Redefining resistance and challenges to NP power, 1968-83

• Black Consciousness

  Black Consciousness was tolerated by the government at first because they felt its emphasis on separate development might tie in with apartheid. Its goals included:

  • Non-cooperation with white groups, even those sympathetic to the ending of apartheid
  • Encouraging Indian and coloured people to see themselves as black and equally subject to white oppression
• The build-up of the Soweto Uprising

  Soweto was one of the biggest of the townships, with all the problems of overcrowding, squalor and crime. Problems in Soweto, as elsewhere by the mid-1970s, were exacerbated by the government's cutting subsidies on maize and corn at a time of economic downturn. In June 1976 there was a massive demonstration against the medium of Afrikaans in teaching in Soweto. Thousands of children took part and the protests spread to other areas. In a sense the teaching in Afrikaans was a final straw: children resented being taught in the language of their oppressors.
• The death of Steve Biko in 1977

  Biko had been arrested in 1974 for breaking his banning order of 1973: he had attended rallies in support of the independence from Portugal of Angola and Mozambique. SASO itself was banned in 1975.

  Biko died in police custody in September 1977. He was initially accused of attacking police officers during interrogation and falling against a wall during a violent struggle. A subsequent injury found he did in fact die of brain damage worsened by a 700-mile journey to a prison hospital covered only in a blanket. No one was prosecuted over his death.
• The impact of Steve Biko's death

  The mysterious death of Steve Biko had great significance. It was not that Biko was the only victim of police brutality - the ANC recorded fourteen deaths in police custody in 1977 alone.

  • Both the UN and USA protested over his death
  • There was a widespread worldwide condemnation. He was to be the subject of of a very popular movie, Cry Freedom, in the following decade, which led to even more worldwide condemnation
  • The authorities remained impassive,
• Re-strengthening the ANC

  Under the leadership of Oliver Tambo, however, the ANC was planning for a new phase of struggle. It was reorganised abroad to co-ordinate the following key activities:

  • To oversee the growing number of exiles
  • To co-ordinate the activities of the MK
  • To raise funds
  • To set up ANC offices throughout the world
• Need for international support

  Tambo saw in particular the need to build up international support and counter the accusations emanating from South Africa about the ANC's relationship with communism. To this end he would meet regularly with influential figures to explain the ANC position and assure where necessary that the ANC supported capitalist development; e.g. he met with representatives of US multinational companies in the early 1980s in the face of President Reagan's aggressive stance against communism.
• Beginnings of guerrilla warfare

  The ANC had begun to infiltrate guerrilla fighters into South Africa from the early 1970s. This was made easier after its neighbours won their independence and could be used as a springboard for attacks. However, one should not overemphasise this point. The ANC was never strong enough militarily to threaten the apartheid regime, although the persistence of conflict could weaken it in tandem with other factors, and did lead to a huge military commitment which drained the economy.
• Problems in the Bantustans

  The bantustans continued to fail. 4 were granted full independence: Transkei in 1976, Boputhatswana in 1977, Venda in 1979 and Ciskei in 1981. Bantustans could not begin to support their official populations. In 1986 almost 250,000 African people were arrested for pass offences. Most were classed as illegal aliens.
• Impact of 'Muldergate'

  Mulder reluctantly resigned from the National Party. He went on to form the Conservative Party with other intransigents with the National Party. This was itself to become absorbed into the Conservative Party of South Africa formed by opponents of Botha's constitutional reforms which became the most significant opposition group in the 1980s - to the right of the National Party.
• The impact of decolonisation

  South Africa had relied on the Portuguese in particular for helping to control its borders to Angola and Mozambique. However, in 1974 the dictational regime in Portugal was overthrown and a new democratic government gave these countries their independence. South Africa became involved in their post-independence history in order to maintain this control. This was exacerbated in 1979 when a settlement in Rhodesia saw the creation of black majority rule in the renamed Zimbabwe.
• Arms embargo

  The one area where sanctions became mandatory was over arms sales. The UN had called for a voluntary arms embargo as early as 1963 but it did not become mandatory until 1977 with Resolution 418 after widespread condemnation of the brutality with which the regime dealt with the Soweto Uprising. However, other groups had made their own embargoes. E.g. the 1971 Commonwealth Conference saw a resolution against arms sales and a projected deal by which Britain would supply helicopters and frigates was abandoned.
• Cultural and sporting boycotts

  Cultural and sporting boycotts had begun in the 1960s with South Africa being suspended from the Olympic Games in 1964 and formally excluded in 1970. As a sporting nation, these boycotts were keenly felt. The Commonwealth passed the Gleneagles Agreement in June 1977 which forbade members to compete against South Africa: New Zealand faced considerable criticism when they invited the Springboks to tour in 1981. Generally, South Africa was isolated in terms of sporting and cultural links.