation of Africa.
 In the 17th century AD, European countries scrambled for and partitioned Africa.
 This continued until around 1905, by which time all the lands and resources of the
continent of Africa had been completely divided and colonized by European
countries.
 Africa divided amongst the following European powers, Germany, France, Britain,
Italy, Portugal
And Spain.
 The only country that couldn't be colonised due to strong resistance by the
indigenes was Ethiopia, and Liberia which was a place for freed slaves from the
Americas.
Colonialism: the Scrambling for
Africa and the Scampering of
Africans
 . witnessed a renewed dimension of European colonialism.
Africa in the 1880s
 This was prompted by the increasing need for raw materials, cheap labor and market outlets
for European industrial revolution.
 The African slaves and raw materials earlier acquired through unequal market forces
(primitive trade by barter) have led to overproduction in Europe.
 Therefore, creating a competition amongst European colonizing countries e.g. Portugal,
Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, and so on, for the acquisition of larger territories in Africa.
 This led to the reinforcement of European colonialism in Africa.
 Thus, the competing colonizing powers scrambled for Africa more forcefully in search of
slaves and raw materials to run their factories in Europe which led to another scampering of
Africans for their dear lives.
 There were series of reprisal wars between Africans and Europeans for resistance and
amongst Africans as instigated by the Europeans to inflict disunity in Africa and attendant
control over larger African territories. This was on until colonial rule was formally established
in Africa.
 Colonial Rule in Africa: Characteristics,
Strategies and Impact
 The Europeans renewed scramble for Africa and attendant crises in
African territories led to the Berlin Conference (1884-1885) and the
attendant partitioning or balkanization of Africa into distinct colonial
territories.
 The Berlin Conference (1884) which was convened by Otto von Bismack
of Germany, amongst other things, was aimed at resolving the emerging
rivalry amongst European countries scrambling for Africa which tended to
strain their relationship to the edge of war at the slightest provocation.
 In sum, the Conference, without consultation and the consent of Africans
resolved as of a right, partitioned Africa for the struggling European
countries which became Colonial Powers over the African Continent.
 The criteria to own a colony include complete occupation and presence of
the colonizing power in a territory.
Characteristics of Colonial Rule in
Africa
 As Awolowo (1977:28) aptly argued that, after the
balkanization of Africa, each colonial power assumed exclusive
and complete control of the economic and political affairs of
the territory allotted to it.
 The broad characteristics of colonial rule in Africa, include:
 (i)Political Oppression;
 (ii)Economic Exploitation; and
 (iii) Human Degradation
POST-COLONIAL
AFRICA
Africa Today
Regions of Africa
North Africa:
This region typically includes countries along the
Mediterranean coast, such as Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco,
and Tunisia.
West Africa:
This region encompasses countries in the western part of the
continent, including Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Senegal, and
others.
Central Africa:
This region includes countries in the central part of the
continent, such as Cameroon, Chad, the Democratic Republic
of Congo, and Gabon.
East Africa:
This region includes countries in the eastern part of the
continent, such as Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, and
Rwanda.
Southern Africa:
This region includes countries in the southern part of the
continent, such as South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia,
and Zimbabwe.
South Africa’s History in snippet
South Africa's history is marked by significant periods of
colonization, conflict, and ultimately, the dismantling of apartheid.
Key events include the arrival of the Dutch in 1652, the Anglo-Boer
Wars, the establishment of the Union of South Africa in 1910, the
rise and fall of apartheid, and the first democratic elections in 1994.
More reading

 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-14094918