2. The nature of the apartheid state in the 1970s and 1980s

Question 1

What was the difference between the active civil society protests in the United States and other parts of the world in the 1960s, versus what was happening in South Africa?

Answer 1

There was comparatively little open protest in South Africa.

Question 2

What changed in the 1970s?

Answer 2

The 1970s saw a change with the rise of Black Consciousness and the growth of worker and student movements.

Question 3

This resulted in the ______ ______ in 1976, an uprising which marked the beginning of the end of _______.

Answer 3

Soweto Uprising

Apartheid

Question 4

True or false, As a result of poverty there was little protest in South Africa during the
1960s.

Answer 4

False, As a result of state repression there was little protest in South Africa during the
1960s.

Question 5

What led to the banning of the ANC and PAC?

Answer 5

After the Sharpeville shootings in 1960, the government banned the African National Congress (ANC) and the Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC).

Question 6

The Sharpevile shootings led to changes in the government, what were they? (3)

Answer 6

-The government also increased state control over the media
-Gave police the power to detain people
for indefinite periods without trial
-Placed critics under restriction orders or house arrest.

Question 7

How did these changed effect the military? (2)

Answer 7

The state became increasingly militarised: huge sums were spent on armaments, and all young white men had to do military service.

Question 8

The apartheid state tried to control ________. It tried to confine Africans to the homelands (called ‘________’), a policy known as ‘_____________’.

Answer 8

urbanisation
‘bantustans’
‘separate development’

Question 9

True or false, In 1972 all Africans had to become citizens of one of the homelands instead of
being accepted as South African citizens.

Answer 9

false, in 1970

Question 10

What did the government try to promote by these homelands or ‘bantustans’?

Answer 10

The government tried to promote ‘self-government’ under homeland chiefs, and a form of ‘independence’ was given to the Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda and the Ciskei, although they remained totally dependent on the government in Pretoria

Question 11

Why were these homelands created?

Answer 11

It was an attempt to counter the demand for political rights within the rest of South Africa

Question 12

What did people and foreign states realise about the homelands?

Answer 12

Although some homeland leaders co-operated, most people realised that this was a way of denying
black South Africans political rights in the rest of the country. No foreign states recognised the independence of the homelands.

Question 13

In the _____ _____ the tide began to turn against the apartheid government.

Answer 13

early 1970s

Question 14

Why did the economy start to decline in the 1970s?

Answer 14

The started to decline because of the 1973 world oil crisis, when the oil-producing countries
of the Middle East raised the price of oil.

Question 15

What also affected the economy?

Answer 15

The economy was also affected by a lack of skilled

labour, a direct result of the policy of Bantu Education.

Question 16

In ____, the general _______ led to a wave of strikes involving ______ black workers, mainly in Durban and the East Rand.

Answer 16

1973
dissatisfaction
60 000

Question 17

What did the strikes achieve? (2)

Answer 17

The strikers managed to win better wages and to create the first independent black trade unions.

Question 18

Which two countries gained independence from Portuguese rule? (2)

Answer 18

In 1975, after years of fighting against Portuguese rule, Angola and Mozambique gained independence.

Question 19

Which political parties and leaders took control after the removal of the Portuguese?

Answer 19

The Frelimo Party (Mozambique Liberation Front), under the leadership of Samora Machel, came to power in Mozambique, and in Angola the MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola) gained control.

Question 20

What impact did the gaining of their independence have in South Africa? (2)

Answer 20

Because of this, the ANC and PAC could establish bases closer to South Africa.

The liberation of the former Portuguese colonies gave hope to many black South Africans that things could change in South Africa too. This was clearly demonstrated by the outbreak of protests in 1976 in Soweto and elsewhere.

Question 21

True or false, During the 1980s, the apartheid government under President PW Botha adopted
a new policy, known as the ‘total strategy’.

Answer 21

True

Question 22

What was the purpose of these reforms?

Answer 22

This policy involved some reforms in an attempt to prevent further resistance and to retain power.

Question 23

The ‘_______ __________’ policy of homeland independence was dropped.

Answer 23

separate development

Question 24

What did the ‘industrialists’ demand?

Answer 24

Following the demands of industrialists, Africans living in the cities were given the right to live
there permanently, although the movement of people from the homelands was still
strictly controlled.

Question 25

Give two other reforms that were implemented.

Answer 25

African workers were also given limited trade union rights. The segregation of some urban facilities was relaxed and some multi-racial private schools were allowed.

Question 26

However what forms of segregation remained?

Answer 26

The state education system remained racially segregated and despite these reforms, Africans were given no political rights outside the homelands.

Question 27

What was hoped by the government by the implementation of these reforms?

Answer 27

The government hoped that these limited reforms would make many Africans lose interest in more radical challenges to apartheid.

Question 28

What resulted from ‘total strategy’?

Answer 28

At the same time ‘total strategy’ gave the state more power to suppress opposition which government propaganda presented as a communist threat.

Question 29

What else did this enable the army to do?

Answer 29

The army also sent raids into neighbouring countries to attack ANC guerrilla bases and to support organisations opposed to the Frelimo and MPLA governments in Mozambique and Angola.