President FW de Klerk’s speech signaled the beginning of the end of the Apartheid system, and the start of a democracy. On 2 February 1990, Apartheid came to a full circle. We start our journey outside South Africa’s Parliament building. We look at various landmarks and important moments in history that create a timeline of events to understand the intricate processes that set South Africa’s transition into motion. Many of our faculty-led study abroad programs in South Africa choose to visit key historical landmarks and engage with those willing to tell their stories related to the apartheid struggle. By looking at some of these traces that were left behind, we can uncover the journey that South Africa’s political climate had to take to convert from a plural society to a more multicultural society, a rainbow nation of sorts, where all citizens of a democratic society have equal rights. As a representative of the struggle, we can simply follow in these footsteps to learn about the revolutionary change that came about in South Africa, without the expected civil war. Throughout South Africa, there are traces of Nelson Mandela’s footsteps. His role in South Africa’s road to democracy is fundamental and a great case study of how strong leadership contributes to the push for political change.

His autobiography, ‘A long walk to freedom’, shares his life story, but more than that takes us on a journey through the struggle that transformed a nation. The late Nelson Mandela is synonymous with the end of Apartheid in South Africa and the new democracy. A Transformative Learning Journey on the Evolution of a Democracy

Walk to freedom