Podcast Summary: Todo Concostrina – "Así pusieron los británicos los cimientos del apartheid (y 3)"

Host: Nieves Concostrina | Co-Host: Carlos | Podcast: SER Podcast
Release Date: December 23, 2025

Overview

This episode concludes a mini-series on the Boer War and its far-reaching consequences in southern Africa. Nieves Concostrina offers her characteristically incisive historical analysis, focusing on how the British laid the foundations of apartheid in South Africa. The conversation explores the transition from colonization and the Boer War to institutionalized racism and the official advent of apartheid, drawing parallels to modern geopolitical issues, and sharply criticizing the long-standing international complicity and inaction.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. From the Boer War to the Union of South Africa

[00:58–03:20]

• After Britain's victory in the Anglo-Boer War (1902), the vast territory of southern Africa fell under British control but was fragmented into self-governing regions—a system that British authorities soon found inconvenient.
• 1910: Creation of the Union of South Africa as a unified state under British rule.
• The British Parliament (House of Commons), despite its Liberal majority, decided the native (black) population would have no voting or land ownership rights, betraying promises made to black allies.
  • Quote:

    "La mayoría de los negros sudafricanos lucharon al lado de Gran Bretaña contra los bóers... creían que serían ciudadanos con derechos. Y no. Los ingleses habían mentido. Que chorrecha."
    — Nieves Concostrina [02:46]

2. The Betrayal of Native South Africans

[04:08–06:32]

• The British provided no justification for their broken promises; a pattern repeated in other colonial contexts.
• Together, British and Afrikaner white elites excluded native Africans from rights, reducing them to less than second-class citizens.
  • Laws enacted to restrict black residency to temporary urban stays for labor, reinforcing segregation.
  • By 1930: 93% of land was owned by whites (10% of the population). Native languages and rights were ignored.
  • Quote:

    "Los señoritos diputados londinenses... lo ratificaron así en el Parlamento, a miles de kilómetros al norte..."
    — Nieves Concostrina [05:26]

3. Systematic Dehumanization and Global Complicity

[06:48–09:03]

• South African "democracy" was an illusion, with only whites voting and all heads of state being racist Afrikaners.
• Religious justification paralleled other colonial powers, with Afrikaner Calvinism and British Anglicanism both serving as excuses for racist systems.
  • Quote:

    "La Unión Sudafricana estaba considerada un estado democrático donde no votaba el 90% de sus habitantes... todos los jefes de estado... eran afrikaners racistas..."
    — Nieves Concostrina [07:06]

4. The Official Advent of Apartheid

[09:03–11:39]

• 1948: The National Party (comparable to the Nazis, according to Nieves) won absolute majority, formally instituting apartheid.
• Daniel Malan, described as "the white demon" or "the Hitler of South Africa," led a regime of overt white supremacy and enacted an avalanche of racist laws:
  • Prohibition of mixed marriages.
  • "Immorality" laws forbidding interracial relations.
  • Population Registry Act: detailed classifications, including offensive terms like "gente de color" and "culíes."
  • Segregation in urban areas, recreation, and even beaches.
  • Slogan: "Gebar KKK" (clearly referencing Ku Klux Klan ideals).
  • Quote:

    "Nada más sacar esa mayoría absoluta... hicieron una declaración formal inaugurando lo que denominaron el sistema de la Parthey..."
    — Nieves Concostrina [09:36]

5. International Response—or Lack Thereof

[12:42–15:07]

• The United Nations first responded in 1960, after the Sharpeville massacre (69 protesters killed), by calling for boycotts and diplomatic cuts, but these measures went largely ignored.
  • South Africa openly snubbed these threats, responding by imprisoning Nelson Mandela.
• The U.S. itself entered into a "constructive engagement" (Compromiso Constructivo) with South Africa in the 1970s, prioritizing Cold War geopolitics over human rights.
  • Quote:

    "La ONU miró a Sudáfrica en 1960. Ya tardó... la Asamblea votó... Pero nadie hizo nada. A Sudáfrica se la refanfinfló la ONU..."
    — Nieves Concostrina [13:00]

6. The Road to the End of Apartheid

[15:07–17:04]

• 1976 Soweto Uprising: 700 students killed protesting forced Afrikaans education; violence was televised and shocked the world.
• Late, incremental reforms under immense pressure: unions allowed (1979), mixed marriages legalized (1985), blacks admitted to urban areas (1986).
• The real shift only came after the U.S. withdrew support, leading to the end of apartheid in 1994 and Nelson Mandela's presidency.
• Nieves draws a direct parallel between British origins in both South African and Israeli forms of apartheid, highlighting persisting global injustice.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On British betrayal and global hypocrisy:
  "No tienen escrúpulos. No tenían escrúpulos. Al menos los blanquitos británicos y los blanquitos afrikaners habían llegado al acuerdo entre ellos de que los negros... no tuvieran más derechos que los primates. Así de claro."
  — Nieves Concostrina [04:24]

• On faux democracy:
  "Todas las elecciones celebradas... desde 1910 hasta 1961... todos los jefes de estado y todos los presidentes del gobierno eran afrikaners racistas, gente mala donde las hubieran. Claro, si solo votaban ellos, se votaban ellos. Y hasta ahora no lo habíamos dicho, pero todos muy cristianos protestantes..."
  — Nieves Concostrina [07:06]

• On the international community:
  "La ONU miró a Sudáfrica en 1960. Ya tardó... A Sudáfrica se la refanfinfló la ONU y mira, Y además en recochineo ante vuestras inútiles amenazas, vamos a encarcelar a Nelson Mandela."
  — Nieves Concostrina [13:00]

• Parallel with Israel:
  "El sistema de apartheid es el mismo. Es la deshumanización del negro, del palestino, para que a los blancos sudafricanos, a los israelíes, no les importe verlos reventados..."
  — Nieves Concostrina [06:48]

• Final reflection:
  "Siento haber acabado con... recuerdo muy, muy, muy, muy necesario... la vida es así."
  — Nieves Concostrina & Carlos [17:30–17:38]

Timestamps of Key Segments

• [00:58–03:20] — Boer War aftermath, creation of the Union of South Africa, betrayal of black South Africans.
• [04:08–06:32] — British-Afrikaner agreement to disenfranchise natives, ratification of racist laws, land dispossession.
• [06:48–09:03] — The invented democracy, Protestant justifications, ongoing dehumanization.
• [09:03–11:39] — Apartheid’s official establishment in 1948, avalanche of racist legislation, development of coded language and regulations.
• [12:42–15:07] — Sharpeville massacre, United Nations' ineffective response, U.S. foreign policy underwriting apartheid.
• [15:07–17:04] — Soweto Uprising, slow reforms, eventual collapse of apartheid after U.S. policy shift, connection to Israeli apartheid.

Tone and Style

The conversation maintains Nieves Concostrina's direct, sometimes sardonic tone; historical exposition is interspersed with sharp social critique and moral outrage at the injustice and hypocrisy described. The dialogue is informative, sometimes irreverent, and unsparing in its criticism of both colonial powers and subsequent international actors.

For any listener seeking to understand the origins, evolution, and eventual dismantling of South Africa’s apartheid system—along with its deep international entanglements and lasting lessons—this episode provides a clear, thorough, and thought-provoking account.