Topic 3: Redefining resistance and challenges to National Party power 1968-83

Question 1

Extension of University Act 1959:

Answer 1

Due to the extension of university act 1959, the black university population went from 515 in 1961 to 3000 in 1972

Question 2

Black Community Programme:

Answer 2

After the early leaders of the black consciousness movement established the Black Community Programmes in the 1970s as local self-help groups, the BCM through the BCP were involved in staging large scale protests and workers strikes in 1972 and 1973 (particularly in Durban), which gripped the nation

The 1973 Durban strikes involved roughly 60,000 black African workers demanding better pay and working conditions, and these strikes impacted more than 100 firms; these strikes were significant in contributing to the later growth of anti-apartheid trade union movements

Question 3

SASO:

Answer 3

SASO was founded in Turfloop in 1968, after some members of the University of Natal’s Black Campus student representatives

The formation of SASO was greatly influenced by the formation of the University Christian Movement in 1967- context: in the 1960s, 2/3s of Africans professed Christianity

In July 1972 to encourage adult participation and promote their broad objectives, SASO leaders and representatives from some twenty-seven black organizations established an adult wing of their organisation, the Black People’s Convention (BPC) under the Presidency of Winnie Kgware

Question 4

The Soweto Uprising 1976:

Answer 4

When the language of Afrikaans alongside English was made compulsory as a medium of instruction in schools in 1974, black students began mobilizing themselves. On 16 June 1976 between 3000 and 10 000 students mobilized by the South African Students Movement’s Action Committee supported by the BCM marched peacefully to demonstrate and protest against the government’s directive

The commission concluded that 575 people had died and 3,907 had been wounded as a result of the protests, but these numbers have been disputed. Since many people’s involvement in the riots would have been concealed to avoid arrest, it is generally agreed that the true casualty numbers were higher.

Question 5

Steve Biko:

Answer 5

After the Soweto Uprising, Black Consciousness was systematically targeted. Biko often ignored his banning orders in order to address crowds and to continue his work in the movement. On 17 August 1977, he left Port Elizabeth and travelled with Peter Jones to the Cape to attend a meeting. They were stopped at a roadblock and were detained. On 12 September 1977, Biko died of injuries sustained during interrogation. His death stunned and shocked the world. But not Jimmy Kruger, the Minister of Justice, who stated that Biko’s death ‘left him cold’.

An official inquest into Biko’s death, despite evidence to the contrary, found in favour of the police, stating that his death could not have been brought about “by any act or omission involving an offence by any person.” Biko was the twentieth detainee to die in custody. South Africa had lost one of its most influential young men.

It was only at the Truth and Reconciliation Committee (TRC) that the truth of Biko’s death was revealed. Four security policemen admitted to the killing of Biko during interrogation. The commanding officer, Gideon Nieuwoudt was denied amnesty on the grounds that he did not prove that his crime was politically motivated.

Question 6

SASO leadership:

Answer 6

In 1973, eight black consciousness leaders, including Biko, were banned. This meant that for five years they were restricted to the area in which they lived, and could not speak to or meet with more than one person at a time. This prevented them from attending political meetings and rallies. The government gave no reasons for the bannings but it was clear that the government hoped to crush the black consciousness movement. By the end of 1973, more leaders had been banned, and some placed under house arrest.

Question 7

SASO 9 trial:

Answer 7

In 1975, the SASO Nine were brought to trial for allegedly conspiring to bring about revolutionary change. Biko’s banning orders were relaxed so that he could testify on their behalf. This drew the interest of the media worldwide. The SASO Nine were found guilty under the Terrorism Act.

Turfloop rally attended by 1,200 following the end of Portuguese colonial rule

Question 8

The death of Steve Biko: 1977

Answer 8

Following his arrest in August 1977, Biko was beaten to death by state security officers. Over 20,000 people attended his funeral.

Prominent white liberals, such as the parliamentarian, Helen Suzman, attended. So did the black American diplomat, Donald McHenry and other international dignitaries

The South African government mobilised its riot police to break groups of mourners in anticipation of the protest, and people who were involved in the organisation of Biko’s funeral were arrested, detained, or banned. People travelling to King William’s town for the funeral were also arrested for not carrying their pass books, to prevent them from attending the funeral.

Question 9

Donald Woods:

Answer 9

After arriving in London, Woods became an active spokesman against apartheid. Acting upon the advice of Oliver Tambo, the President of the African National Congress (ANC), Woods became a passionate advocate of nations imposing sanctions against South Africa. He toured the United States campaigning for sanctions against apartheid. The trip included a three-hour session, arranged by President Jimmy Carter, to address officials in the U.S. Department of State. Woods also spoke at a session of the United Nations Security Council in 1978.

Question 10

AAM sporting boycotts:

Answer 10

1964-88 - Olympic boycotts, South Africa not allowed to attend

South Africa was expelled from the Olympic movement in 1970. Rugby and cricket were the biggest sports played by whites in sports-mad South Africa. From the mid-1970s international teams included token black players, but sport within South Africa was strictly segregated.

Stop the Seventy Tour: In Britain the turning point came in 1969–70. The AAM and Stop the Seventy Tour organised demonstrations and direct action at every match played by the Springbok rugby team on its 23-game tour of Britain. Faced with widespread disruption, the following summer’s cricket tour was cancelled.

The 1977 Gleneagles Agreement pledged Commonwealth governments to discourage their citizens from competing against sportspeople from countries where sport was organised on a racial basis.

Question 11

Academic boycotts:

Answer 11

In 1965, 496 university professors and lecturers from 34 British universities signed the following declaration in protest against apartheid and violations of academic freedom

In December 1980, the United Nations passed a resolution “Cultural, Academic and other boycotts of South Africa”:

Scholars refusing to collaborate with South African scholars on research,
Publishers, journals, and other scholarly resources refusing to publish scholarship or experiments by South African scholars, or refusing to provide access to scholars in South Africa,
International conferences refusing to locate in South Africa or include South African scholars,
Scholars refusing to travel to South Africa or participate in activities such as serving on thesis committees for South African students,
Universities and other institutions worldwide refusing to grant access to their resources to South African scholars, or to invite South African scholars to their own institutions.

Question 12

Wankie Campaign 1967:

Answer 12

was a military operation launched by the Rhodesian Security Forces on 1 August 1967 in response to the group of ZIPRA and Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) fighters crossing the Zambezi River, which marked the Rhodesian-Zambian border. The operation was a success with only one of the cadres out of a force of seventy-nine making it back to Zambia.

Question 13

Sipolio Campaign 1968:

Answer 13

The “Luthuli Detachment” comprising ANC and ZAPU guerrillas crosses the Zambezi river into the then Rhodesia and engages joint Smith-Vorster troops at the start of the Wankie and Sipolio battles which rage until late 1968.

1970-75:

MK reconsolidates its underground structures. Among others, Chris Hani returns to South Africa.

Question 14

1969 Morogorro conference:

Answer 14

The first National Consultative Conference of the ANC was held at Morogoro, Tanzania, from 25 April to 1 May 1969. The conference has become known as the Morogoro Conference. Oliver Tambo summed up the conference with these words: “Close Ranks! This is the order to our people; our youth; the army; to each Umkhonto we Sizwe militant; to all our many supporters the world over.

This is the order to our leaders; to all of us. The order that comes from this conference is: Close Ranks and Intensify the Armed Struggle!” The Conference was attended by over seventy delegates from various centres representing ANC branches, units of Umkhonto we Sizwe – the ANC`s military wing – leader of the Indian and Coloured peoples and the revolutionary working class movement. The Conference was opened at a public session by GeorgeMagombe, Executive Secretary of the OAU Liberation Committee.

Question 15

Growth in liberalism:

Answer 15

Progressive Party, had 17 seats in 1977
However the National Party had 134 seats
Helen Suzman: She hosted the meeting that founded the Progressive Party in 1959, and was its only MP in the 160-member House for thirteen years. She was the only member of the South African Parliament to consistently and unequivocally oppose all apartheid legislation

Question 16

AAM:

Answer 16

In 1973 the AAM joined with the International Defence and Aid Fund and other groups to set up Southern Africa the Imprisoned Society (SATIS). SATIS supported political prisoners and campaigned for their release. From the early 1970s, the apartheid authorities stepped up arrests of political activists. Some detainees were tortured to death, and the murder of Steve Biko in 1977 was met by worldwide protests. In 1979 SATIS led an international campaign to overturn the death sentence on Solomon Mahlangu, a young freedom fighter. Mahlangu was hanged, but the apartheid government was served notice that political executions would provoke international opprobrium.

Question 17

AAM targeted disinvestment:

Answer 17

Barclays Bank was the main target of AAM action to persuade British companies to pull out of South Africa. Other companies came under fire as stakeholders put pressure on universities, trade unions and churches to sell their holdings. In 1973 British companies hit the headlines because of the poverty wages they paid their black South African workers. The AAM argued against the ‘code of conduct’ approach that called for British firms to pay higher wages rather than pull out.

Question 18

Random stats:

Answer 18

Funding to the Bantustans: 1970s it rose by R400 mill

Population grew by 18 mill from 1960-1990

White population shrunk from 20% to 15% of the population

1979 military spending peaked at 5% of GAD

Question 19

Military stuff:

Answer 19

The UN General Assembly had denounced apartheid in 1973; four years later the UN Security Council voted unanimously to impose a mandatory embargo on the export of arms to South Africa.

Question 20

Why Botha’s reforms were limited:

Answer 20

The Botha reforms, however, stopped short of making any real change in the distribution of power. The white parliamentary chamber could override the Coloured and Indian chambers on matters of national significance, and all Blacks remained disenfranchised. The Group Areas Act and the Land Acts maintained residential segregation. Schools and health and welfare services for Blacks, Indians, and Coloureds remained segregated and inferior, and most nonwhites, especially Blacks, were still desperately poor. Moreover, Botha used the State Security Council, which was dominated by military officers, rather than the cabinet as his major policy-making body, and he embarked on a massive military buildup. Military service for white males, already universal, increased from nine months to two years and included annual reserve duty.

Question 21

Operation Savannah 1975:

Answer 21

Angola invasion, by December 1975 3,000 South African troops were fighting- highlighting political change in Southern Africa

Question 22

Southern Africa:

Answer 22

South Africa’s Black neighbours formed the Southern African Development Coordinating Conference in 1979 in an effort to limit South Africa’s economic domination of the region, but it made little progress. Most of the export trade from the region continued to pass through the country to South African ports, and South Africa provided employment for some 280,000 migrant workers from neighbouring countries

Question 23

Gov action:

Answer 23

On the 19th of October 1977, the National Party declared 19 groups associated with the Black consciousness movement to be illegal, but other organisations continued the work of the BCM such as the Azanian People’s organisation in 1978

Question 24

Muldergate 1978:

Answer 24

Most ambitiously, the fund was used to establish a new pro-government newspaper, the Citizen, and in attempts to purchase both the Rand Daily Mail and the Washington Star. The projects, involving a total amount of at least $72 million

More than this, the propaganda war was also an attempt to buy the opinion of influential newspapers such as the Washington Post in the United States of America and European newspapers. Moreover, the propaganda war involved the laundering of South African money by bypassing foreign exchange regulation and using South Africa’s vast gold resources to deposit money in the secretive Swiss Bank accounts

Question 25

US congressional legislation against apartheid:

Answer 25

The Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986 was a law enacted by the United States Congress. The law imposed sanctions against South Africa and stated five preconditions for lifting the sanctions that would essentially end the system of apartheid, which the latter was under at the time. Most of the sanctions were repealed in July 1991, after South Africa took steps towards meeting the preconditions of the act, with the final vestiges of the act being repealed in November 1993

Question 26

Strike action:

Answer 26

In 1973 thousands of African workers went on strike in Durban, heralding a new worker militancy and the growth of independent trade unions in South Africa in the 1970s. This AAM leaflet expressed solidarity with the striking workers and accused British companies of profiting from starvation wages

Question 27

Trade union movement:

Answer 27

The years from 1973 to 1985 saw a surge of unionism unprecedented in South African history. The Trade Union Advisory Co-ordinating Committee was formed later in 1973, and got a huge injection of members following the strike wave early in the year.

The launch of the Metal and Allied Workers Union (Mawu) in 1973 was followed in 1974 by that of the Chemical Workers Industrial Union (CWIU) and the Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU).

The formation of the Federation of South African Trade Unions (Fosatu) in 1979 and of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) in 1985 saw the union movement move from strength to strength, and eventually become a major force in the dismantling of the apartheid structure.

Question 28

Music boycotts:

Answer 28

One of the most successful concerts took place in July 1986 at Clapham Common. Future South African President Thabo Mbeki gave a speech at the festival, which was attended by 250,000 people.

Another group in the USA, ‘Artists United Against Apartheid’ began in 1985 and was co-founded by performer Steven Van Zandt and record producer Arthur Baker. They wrote and produced a protest song “Sun City” which had moderate success and proceeds of over a million dollars, which went to anti-apartheid activist groups.