SA unit 4 (0.2) Flashcards
How did government suppress violence? Who did Defence Minister Botha blame for the violence & what did he call this?
Government itself added violence with brutal responses. Botha stated that SA was facing a ‘Total Onslaught’- a concerted attack by communists supported by the USSR.
What did Botha believe was needed to combat communist forces? what was this called?
Restructuring government with emphasis on security. This was known as Total Strategy.
Who did Botha have strong relations with enabling Total Strategy to happen?
Botha was helped in this in that he had been Minister of Defence and had good relations with Chief of Defence (Malan).
In 1979 what did Botha establish to oversee government?
A National Management System with four cabinet committees in charge of policy: economic affairs, social affairs, constitutional affairs and security- the last most important.
What was ARMSCOR? Why was it set up?
ARMSCOR was arms manufacturing group. It was developed to bypass the world boycott on arm sales to SA.
What 2 types of intelligence was the joint local management centres tasked with gaining?
- Hard intelligence, i.e. knowledge of plots and insurrections.
- Soft intelligence, i.e. ascertaining local grievances.
Summarised to removing activists and addressing grievances. The two closely connected meant knowledge would be passed onto organisations to deal with the issues.
What was government accused of since the late 1970s? Example in 1987?
-Gov’t was accused of brutal, often covert responses to activism in SA.
-1987 they were accused of bombing the headquarters of COSATU on the basis it was used by the MK.
What else was established by gov’t in 1987 to identfiy enemies?
-1987 the Civilian Co-operation Bureau was established to identify enemies of the state and security forces would then act- such as assassinating Apartheid critic Webster in 1989.
How were most of the security force operations conducted? Three examples?
Covertly:
-Special force group founded in Namibia(Crowbar-1979) to fight SWAPO.
-Government forces also infiltrated activists within SA, using spies and collaborators.
-Security forces opened fire on demonstrators- (1986) 500 blacks were shot dead by police.
What was the impact of the security force abroad?
-They carried out as many as 40 assassinations and made raids in neighbouring countries; Angola, Lesotho, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
How did the security force operate in SA? How many deaths were vigilnate groups blamed for 1988 in Edendale Valley?
-Gave huge help to vigilante groups who were accused to be responsible for 90% of unrest related deaths.
-In 1988 vigilante groups were blamed for the deaths of 1200 people, a centre of unrest and ANC support in Natal.
Did gov’t get better at suppressing protests?
What examples?
-More people were arrested and died in custody.
-Passed an Interal Security Act in 1982, anyone could be investigated or banned without a reason.
-Inquest Act of 1982 outlawed the reportage of deaths in custody and criticism of security forces was banned under the Police Act.
