Twentieth century · 1948-1976

Apartheid in South Africa

From 1948 South Africa's government built a system of laws to separate people by race: apartheid. Students see how it worked, follow resistance from the Freedom Charter to Soweto, and find the island where Nelson Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years in prison.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
12–15
On the map
3 steps, AD 1960
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

From 1948 South Africa's government built a system of laws to separate people by race: apartheid. Students see how it worked, follow resistance from the Freedom Charter to Soweto, and find the island where Nelson Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years in prison.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Explain what apartheid was and give three examples of its laws.
  • Locate Johannesburg, Soweto, Cape Town and Robben Island on the map.
  • Describe how South Africans resisted apartheid, from the ANC to the students of Soweto.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1960

South Africa

Open the map in 1960 and find South Africa. Find Pretoria, Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. Ask the atlas: "What did the Group Areas Act do?"

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1960

Soweto

Zoom in on Johannesburg and find Soweto to the south-west, the township where Black workers had to live. Why were townships built far from the city center?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1960

Robben Island

Travel to Cape Town and find Robben Island in Table Bay. Ask the atlas: "Who was held on Robben Island?" Why was an island chosen as a prison?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Under apartheid every person was classified by race, and this decided where they could live, study and work. What would that mean for a family of mixed background?
  2. In 1955 the ANC and its allies adopted the Freedom Charter: "South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white." Why was that sentence so dangerous to the government?
  3. After police killed 69 protesters at Sharpeville in 1960, the ANC was banned and turned to armed struggle. Was that the right decision?
  4. In 1976 students in Soweto protested against being taught in Afrikaans. Why did a question of language become a question of freedom?
  5. Other countries boycotted South African sport and goods. Can boycotts change a government?
4

Game round

10 min

Play one round of Rule History as Mansa Musa, a powerful African ruler of the 14th century. Then discuss: in apartheid South Africa, Black people were the majority but had no vote. What choices did ANC leaders like Mandela and Oliver Tambo have?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.