SA unit 2

• Peaceful protest had achieved little historically
• Government usually responded with repressive legislation in response to peaceful protests
• ANC believed that igniting the fire of mass anger would create a mass movement
• ANC was more interested in an ill-defined idea of freedom rather than non-racial democracy
• Sobukwe, PAC leader, focused on pass laws
• Sharpeville was a small township synonymous with apartheid repression
• PAC branch founded in Sharpeville in 1959 by a trade unionist
• 1960, a crowd of 5000 gathered outside a police station in Sharpville demanding to be arrested for not carrying their passes
• Police fired into the crowd, killing 69 protestors, with 70% shot in the back as they attempted to flee
• Sharpeville shootings brought political conflict into focus
• Sharpeville shootings caused international outrage and criticism
• National Party government passed the Unlawful Organisations Act to ban parties that threatened public order
• State of emergency declared 1960, leading to strengthened police powers and thousands of arrests
• Repressive measures were aimed at asserting authority and reassuring investors and white citizens
• Further repression included the Sabotage Act 1962 and the 1963 General Law Amendment Act
• Verwoerd aimed to create a totally apartheid state and a South African republic
• Macmillan's 'Winds of Change' speech highlighted the need for post-colonial changes in Africa
• South Africa became a republic on 1961 with a narrow majority vote
• South Africa left the Commonwealth in 1961 due to opposition from Asian and African heads of state
• International reactions included the refusal to allow Maori rugby players from New Zealand to visit South Africa
• Armed struggle was adopted by ANC and PAC due to the failure of peaceful protests
• Communist links were important for the armed struggle, with the Soviet Union providing financial support
• ANC uMkhonto we Seziwe (MK):

  • Armed wing of the ANC co-founded by Nelson Mandela after Sharpeville massacre
  • Led by Mandela and Joe Slovo to protect ANC against repression
  • Independent from ANC, members from outlawed communist party, SACP, and SAIC
  • Initially committed acts of sabotage on property to avoid loss of life
  • Second phase involved volunteers training for guerrilla warfare to make government impossible
  • Targets were strategic sites like communication posts and power units
• ARM:

  • Armed offshoot of the white liberal party
  • Becoming increasingly radical to abolish apartheid
  • Members arrested for sabotage with lenient sentences compared to non-white groups
• PAC and Poqo:

  • PAC leader Sobukwe imprisoned in 1962
  • PAC turned to underground organization with network of migrant workers
  • Poqo formed in 1961 for violent protest against whites
  • Responsible for violent attacks like Paarl march and Mbhashe bridge killings
  • Poqo justified violence as armed struggle against a repressive state
• Rivonia Trial:

  • Mandela and MK leaders tried in 1963-64 accused of recruiting fighters and sabotage
  • Mandela gave a 4-hour speech admitting charges and calling for non-racial S.A
  • Defended by sympathetic white lawyers, received life imprisonment
• Impact of Exile:

  • All principal ANC and PAC leaders arrested
  • Oliver Tambo went into exile to salvage the movement and win international support
  • Tambo's travels gave ANC international legitimacy
  • Few active African political leaders remained in S.A
• Global Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM):

  • Formally founded in London in 1960
  • Supported by Anglican Christians and started boycotts on S.A products
  • Sport boycotts and dockworkers' refusal to handle S.A goods
  • Verwoerd claimed to be unmoved by international protest
• ANC Alliance with ZAPU:

  • Allied with ZAPU to fight white supremacist regime in Rhodesia
  • Limited military impact but gained good publicity
• ANC Conferences:

  • Morogoro conference in 1969 emphasized armed struggle and rank-and-file member voice
  • National Executive and Revolutionary council conference highlighted multicultural nature of ANC
• Black Consciousness:

  • Movement promoting black identity, history, and culture
  • SASO formed in 1969 to fight for better conditions and opportunities
• Economic Recovery:

  • Apartheid most secure in 1960s with economic growth and foreign investment
  • Growth in Afrikaner wealth, international investment, and white employment in manufacturing
  • Close economic ties with Britain and USA's interest in S.A minerals
• Developing the Bantustans:

  • Bantu Self-government act laid basis for 10 bantustans
  • PM Verwoerd accepted need for African cheap labor but no place for Africans in white society
  • Bantustans were repositories of cheap labor and overcrowded
• Transkei:

  • First Bantustan created in 1963 as a self-governing state
  • Leader Kaiser Matansima relied on coercion and faced unrest from Poqo
  • Condemned by UN and never achieved economic independence from S.A
• Vorster's Use of Police Powers and Defence Forces:

  • John Vorster built up police and defense forces
  • Terrorism Act 1967 allowed detention of suspected terrorists
  • Bureau for State Security (BOSS) created in 1969 for secret activities