Pretoria in South Africa is situated 50 kms north of Johannesburg. It is one of the three cities that have responsibility for ruling south Africa. These days it is a fertile, warm and sheltered place. Pretoria history tells us that it was not always such a peaceful place to be.
Winston Churchill, the late wartime British Prime minister, has been a visitor to Pretoria. He was a prisoner during the second Boer war which took place between 1899 and 1902 but he managed to escape to Mozambique. Pretoria also saw a war that caused them to be occupied by Republican troops during 1879 to 1881.
Apartheid which began in 1948 and did not end until 1990 came to Pretoria. Apartheid caused segregation between the white, black, colored and Indian members of society causing each group to be limited to specific, and different, levels of education, health care and public services. Apartheid involved a white minority rule.
Black people were always given inferior services. There were different buses, schools and buildings for black people. Many black women worked as maids for white people and were often badly treated because white people were taught to believe that black people were inferior. These beliefs were passed on to peoples children and so the cycle continued.
These women had to use separate toilets from their employers and were not allowed to eat at the same table as people believed that you could catch diseases from black people. Moves to abolish Apartheid, which was met with sometimes violent opposition, began in 1990 and by 1994 a multi racial democracy was established.
Since Apartheid was abolished Pretoria's reputation has improved. This was helped by the inauguration of Nelson Mandela as the first non apartheid president. Though apartheid has only recently been abolished it's effects are still felt throughout South Africa. Pretoria and the other large cities are working hard to create a place that is pleasant to live in for everybody, irrelevant of race.
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