South Africa:PW Botha And Total Strategy Flashcards
How did Botha attempt to neutralise internal opposition to apartheid in South Africa?
By offering Africans some limited rights
What was Botha’s plan to neutralise internal opposition and when was it announced?
The Total Strategy Budget was announced in April 1979
What were the 2 fundemental policy changes towards Africans made as part of the Total Strategy?
- African labour unions were legally recognised in wage negotiations
- urban Africans would be given certain rights
What rights would urban Africans be given as part of the total strategy?
Included limited partition in administration boards
Opportunities for entrepreneurship and home-ownership
What was the African opinion of the reversals of policy that were part of the Total strategy?
They were met with substantial African suspicion
Why did African Unions initially refuse to participate in the new government strategy?
They refused to register because they feared they were providing officials with information that could lead to arrests or banning
What was the African reaction to the urban councils set up by the government?
Most Africans/ coloureds/asians refused to participate
Were the government attempts of the total strategy genuine?
No
The government were trying to create allies with an interest in maintaining status quo and they were having no success
When was the total strategy announced?
April 1979
What commission did Botha convene in July 1979?
Schlebusch Commission
What was the Schlebusch commission?
A government commission organised by Botha to consider plans to rewrite the South African constitution to expand voting rights to te disenfranchised
When was the Schlebusch commission convened?
July 1979
What proposal did the Schlebusch commission lead to?
A tricarneral system
A proposal for seperate parliaments for coloureds and Asians but not Africans
what group of people were excluded from the tricarneral system?
Africans
The new vision of apartheid, as a result of the tricarneral system would do what?
present an image of rights and freedom for all in group-identified institutions
What was the reality of the tricarneral system?
The groups had very little power and remained firmly in white control
What did Botha calculate about his proposal (the tricarneral system)?
That it would gather enough support to blunt home and abroad opposition
What happened to those who didnt accept/support reforms?
The government took increasingly brutal steps to force support
There was secret police/ military activities alongside continued official and public repression
What led to a new internal security act?
A background for the government of intensified arrests and mysterious deaths in detention
name one example of a mysterious detention death
Steve Biko
What did the new Internal Security Act allow the government to do?
-Investigate any person or organisation
- the minister of justice gained the power to ban anyone without explanation
How did the role of the SADF increase at this time?
They were given expanded authority over areas in SA. Armed forces were granted the role of policing their own citizens
In period context, how were the SADF forces armed?
With SA manufactured weapons because of international arms embargo
What areas did the SADF invade and why?
Other neighbouring countries where there were suspected ANC camps
How did the government man the SADF efforts?
They instituted military call up of all white males between 17 and 65 to double the size of the armed forces
What policy did the government maintain in this period relentlessly?
Removal of Africans from white areas
What did the government do in order to avoid advertising the violent actions?
Passing legislation which succeeded in prohibiting the South African press from publishing news on a variety of subjects
Name the legislation the prohibited the South African press
-Inquest Act
-Police Act
-Protection of information Act
What was the Inquest Act?
Meant information on deaths in detention could not be reported
What was the Police Act?
It outlawed allegations of police brutality and mal administration
What was the Protection of Information Act?
It prohibited the press from reporting on arrests unless it could be proved the report would not endanger state security
How was media censorship enacted in this period?
Television and radio news were controlled by the government
A growing number of newspapers were closed down or silenced through the laws against the South African press
What did young Africans do in the wake of Soweto?
They fled across the northern border in their hundreds and volunteered as guerrilla soldiers for the ANC and PAC
What did the people who had fled the northern border to work with the ANC/ PAC begin to do in the late 1970s?
Re-enter South Africa to carry out sabotage attacks and target various people who were seen as symbols of apartheid
They also set of bombs at numerous municipal buildings e.g post offices and courthouses
Name 3 significant bomb attacks on SA government property and the years they happened
-1980: on the government owned SA coal, oil and gas corporation plant
-1982: Koeberg nuclear power station
-1983: SA airforce intelligence HQ in Pretoria
How may reported ANC attacks on government installations were there in just 1983?
42
42
The amount of ANC attacks on government installations in 1983 alone
What, alongside ANC attacks, was happening in 1983?
-increase in strikes
-more student boycotts shut down most schools throughout the country
