What Problems Did The National Party Face Within South Africa 1974-83? Flashcards
Homeland/ bantustan policy
1970s: NP press on with policy
Vorster invested largely- money gained from a rise in gold mining resources
Vorster and Botha try to get areas to gain independence
Bantustan independence
Transkei (1976) Bophuthataswana (77) Venda (79) Ciskei (81) Not recognised by other countries, effort to present them as viable states
Homeland revenue
Increases four fold in the first half of the 70s
Used to fund social cost of Apartheid eg forced relocations, fund expanding bureaucracies, great deal of waste
SA had three capitals and 10 new homelands
Benefits of the expenditure on homelands
70s: 50% of budgets went to education; roads, health and agriculture
Large new budgets and no teaching programme for Bantu education
Education provision spread rurally rather than in urban areas
Agriculturally: £ into irrigation projects
Verkrampte vs Verligte
Verkrampte: ‘conservative’
Verligte: ‘progressive’ ‘enlightened’
Vorster sided more with verkramptes
Muldergate scandal
Connie Mulder given 64 million rand (40mil £) in secret to influence and win friends
British, US and Japan
Paid magazines to publish positive articles
Bought luxury flats- influential figures to be entertained
Bribe politicians- pro SA speeches/ block anti apartheid movt
Effects of Muldergate scandal
Vorster had to resign following
Money used individually for self enrichment
Opposition press: show abuse of power and corruption
Oils crisis 1972
Oil price doubles- SA vulnerable as they had to import, nationalists founded state owned SASOL corporations (known as main oil-from coal producer)
Economic pressures despite oil crisis
Rise in the price of gold did help economy
SA manufacturing couldn’t compete due to expense of skilled white workers and lack of
BSA held back due to training and promotion restrictions
Economy slows as population rapidly increased
Farming in the 70s
Many farmers did well during/ less efficient, smaller farms gave up and farm sizes doubled between 1950-90
Govt policy on black workers in white farms
Want to limit BSA occupations of WSA farms
1960-80 2million bworkers moved off farms (some forced, some chose, escape low pay/ hard working conditions, Surplus People’s Project)
‘Surplus people’
In far flung and desolate locations (Winterveld held 1/2 million)
Majority from farms and few houses built for them
Massive population increase and movt from farms and homelands to towns: large, displaced towns found hard to cope and people deemed them insufficient
1979 migration
Movt to major cities, informal shack settlements
Used whatever could be found (corrugated metal, wood etc) to invade municipal land and build shelters, no decent housing, electricity or water
Preferable to be by the city (work/ income from trade)
Pass laws enforcement due to 1979 migration
Govt couldn’t find a way to enforce pass laws
1980s Pass Laws breaking down and successfully challenged in court
Illegal urbanisation is a massive challenge for govt
White opposition of Botha’s reform
Most supported and NP won 1981 and 87 elections with huge majorities
Some thought apartheid was being abandoned
Lost security of job reservation, small farms lose workers
1987: 37% Afrikaners didn’t support NP
White supremacist Afrikaner Westandbeweging opposed
Black opposition to Botha’s reform- trade unions
Won wide support from community
Militant industrial action
Leaders take advantage of new legal status
Black opposition to Botha’s reform- squatters
Many BSA to cities as control loosened
New squatter camps regularly bulldozed
Mid 80s: new settlements built after international pressure
Black opposition to Botha’s reform- schools
1980s: 1/2 BSA was under 25, Botha’s regimes didn’t cover rising no. wanting education
Huge classes, poorly qualified teachers, no books
Soweto 1976 student riots showed it was possible to take the lead
1979 COSAS formed: boycotts, rent strikes and consumer boycotts
1980-81: pupils and uni students boycott classes in protest
Need for reform
There was a steady supply of works yet black workers found it hard to live in cities
Poor education system meant they lacked skills for their modern complex machines
WSA could afford goods and BSA couldn’t
Farms became mechanised, less need for unskilled workers- BSA tied to land
Botha’s WHAM policy (Winning Hearts and Minds)
Give business leaders workforce and consumers
Tell outside world reform took place
1) Wham policy: Wiehahn report
To legalise trade unions
Would act more responsibly and employees would know who to negotiate with
2 Wham policy
Job reservation stopped
3 Wham policy: Lange Report
Recommended a single education system- spending on BEducation tripled through the 1980s
4 Wham policy: Rikert Report
Blacks should be allowed to move around the city- relaxed influx laws
