Question

What made the blacks and whites apprehensive at the time of constitution-making?

Answer 1

Hint: To begin with, we need to know the constitution-making of which country is being talked about here and why it was needed. The term “Blacks and Whites” is a prominent type of racial discrimination in South Africa. A member of any of the darker-skinned peoples of South Africa was identified as “black” and considered to be native Africans whereas White South Africans are South Africans of European descent and have a comparatively lighter skin color.

Complete answer:
Under the Apartheid system, the rights, associations, and movements of the majority black inhabitants and other ethnic groups were restricted, and the white minority had the powers.
The Apartheid laws were oppressive towards the blacks of which sparked some resistance within the Black community and several oppositional groups were formed which led to protests. After many years of protest and demonstrations, the power groups finally realized that it would no longer be possible to rule and repress the blacks. As a result, a new Republic of South Africa was born and a new constitution was drawn as a unanimous decision by political leaders of both the majority blacks and the minority whites. It was decided that the Constitution will be based on equality of all races and genders including democratic values, social justice, and human rights. The black leaders then appealed to fellow blacks to forgive the whites for the repression and injustice they had caused to the black community while in power.
It took two years of debate and discussion to bring up a Constitution which gave equal rights to all sections of society.
Although the voices of the native black South Africans were heard and the new constitution was to be drawn based on equality of both the races, the population was apprehensive due to the following reasons:
Though equal rights were to be distributed among the two races, they were sure that the bitterness against the opposite race would still prevail. As a result, there will arise trust issues.
Although the Apartheid regime was abolished, the whites wanted to protect their privileges and property out of the fear that the majority of the populations in the country were the Blacks. As the whites were also a part of the constitution-making, the blacks feared that the whites may still continue to follow the Apartheid policies.
The whites also feared that the blacks might be in a revengeful mood and ill-treat them, exactly how the whites did when they were in power.

Note: It must be noted that one of the major roles to end the Apartheid regime was played by Nelson Mandela. He was a former South African president and civil rights advocate who dedicated his life to fighting for equality—and ultimately helped topple South Africa's racist system of apartheid. Mandela negotiated with de Klerk, the President at that time, for a new constitution that would allow majority rule.