Who was Harry Schwarz and what was his role in apartheid?

Answer 1

Harry Schwarz was an opposition politician and campaigner, and one of the most significant figures against the South Africa racial segregation system of apartheid. He arrived in South Africa at the age of 9 as a German-Jewish refugee. He led the movement within the United Party (main opposition party) towards a more aggressive opposition against the ruling National Party. One of South Africa's leading lawyers, he was on the 1963 Rivonia Trial, where Nelson Mandela and others were imprisoned. In 1974 he and black-homelands leader Chief Buthelezi signed the Mahlabatini Declaration of Faith, which marked the first occasion in South African history when acknowledged black and white political leaders mutually agreed to ending apartheid, and through non-violent means. As an opposition leader in parliament, he was know for his ferocious attacks on the government's racial and economic policies. Following moves by the National Party to dismantle apartheid, he accepted the appointment as South African ambassador to the United States - the country's highest diplomatic position. As ambassador from 1991-1994, he has been credited as having played one of the leading roles in the renewal of relations between the two nations, as well as marketing South Africa's incoming democracy to the world.