3: Redefining resistance & challenges to NP power 1968-83

• What was Black Consciousness?

  • Originated in the USA
  • Took pride in black identity, history and culture
  • Refused to accept help or cooperate with whites
• Why did school children begin to mobilise in the 1970s?

  Lack of education:

  • Not compulsory for African children due to the estimated costs of employing teachers and equipping schools
  • Economic recession meant more skilled black workers were needed leading to more schools built in the late 1960s
  • For every R42 spent a black child’s education, their white counterpart received R644
  • The government responded to demand by cutting the number of school years for Africans to save money
  • While the number of school children grew, the amount spent on them was in decline
• Why did school children begin to mobilise in the 1970s?

  Overcrowding:

  • The effective reduction in government spending, compounding by dramatic increases in the number of children led to massive overcrowding
  • In Soweto, class sizes could be as high as 70 to 100
• Why did school children begin to mobilise in the 1970s?

  Enforcement of Afrikaans:

  • M.C. Botha (minister for Bantu education) introduced the Afrikaans Medium Decree, making Afrikaans compulsory from the last year of primary upwards.
  • His successor, Andries Treurnicht insisted that half of the lessons be taught in Afrikaans
  • This was resented: Afrikaans was viewed as the language of repression
• What was happening in Soweto?

  • South West township in Johannesburg
  • One of the biggest townships
  • Overcrowded, squalor and high crime rates
• What were the long term causes of the Soweto Uprising?

  • Overcrowding
  • The influence of Black Consciousness
  • The conditions in schools and education
  • Urbanisation (more black Africans were likely to be literate meaning over 75% read newspapers, making them more aware of events)
  • Absence of the ANC
• What were the events of the Soweto Uprising (June 1976)?

  • 13th: SASM (South African Students Movement) meet and organise an uprising to demonstrate against the medium of Afrikaans in teaching
  • 16th: Massive demonstration. Thousands of children took part in marches. The security forces attempted to disperse the marchers with tear gas and warning shots and eventually with live bullets from machine pistols. 20 students died.
• How did the government respond and suppress the uprising?

  • Held firm
  • Accused them of seeking communist revolution
  • Remained that the government provided education recourses and could choose the form it would take
  • Banning orders, imprisonment, torture and the suppression of organisations
• What were the consequences of the Soweto Uprising?

  • The nature of the opposition changed as no central organisations were directing them. Most were localised, spontaneous and organised by school children
  • More young people joined the armed struggle
  • P.W. Botha introduced Total Strategy
  • The Un responded with Resolution 392 only 3 days after, condemning apartheid
  • Many multinational companies with subsidiaries in SA were pressurised by anti-apartheid groups to withdraw
• What was Total Strategy?

  In 1978, defence minister, P.W. Botha stated that SA was facing a Total Onslaught (communist attack). He combated this with a Total Strategy which involved the restructuring of the government with the emphasis on security. Basically Botha aimed to do anything to protect the regime.
• What was the Armaments Corporation of South Africa (ARMSCOR)?

  It was set up to bypass the world boycott on arms sales to SA. It developed the country’s own arms industries. By the 1970s, SA was producing its own helicopters, armed vehicles and artillery.
• Who was Steve Biko?

  • Influenced by and promoted Black Consciousness
  • In 1968 he co-founded SASO (Students Organisation)
  • He was barred from speaking in public by the security forces
  • He went underground to circumvent the ban and was arrested 4 times, often being held without trial
  • In August 1977 he was arrested for defying his ban and died in police custody
• Steve Biko’s death:

  • Died in police custody in 1977
  • Spent 20 days in solitary confinement, naked and denied exercise and hygiene
  • Taken to police headquarters in Port Elizabeth where he was savagely beaten until collapsing with head injuries
  • Spent 2 days still naked and chained to a metal grille
  • Taken on a 700-mile trip to a prison hospital in Pretoria
  • Here he died - 12 September
  • Initially accused of attacking officers and falling against a wall
  • He had in fact died of brain damage worsened by the journey
  • No one was ever prosecuted over his death
• Difficulties for the ANC in exile:

  • Activities were concentrated in Tanzania and Zambia
  • Oliver Tambo replaces Luthuli
  • Base set up in Lusaka, Zambia as the president was sympathetic to their cause
  • Major military incursions Wankie and Sipolilo campaigns both failed, causing the Zambian government to demand that Mk must find a new base
• How did the ANC strengthen its position?

  • Tambo managed to set up the ANC politically in SA again as well as maintaining core ANC beliefs. His leadership kept the ANC together.
  • Global boycotts and AAM showed that the ANC had international support and equally put pressure on the government
• In the 1970s what impact did decolonisation have in Africa?

  Former SA allies now gained independence, weakening SA’s control of its borders.
• Decolonisation in Angola:

  • Civil war following independence from Portugal
  • SA sided with USA in supporting pro-western organisations. They gave $14 million in arms to these organisations. Dec 1975: 3000 SA troops fighting in Angola
  • USA withdrew funds due to the organisations weaknesses, leaving SA isolated. They later withdrew from Angola in July 1976
• Decolonisation in Mozambique:

  • The Marxist FRELIMO group took power in 1975. They remained a threat to SA and one of the MK leaders, Joe Slovo, had his headquarters there
  • SA joined Rhodesia in supporting its rival RENAMO to little avail
  • Eventually SA accepted its existence and in 1984 came to the Nkomati Accords which ended the ANC presence there
• Decolonisation in Namibia:

  • SA took it as a mandate from Germany, governing it as a colony. It was used to give NP a greater majority. In 1967 the UN declared SA occupation illegal and were ordered to leave by 30 May.
  • They ignored the UN, using Namibia as a buffer zone between SA and Angola. This led to a war with the independence movement
  • Peace negotiations took place in 1989, following UN Resolution 435. SA accused of atrocities in Namibia.
• Decolonisation in Rhodesia:

  • SA gave aid to them to fight against independence groups. later when other countries gained their independence, SA felt that the Rhodesian regime was unsustainable
  • The SA government tried to convince the white supremacist government to negotiate more with moderate black groups
• How did SA become isolated in terms of sporting and cultural links?

  • Suspended in 1964 and later formally excluded in 1974 from the Olympics
  • SA tours attracted disruption and the government had banned tours that included non-white players e.g. banned the English cricket team for having a coloured South African
  • Commonwealth passed the Gleneagles Agreement in June 1977 which forbade members from competing against SA in any sport