Opposition/Resistance

• Women's Protest

  Anti-Pass: ‘52 onwards

  • Response to gov extension pass laws to women
  • Slow but didn't stop
  • Peaceful protest; leader arrested (harsh gov backlash w/ no change)
  • ‘56 women's (many races) protest to see gov officials responsible for pass
  • Ignored; led big demo occupy gov offices in Pretoria; ignore, no backlash/change
  • Black sash, W middle-class women, help B women against pass law + Apartheid restrictions (high domestic support)

  Shebeen Protests

  • B city women had shebeens (beer hall at home)
  • Traditional way women contribute to African social life
  • Police raids + fines
  • ‘59, women attack + burn 2 beer halls fed up with police harassment
  • Police respond violent, cause more protests
• Freedom Charter

  • By ANC, attended by resistance groups
  • 1st democratic meeting post-’48
  • 'Step up' from prior opposition (e.g. defiance campaign)
  • 3,000 delegates; 320 Indians, 230 coloureds, 112 W, + 2,200 B SA
  • Secret watch by banned Mandela + Sisulu
  • Crowd surrounded by police
  • Gov
  • Passed legislation to stop resistance
  • Ban orders to restrict political activities
  • Future demands (ANC manifesto w/ popular support, basis for protests):
  • 1 person = 1 vote
  • All national groups equal rights, end Apartheid
  • All people share nation's wealth; minerals, banks, industries
  • Land shared by those who work it (re-divided among farmers)
  • All equal before law; fair trials + end banning orders
  • All have human rights; abolish passes
  • Work + security; trade unions recognised + equal pay
  • Free education, compulsory + equal for all children
  • Rents + prices lowered, food for all + free medical care,
• Treason Trial '56-61

  • 156 arrested after freedom charter (105 B Africans, 25 W, 21 Indians, 7 coloureds)
  • Not all present at Charter
  • Accused of treason, communism support + communist organisation membership
  • Benefit:
  • Badly organised + drag on
  • Incapable to prove guilt, lead to acquittals
  • Increased publicity for Freedom Charter + allow leaders to plan future protests together in jail
  • Harm:
  • Many key leaders stopped from political activity for 5 years
• Bus Boycotts

  • Africans driven from city centers to townships due to Group Areas + Native Resettlement Acts
  • Their jobs still in city, they couldn't afford cars they were reliant on buses
  • Gov paid bus companies to keep fares low (to stop wage complaints)
  • Yet some still raised prices, causing hardship + unrest

  '57 Alexandra Boycott

  • Boycotted buses
  • Faced 32km walk from Alexandra to Johannesburg + back
  • Police harassment/intimidation present whole way
  • High domestic support led to fare inc removal
• Rural Protests

  • Under Verwoerd, forced to live in Bantustans, where managed their affairs, areas designated for farming small, poor + overcrowded/populated
  • Gov made cattle-killing policy to improve stock quality + grazing grounds
  • Widespread protest; Pondoland revolt last several years (impact: high short-term, low long-term)
  • Chiefs faced difficulty in implementing government's white laws, (passes + taxes)
  • Refusal to cooperate led to removal, cooperation led to labeled a 'puppet', gov police to crush those protests
• Sharpville Massacre '60

  • Young black activists upset by Freedom Charter + cooperation w/ others
  • Sobukwe left ANC '59, formed Pan-African Conference - PAC
  • Campaign against Pass laws
  • '59 ANC announce single-day anti-pass march
  • PAC called for mass civil disobedience demonstration Sharpeville
  • Refused to carry passes + demanded to be arrested
  • After minor scuffle police opened fire
  • 69 killed + 180 injuries
  • Internal Opposition:
  • PAC + ANC, turn to militancy + make abroad HQs
  • Burn Passbooks nationwide
  • Judicial Response:
  • 18,000 arrested
  • Courts decide shooting unlawful; nothing done
  • Government Response:
  • Ban ANC + PAC
  • International Response:
  • Tambo got international support for ANC, UN sanctions imposed; investor withdrawal
  • Young Africans left to train as guerillas in China, USSR + independent African countries
  • Anti-apartheid groups established in various countries
  • Britain + British Commonwealth Conference criticised SA
• Rivonia Trial '63-4

  • After Sharpeville, ANC leader Tambo exiled + Luthuli agreed to continued non-violence, but Mandela made MK
  • MK
  • Aim to liberate B SA + those treated as unequal
  • Violent protest; against property rather than W community
  • Mandela, “banned” work underground (”Black Pimpernel”)
  • HQ in Rivonia, Johannesburg
  • Bombings started '61
  • '62, Mandela left SA
  • Arrested upon return
  • No MK connection proof, charged with minor offences
  • '62 Sabotage Act
  • Added death penalty, to any who damage property for political reasons
  • Targeted at MK
  • '63-4: Mandela + 7 others prosecuted under Sabotage Act, Rivonia trial; evidence from police raid on underground communist base
  • Mandela found guilty
  • But spoke for 4 hours, international reporting, banned in SA
  • Led out his ideas of fair democracy, equal rights + treatment
  • '64 - Accused sentenced to life imprisonment + held at pretoria central prison before flown to Robben Island
• Black Worker's Strikes '73

  • '60s, gov crushed B trade unions + wages increased
  • '73 global economic crisis cause wage reductions, longer hours + poorer working conditions
  • Natal strikes w/ 200,000 workers
  • Solidarity key to strikes, trade unions weak
  • Mostly Zulu workers encouraged by Zulu homeland leaders, unity from ethnic loyalty + traditional Zulu weapons at meetings
  • Employers had to relinquish wages
  • Led to trade union activity resurgence
  • High impact long-term; strikes played big role in Apartheid collapse + short term; achieved aims + increased wages