KT 2

• When was the Sharpeville Massacre?

  21st March 1960
• Why did the sharpeville massacre take place?

  - PAC called for anti-protests

  -Commuters were often pressured in supporting the protest rather than going got work
• What happened at sharpeville?

  20,000 gathered outside the police station at sharpeville demanding to be arrested for not carrying passes

  -Police could not arrest so many- arrested PAC leaders

  -Triggered by events - which people have different interpretations of- however it is claimed that one of the protestors opened fire

  -Police fired into the crowd- most of them shot in the back
• How many people died and injured at sharpeville?

  69 killed and 189 injured
• What was the response to sharpeville?

  UN called for the abolition of apartheid

  - In Britain - 10,000 people protested outside of South Africa embassy

  - Welsh Commission Of Inquiry- investigated events and exonerated the police of any blame and claimed it was self defence
• Why is sharpeville considered a turning point?

  Event which took place and changed the nature of protest to an acceptance of violence
• What was the government reaction to sharpeville?

  State of Emergency - saw the arrest of over 10,000 people including Mandela

  Unlawful Organisations Act- declared PAC and ANC illegal- forceful response form the government to assert authority and reassure white investors that they are under control
• Which acts were passed that caused further repression?

  - Sabotage Act 1962- death penalty for acts of sabotage

  - General Law Amendment- allowed authorities to arrest anyone for 90 days without having charges against them or a lawyer

  -this could be extended for another 90 days

  - Bantu Laws Amendment Act- 1964/5 - empowered authorities to deport nay African person from any urban area or white farming area for any reason whatsoever

  ENFORCED BY VORSTER who was minister of justice 1961
• What were Verwoerd's aim?

  -Sought to create a totally apartheid state and creation of South African Republic

  -opposed to the influence of Britain and to South Africa remaining in the commonwealth

  -Saw it as increasingly dominated by newly independent countries (Ghana/ Nigeria )
• When was the wind of change speech? and by who?

  - Feb 1960

  - Macmillan
• What was the significance of the wind of change speech?

  -Argued that government must accept the post colonial changes in Africa and support them before the newly independent countries turn to communism
• What was the response to the wind of change speech?

  Vorster- white people developed the country and made it prosperous and had every right to remain

  South Africa government- disturbed by speech and decolonisation e.g. Congo bloodbath and civil war

  -despite the development, they would not deflect apartheid

  Anti-apartheid groups- speech gave them hope
• When was the creation of the republic?

  October 1960

  -While S.A went to polls to decide whether they want to cut political ties with Britain and form a republic

  -90% turnout, 52% opting for a republic status

  -most support from Afrikaner heartlands (Transvaal and Orange free state )
• When did they leave the commonwealth?

  June 1961
• Reasons for leaving the commonwealth

  -due to criticism over apartheid (wind of change speech/ lagger mentality )

  -Verwoerd refusal to accept black diplomats- threatened apartheid as there would be black people with power which would cause problems
• What impact did leaving the commonwealth have on s.a?


  -Did nothing to diminish cultural ties with Britain - as Britain wanted to have allies against communism

  -Economic and trading links continued to flourish

  —UN passed arms embargo 1959- not supply government with weapons and to ban exports to and from SA, however these were voluntary
• What happened to Mandela after the treason trial?

  -He went underground and became known as the 'Black Pimpernel' as authorities were unable to trace him

  -spent much time hiding at Liliesleaf farm in Rivonia- owned by communist party with whom MK was in close operation with
• When was Mandela arrested?

  -He was arrested on his return to S.A in 1962, sentenced to 5 years without parole
• When and what was Rivonia trial?

  -11th July 1963

  -police raided Liliesleaf farm- found MK operatives and caches of weapons and 250 incriminating police documents

  -Mandela asked these to be destroyed but they kept them for historical evidence

  -Mandela became the prime defendant bin Rivonia Trial with 8 activists- incitement to cause violent revolution

  -attracted great publicity - mainly in support of the defendant
• What was the significance of the Rivonia trial?

  -Highlight of the trial was Mandela 4 hour resounding speech by Nelson Mandela in which he admitted the charges , that he belonged to the ANC and MK- Justified the ANC struggle against apartheid - called for non-racial South Africa
• What was the verdict of the trial?

  -Found guilty, sentenced to life imprisonment in Robben Island- authorities hoped they would be forgotten overtime -believed they defeated most serious threat to apartheid state
• what was the international response of the rivonia trial?

  -United Nations called for the defendants to be released while dockworkers in several countries refused to handle S.A goods in the ports

  - 50 British MPs marched

  -World campaign to free nelson Mandela
• What were the reasons for armed struggle?

  -peaceful protests were not working e.g. sharpevile, failure of defiance campaign

  -Governments use of violence and deceit- often arrested activists when they attended meetings with government officials

  -Use of violence from government- security forces were always prepared to use violence

  -International inspiration e.g. Cuba and China.
• When was MK (Umkhonto We Sizwe) formed and what were there aims?

  -June 1961

  -military branch of the ANC

  - co-founded by Mandela

  - committed acts of sabotage on property such as government installments - their intention was to avoid loss of life

  -Used the two phase strategy

  second phase- guerilla warfare - operations carried on small independent forces to delay and disrupt military operations of the enemy)

  OVERALL their aim was to make government impossible

  MEMBERS- outlawed communist, SACP, SAIC - mainly independent from ANC
• what was the military wing of the PAC and what were their aims?

  -POQO

  -most violent of the armed movements

  -prepared to operate using methods of terror and intimidation

  -Targeted white people whom it saw as their enemy e.g. assault on Paarl town - Novemeber 1963

  -most of 250 supporters armed with axes and homemade weapons attacked the police station and brutally hacked to death 2 white young people

  -Killings were heavily publicised
• Strong apartheid


  Mid late 1960s- apartheid regime at its most secure and confident

  -while economy suffered in the months following shareville- it was quick to recover in the wake of government repression and control
• Growth in Afrikaner prosperity

  -16% of Afrikaners in professional ownership in 1948 rose to 27% in 1964

  - 6% of Afrikaners in Finance in 1948 rose to 21% in 1964

  - 1% of Afrikaners in mining in 1948 rose to 10% in 1964
• International investment in South Africa

  - investments stimulated the economy with average economic growth of 6% per year

  -number of white people in manufacturing rose form 950,000 to 1.18 million between 1960 and 1966

  -white population rose from 3.09 to 3.77 million over the course of 1960 due to immigration

  -per capita among white people rose by almost 50%
• Who maintained close ties with Britain?

  -Britain maintained close economic ties with S.A , Barclays international controlled 60% of South African bank deposits
• Diplomatic Ties

  -S.A emphasised both its anti-communist stance and position of stability in an increasingly unstable African continent

  -While many western government had an anti-apartheid stance they tended to value investment and ties more- few protested against apartheid

  -USA also maintained close ties stance as S.A was against communism and opposed sanctions - sold arms to S.A to support stance against communism

  w.g Coca Cola and Barclays Bank were advertisers in S.A
• Friendly neighbours of S.A

  -Portuguese colonies of Angola and Mozambique

  -Even newly independent countries like Zambia relied on SA for trade and access to ports
• what were 3 fundamental problems with the S.A economy?

  -required considerable foreign investment

  -required importation of heavy machinery and technical innovation

  -required importation of all its oil
• what was life like for white South Africans

  -Access to plentiful economic opportunities,. excellent services e.g. hospitals and education- many would be able to afford at least one servant

  -white people rarely came in contact with other races outside master-servant relationship
• How were white South Africans insulated?

  -Government control of the media

  -Education and experience taught them that apartheid was natural and non-whites were inferior
• What and when was the Bantu Self Government Act?

  -1958

  -It laid the basis for the creation of 8 bantustans

  -total separation of the different races with Afrikaner doing the unskilled jobs reserved for Africans

  -Believed that there was no space for Africans in white society
• What was the idea of Bantustans inspired by?

  -It was South Africans take on decolonisation - prepared for full independence, fully self-governing and financing

  -People could not understand how S.A could be racist for this policy
• what is the name of the first bantustan created?

  Transkei

  -never achieved anything like economic independence from S.A and continues like before - reservoir for cheap labour

  -Homelands were in poor conditions - overcrowded and poor
• VORSTER- POLICE FORCES

  -Built up police and defence force

  - Defence budget rose form R44 million to R255 million from 1961 to 1966

  -By 1970- South Africa had all trappings of a police state

  -Police were given greater powers

  e.g. Terrorism Act 1967- ability to detain indefinetley anyone suspected of terrorist activities or supporting this

  -1969 BOSS created (Bureau for State Security)- created to coordinate work of police and defence forces - reported to the PM - activities were a secret

  -defence forces

  -Armaments production Board set up in 1964 to coordinate domestic arm production- R33 million invested here
• Economic recovery

  Employment in manufacturing, mostly of black people doubles between in 1951 and 1975 to 1.6 million

  -no longer simple labourers on the farms

  -Black people in white collar jobs rose to 420,000

  -white people in the 1960s benefited majorly from the economic development of time

  -income rose by 50%