Topic 1: the response to apartheid 1948-59

Question 1

Franchise:

Answer 1

After 1930, white women could vote

1936 the black South African population was completely disenfranchised

1951 Separate Representation of Voters Act- part of the legislation during the apartheid system, part of systematic process to disenfranchise all non-whites

Question 2

Ladies of the Black Sash:

Answer 2

Formed in 1955, by 6 middle class white women, peaceful protest, wearing a black sash in ‘mourning of the South Africa constitution’ after the 1955 Senate Act, which fully removed coloured and mixed race voters in the cape prominence
Example of wide-spread and visible white resistance to apartheid legislation
First protest was a vigil of mourning of the constitution by 2,000 women in Johannesburg

Question 3

Population:

Answer 3

After the discovery of gold in Transvaal in 1886, the population grew by 100,000 between 1886-1900

1948: Asians= 2.5%, coloured= 8.1%, white= 20.8% and black population 69%

Question 4

Urban African population:

Answer 4

1936= 17.3%
1951= 27.2%

1946= 1.8 mill
1960= 3.5 mill

3/4 of Afrikaners in cities were working class
80% of rural land was white owned

Question 5

Treason Trial: main trial lasting from 1956-61

Answer 5

1956- the treason trial, 156 members of the congress movement were put on trial , the arrests were carried out under the 1950 Suppression of Communism Act (allowed to pass due to the perceived threat of the Soviet Union in the Cold War and decolonisation, many were acquitted early (73)

During the trial Oliver Tambo left the country and was exiled

Minister for Justice got to hand pick the 3 judges for the case, 3 judges rather than the usual 1 (NP trying to secure outcome of the case)

104 Africans, 23 Whites, 21 Indians and 8 Coloureds – were charged

Question 6

The Freedom Charter:

Answer 6

1955, the ANC sent out 50,000 volunteers to collect freedom demands

The freedom charter was the statement of core principles of the South African Congress Alliance, characterised by the opening line ‘the people shall govern’

The freedom was officially adopted in June 1955 at a gathering of about 3,000 people in Soweto

At a rally on the 26th June 1955, the charter was read out to the crowd in 3 different languages (English, Sotho and Xhosa)

Question 7

The Defiance Campaign 1952-53:

Answer 7

Most arrests were made in October 1952, of over 2,000- people being arrested for burning their pass books and entering ‘white only spaces’

As a consequence of the Defiance Campaign, the National Party passed the Public Safety Act, which empowered the government to declare stringent states of emergency and increased the penalties on protesting

Question 8

‘Capturing the state’

Answer 8

‘Afrikanerization’ - by 1959 this process meant that of more than 40 governmental departments, only 6 were heading by English speakers

The Afrikaner capture of the state was consolidated through public cooperation- in the decade after 1950 total state employment increased from 480,000 to 800,000

The National Party also consolidated it’s majority, absorbing the Afrikaner Party in 1951 - raising it’s control of the House from 74 seats in 1948 to 134 seats in 1977

Senate Act 1955, increased the number of Senate representatives from 48 to 89, as well as changing the principle of selection to allow white domination (proportional representation disallowed, and it thus became a ‘packed senate’

Question 9

Rural Resistance: Sekhukhuneland

Answer 9

Revolt in Sekhukhuneland in 1958, protesting, after large sections of the Ba-Pedi tribe had opposed the Bantu authorities system and after their acting chief, Moroamoche had been banished

210 were initially arrested after the incident and 128 the following year

Question 10

Pondoland revolt 1950-61:

Answer 10

Violence erupted around issues such as Chiefs who collaborated with the Apartheid state, the land reclamation programme, the Bantu Authorities system and spontaneous revolts against further imposition into the Pondo people’s life.
Opposing betterment policy and the NP’s Bantu Authorities Act, which imposed a NP systematic hierarchy
However, by 20 April 1961, 524 alleged participants of the rebellion remained in police detention. over tribal business

Question 11

Apartheid legislation: Bantu Authorities Act 1951

Answer 11

An act in South Africa which created homelands for the nonwhites to live in. Also, the nonwhites were not allowed to vote in national elections. First piece of legislation to support ‘separate development’ and allowed the NP to interfere in tribal business

Question 12

Apartheid legislation: Promotion of Bantu Self-government Act 1959

Answer 12

Black people were given 13% of the land, which was divided into 8 (later 10) self-governing homelands, or Bantustans.

Question 13

Apartheid legislation: Mixed Marriages Act 1949

Answer 13

Forbade marriages between whites and those of another race

Question 14

Apartheid legislation: Immorality Act 1950

Answer 14

Prohibited all sexual relations between whites & non-whites.
Most couples found guilty were sent to prison!
Non-whites were given harsher sentences than whites.

Question 15

Apartheid legislation: the Reservation of Separate Amenities Act 1953

Answer 15

The Act legalised the racial segregation of public premises, vehicles and services.

Question 16

Apartheid legislation: Natives Abolition of Passes Act 1952

Answer 16

required reference books that established rights to be in certain areas

Question 17

Apartheid legislation: Urban Areas Act 1952

Answer 17

It limited the category of blacks who had the right to permanent residence in urban areas.

Question 18

Apartheid legislation: 1956

Answer 18

Reference books where extended to women

Question 19

Apartheid legislation: Bantu Education Act 1953

Answer 19

Schools were segregated
-Non-white schools had less resources than white schools and were in worse conditions
-Students were taught about tribal identity and culture

Question 20

PAC split:

Answer 20

1958 the split of an Africanist branch of the ANC and formation of the PAC as a consequence of the lack of consultation over the re-election of the Transvaal branch was more significant as the movement was now divided

1955 17-18 December, At the ANC’s annual conference the Africanist faction launches an attack on the Freedom Charter which accepts multi-racialism.

Question 21

ANC youth league:

Answer 21

Its foundation in 1944 by Anton Muziwakhe Lembede (1914-1947), Ashley Peter Mda, Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu and Oliver Tambo marked the rise of a new generation of leadership of South Africa’s black African population. It developed a manifesto in 1944 and published a program in 1948.

By the end of the 1940s, the Youth League had gained control of the African National Congress. It called for civil disobedience and strikes in protest at the hundreds of laws associated with the new apartheid system. These protests were often met with force by the South African Government. In 1950, 18 blacks were killed during a walkout while protesters including Mandela were jailed and beaten for their opposition to the Government.

Question 22

Afrikaners:

Answer 22

The Afrikaner demographic had the greatest voting power in South Africa, with 1.6 million people (being roughly 60% of the voting pool)

In the 1948 election, the National Party actually obtained 140,000 less votes than the United Party, but was able to win the election by obtaining more seats

Question 23

1949 Durban riots: (highlighting in-fighting between different resistance movements)

Answer 23

Zulu people were attacking the Indian population in Durban, not attacking or protesting the government/state

142 died- bitter inter-racial conflict

On the evening of Thursday, 13 January 1949 ethnic Indians in the centre of the Indian business area of Durban were assaulted by black Africans. The riots began at Victoria street in the heartland of Indian commercial centre

Question 24

Cato Manner 1959:

Answer 24

On the afternoon of Wednesday, 17 June 1959, a demonstration was staged at the Cato Manor Beer Hall by a group of African women who destroyed beer and drinking utensils. The women were dispersed by the police and the beer hall was closed. The police remained on guard throughout the night. - revolt from women

Question 25

Opposition from women:

Answer 25

In 1956 at a women’s march on Pretoria and the Union building, an estimated 20,000 women of all races protested- all arriving in groups of 2-3,as in 1956 large groups were banned

Question 26

ANC women’s league:

Answer 26

The ANC only accepted women as members at the Congress’s 1943 conference and in 1948, the ANC Women’s League was formed. The first official president of the League was Ida Mntwana

The women became active in the Defiance Campaign of 1952 where they played a leading role. In the Eastern Cape 1067 of the 2529 defiers were women, with Florence Matomela at the forefront. The Women’s League was then asked by the Congress Alliance to assist in organising the 1955 Congress of the People, where the Freedom Charter was to be adopted. This

Question 27

ANC youth league:

Answer 27

The Youth League’s manifesto was launched at the Bantu Social Centre in Johannesburg in March 1944 ahead of its inaugural meeting. It stated, amongst others, that Africanism should be promoted

To strength its fight for liberation, the Youth League developed a Programme of Action which involved different methods like boycotts, strikes and other defiance tactics. In 1949, the ANC adopted this programme, which represented a radical departure from the ineffective strategies of the past, and a transformation of the organisation into a revolutionary mass movement

Question 28

The Defiance Campaign 1952-1953 (pt2):

Answer 28

The period 1950 -1952 began with a commitment to militant African nationalism and mass action and to tactics of boycotts, strikes and civil disobedience. The period culminated in the Defiance Campaign, the largest scale non-violent resistance ever seen in South Africa and the first campaign pursued jointly by all racial groups under the leadership of the ANC and the South African Indian Congress (SAIC).

The trial of amongst others, Moroka, Sisulu, Marks, Mandela, Dadoo, Cachalia and Kathrada, began in November. On 2 December 1952, all 20 were found guilty of “statutory communism” and sentenced to nine month’s imprisonment with hard labour, but this was suspended for two years. In Port Elizabeth 15 leaders were also found guilty and sentenced in 1953 for nine months, suspended for three years.

Question 29

Rural resistance: Pondoland revolt 1951-1960:

Answer 29

The Pondo people revolted against the Bantu Authorities’ new system as described in the Bantu Authorities Act of 1951, The Pondo people revolted against the Bantu Authorities’ new system as described in the Bantu Authorities Act of 1951

However, by 20 April 1961, 524 alleged participants of the rebellion remained in police detention.

Question 30

Betterment planning:

Answer 30

The Betterment or Land Reclamation Scheme was introduced to Pondoland by magistrates in 1947.

Question 31

The Tomlinson Report 1954:

Answer 31

The commission concluded that if the reserves were to support the growing black population the government would need to invest at least £104 million over the following decade to ensure fully diversified economies in the reserves.