SA unit 4

• Townships revolted due to:

  • Government actions that served to antagonize people further
  • Africans in cities offered new urban black councils under the Community Council Act of 1977, leading to discontent in homelands
  • Black local government led to problems as participants were seen as collaborators with the government and were targeted by mobs
  • Devolution of raising revenue locally to councils, resulting in increased rents that absorbed most of black people's household budget
  • Attempts by urban councils to control the spread of informal shack settlements created tension
• • Councillors seen as 'sellouts' participating in apartheid institutions and taking advantage of their position
  • Politicized youth saw councillors as betraying their communities by working for the government
  • Zulu group Inkhata emerged, causing hostility between ANC and Inkhata supporters
• • UDF had different priorities, ideologies, and strategies, including trade unions, church groups, student organizations, and resident associations
• United Democratic Front (UDF):

  • Founded in 1983, made up of 575 organizations
  • Aimed to coordinate internal opposition and create a new South African government based on the Freedom Charter
  • Opposed Botha's measures and argued for a fully democratic South Africa
  • Mobilized against Botha's reform policies, rendering his institutions inoperable
  • Included a wide range of support and organized boycotts of Botha's Indian and Coloured parliaments and councils
• Vaal:

  • point of conflict triggering rebellion in South Africa
  • Uprising against the government leading to violence and retaliation against councillors - some killed as crowd angry they had betrayed their community
• Alexandra:

  • Densely packed African township that became a center of rebellion
  • Revolt broke out in 1986, triggered by youth activists getting shot by a security guard
  • Youth activists mobilized mass participation, leading to violence and clashes with the police
  • Alexandra rebellion continued with attempts to establish alternative order through people's courts
• Protest Strategies:

  • New generation of rebels, younger with little employment prospects
  • Youth worked incognito, establishing clandestine communication systems
  • COSAS formed in 1979, leading school boycotts and aligning with UDF
  • ANC called for making the country ungovernable, leading to increased protests and actions against the government
• Rural Rebellion:

  • Mid-1980s insurrection largely based in urban townships
  • Eastern Cape towns and rural high schools were centers of protest and recruitment for MK
  • In Sekhukhuneland, youth took matters into their own hands, resulting in violent actions
• Government Response:

  • Botha declared a state of emergency in 1985 and sent troops into townships
  • Security forces engaged in violent tactics, leading to arrests, detentions, and crackdowns on opposition leaders
  • Botha's reform "Total Strategy" aimed to combat ANC and bring order back to South Africa, but faced challenges and criticisms
• State Suppression:

  • NP had the power to repress black political protest
  • Police tactics included mass arrests, imprisonment, and banning orders, with cases of kidnapping and interrogation under torture
  • Special branch of police kept files on opposition leaders and attempted to turn them into informants
• Conflict in the Homelands:

  • Opposition strongest in homelands like KwaZulu and parts of Natal
  • Conflict between Zulu speakers with different views and backgrounds
  • Chiefs used homeland police to suppress opposition and vigilantes
• Botha's Reform "Total Strategy":

  • Aimed to defeat ANC and bring order back to South Africa
  • Softened implementation of apartheid laws but faced challenges and criticisms
  • Turned to security forces to restore order and bypassed the tricameral parliament
• International Pressure:

  • Botha faced economic and diplomatic pressures, leading to disinvestment and criticism from Western allies
  • Mandela's growing popularity and international support for anti-apartheid movements
• Effect of the State of Emergency:

  • State of emergency in 1985 aimed to establish internal control, especially in townships
  • Opposition groups banned, arrests, and crackdowns on dissent
• Path to Talks:

  • Mandela's authority among prisoners and negotiations for his release
  • Botha's offer to release Mandela in exchange for renouncing violence, which Mandela refused
• Rubicon Speech:

  • Botha's speech in 1985 disappointed Western allies by refusing major reforms in apartheid system
  • Economic sanctions followed the speech
• Shift in the Balance of Power:

  • Collapse of the Soviet bloc and the end of the Cold War
  • SA defense force engaged in campaigns to support UNITA in Angola
• Total Strategy Beyond Borders:

  • SA engaged in civil wars in Angola and Mozambique
  • Army staged raids on ANC bases in neighboring countries and used counter-insurgency units
• Mandela actively sought a negotiated settlement outlining basic conditions for negotiations to take place
• In 1985, Mandela was separated from other ANC prisoners and given his own flat
• Mandela went ahead with negotiations despite no authorization from Tambo
• Botha staged an attack in 1985 on ANC bases in Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe to undermine quick moves to talks
• Dutch Reformed Church renounced their former support for apartheid
• Mandela spent much of his time explaining the history and values of ANC to a government that was ignorant
• Afrikaners understood the Communist Party's two-phase revolution concept
• Mandela worked with Communist Party activists but believed the ANC was not dominated by them and a socialist revolution wasn't a possibility
• NP, led by F.W de Klerk, maintained repression throughout SA, banning UDF and its newspaper, harassing and detaining UDF leaders
• COSATU became the most organized and sustained opposition movement, affiliated with UDF and sympathetic to ANC
• COSATU organized massive stayaways in 1988, impacting white-owned businesses and minimizing arrests
• MDM was formed in 1989 as an alliance recognizing ANC as the forefront of the struggle
• De Klerk's new course included reducing military budgets and influence of the State Security Council by the end of 1989
• De Klerk promised a real end to apartheid and power-sharing between different races
• Mandela was freed in 1990 after 27 years in prison, symbolizing oppression in SA
• De Klerk legalized political parties including ANC, CP, and PAC
• Mandela's slow walk to freedom was televised internationally and provided a moment of religious intensity and political hope
• ANC renounced violence in August 1990
• Mandela insisted on meeting Thatcher despite ANC's opposition due to her stance on liberation movements and sanctions
• ANC had successfully absorbed key popular opposition forces by 1991
• Unrest and violence led to many Africans giving up education for rebellion in the 1980s
• Inkatha Freedom Party, a Zulu group formed in 1990, was prepared to work with the government and offered anti-communist credentials