The Response to Apartheid - Topic 1.4 Flashcards
The development of African nationalism
What political opposition did the Nationalists face in 1948?
- ANC
- ANC Youth League
- Communist Party
- Indian Congress
- United Party
What was the ANC’s Youth League?
Founded in 1944, it helped galvanise the movement into more radical action. They were inspired by the rise of global anti-colonial rhetoric and by the new confidence of African nationalists in West Africa. They tired to provide a vision for the future and developed a specifically Africanist ideology, prioritising the self-determination of African people.
What was the Youth League’s Programme of Action?
1949
The National Party’s victory in 1948 prompted the Youth League to launch a Programme of Action. They argued for a far more confrontational approach to white minority rule including boycotts, passive resistance, work stoppages and mass action. They believed that the squatters movements, the miners’ strike and other protests showed that the mass of African people were ready for this. Adopted by the ANC, it moved away from the policy of concession-seeking from a white government, to a more militant liberation organisation. It was informed by African ambitions and not dictated by them.
What was the Defiance Campaign?
The ANC’s new militancy found particular focus in the campaign of 1952. Their strategy was for groups of volunteers to break racially based restrictions such as curfews and segregated facilities and to risk arrest. Nelson Mandela was appointed volunteer-in-chief together with Yusuf Cachalia of the South African INC. The campaign was influenced by the ideas of nonviolent disobedience promoted by the Indian nationalist movement of Gandhi.
Explain the events that took place in East London, Cape
1952
East Bank, East London had 35,000 people in the combative heart of the campaign. Many African people lived in shacks and poverty was reflected by the high levels of infant mortality. East London was close to Fort Hare and so the ANCYL militants found their way to the city. The Defiance Campaign began in East London in June 1952. ANC activists and volunteers were easily distinguishable, wearing khaki uniforms in ANC colours. Protestors were arrested willingly as they hoped through sheer numbers to overload the courts and make apartheid laws unenforceable.
In November 1952, activists in East London decided to go ahead with what they advertised as a religious gathering. When the police came to the East Bank location in the afternoon, they found a meeting of about 800 people, who threw stones and sticks at them.
Official reports recorded seven African deaths and 18 seriously injured; these were bodies brought to the mortuary. Many more may have been killed, dozens were mentioned in one statement and the policeman who was present later suggested that there were more deaths in East London in 1952. The ANC leadership was so disturbed they called off the Defiance Campaign nationally and they saw the campaign as dependent on tight discipline and nonviolent action. It was too much of a risk.
What was the impact of the Defiance Campaign?
Defiance made the leadership of the movement vunerable as they had to lead by example, but by directly offering themselves to the police, they could be disabling the movement. The only real successes were seen in Port Elizabeth and East London.
However, the ANC’s membership increased from 4k to 100k and the campaign led to resistance to the imposition of Group Areas in Sophiatown and attracted publicitiy and support.
How did rural resistance develop before 1960?
Resistance in Sekhukhuneland
Native Affairs planned to make Sekhukhuneland, the Sepedi homeland, a Bantustan and tried to appoint tribal authorities to run it. Migrant workers were opposed to the intervention as they wanted to keep open their access to rural homes. The ANC’s idea of equal rights and single South Africa attracted these Africans. To resist the government, Sebatakgomo formed.
Those installed by the government after deposing the chief were beaten, stabbed or burnt by Sebatakgomo. The deposed chief was deported by the authorities which provoked the Sepedi.
What was the Freedom Charter?
And what was its impact?
The Charter gave a clear summary of the principles of the Congress movement. In this tone and vocabulary it echoed the language of the freedom movement in other parts of the world, and was helpful in garnering international support for their cause. Essentially it called for a fully democratic South Africa with a fairer distribution of land and wealth. The Freedom Charter committed the movement to a non-racial South Africa and laid an important foundation for future political mobilisation.
How did the PAC split change political opposition to the Nationalists?
1958-59
The Africanists differed with the ANC:
- They thought that non-African were gaining too much influence in the Congress movement
- They sought omplete independence and freedom implied the return of the land to Africans
- They developed more explicitly Pan-Africanist ideas
- They wanted more confrontational direct action
Because of the Treason Trial, Leballo protested the decision for a slate to be re-elected without debate in the ANC’s provincial leadership races. Luthuli compared African nationalism to tribalism, Sobukwe challenged Luthuli and then he and the Africanists walked out, forming the PAC the next year.
