South Africa: The White Laager

Afrikaners are white South Africans of mixed Dutch, German and French descent. They have been called the lost white tribe of Africa.

• Categories: News & Features / Features
• Video Length: 00:58:17
• Production Date: 20 March 1977
• Asset Language: English
• Subject Topical: RACE RELATIONS; RACIAL DISCRIMINATION; RACISM
• Geographic Subject: SOUTH AFRICA
• MAMS Id: 2045129
• Parent Id: 838168

Description

This film traces the history of Afrikaner nationalism and the development of Apartheid and its relevance to South Africa’s situation today. All who speak in the film are Afrikaners and they give their interpretation of the events that shaped their society and the dilemmas facing it now.

Historical footage, still and early newsreels show the Great Trek of 1836, the Anglo-Boer War, the growth of the South African economy and the drive towards political unity and independence from Britain. In 1948, the Afrikaner Government achieved power and then passed a series of laws to preserve and consolidate their dominance.

The film examines the repressive Apartheid legislation and the resistance to it, first relatively peaceful, but becoming increasingly violent as avenues of non-violent protest were closed off.