Opposition to Botha

• Opposition to Botha

  • Came in many different forms; internal and external, white and black
  • Internally
  • Used many actions to oppose Botha’s apartheid
  • Varied aims - depended on specific resistance group
  • External
  • Often indirect and done through non-conflictual means
  • Greater opposition came from 1983 constitution
  • Indians, Coloureds and Blacks all boycotting their respective elections
• White Protest

  • Botha didn’t care
  • Lost core Afrikaner support
  • 37% of Afrikaners, 1987 didn’t support national party
  • Led to '82 when Dr Treurnicht led 18 National MPs to form conservative party
  • White workers upset at loss of job security
  • Small farmers lost labourers to cities
  • AWB - nazi style extremist far-right group (crudely racist)
  • Little Significance
  • NP still had majority
  • No danger of losing power
  • Many know whites still retained power
• Trade Unions

  • Used new legal status to win black worker support ( took militant industrial action)
  • 1974: 14,167 working days lost by strikes
  • 1982: 365,337
  • Strikes had widespread support
  • Trade unions acted on a range of black grievances
  • Black communities supported strikes with boycotts of shop or companies goods
  • Strong leaders (e.g. Cyril Ramaphosa) emerged
  • Joined in COSATU (Confederation of South Africa Trade Unions)
• Schools

  • 1980: 1/2 black people under 25 so slight spending increase on education didn’t cover those wanting to go to school
  • Students fed up of:
  • Huge classes
  • Poorly-qualified teacher
  • No book
  • No future (some inspiration seen soweto)
  • 1979: Congress of South African students (COSAS) formed
  • 1980-1: Nearly 100,000 students (up to uni) boycotted class in protest
  • Made links with other groups, joined rent strikes and consumer boycotts
  • Quite Significant
  • Less government pressure
  • Becomes more significant as future protests led by school children
  • Initial protests had less big picture focus
• Squatters

  • After Influx Control loosened blacks flooded to cities
  • Housing situation became desperate
  • Huge new squatter camps grew
  • Camps regularly bulldozed by ministry of co-operation and development
  • By mid 1980s due to international pressure new settlements were being built
  • Fw blacks benefited from Botha’s WHAM policy, great majority saw little to no change
• Frank Chikane, Alan Boesak

  • One of few organisations not arrested that could speak for black South African's was churches
  • Black church leaders involved in protest, saw Apartheid as fundamentally unchristian
  • Leaders included Boesak and Chikane
  • Chikane was detained 4 times between '78-82
  • '81 Chikane was sacked by small white-run church he belonged to
• UDF (United Democratic Front)

  • Opposition to 1983 constitution
  • Nationwide mass protest movement
  • Reforms angered blacks
  • Offered no actual improvement
  • UDF included students (e.g. COSAS), trade union, church groups, women’s groups, Indian organisations, and civic groups
  • Civic groups: local people joined together over a specific problem (e.g. bus fares)
  • Very Significant
  • United many sections with large success
  • Focused and great scale resistance
  • Success of Boycott Campaign
• Boycott Campaign 1983-4

  • UDF campaign well organised compared to ANC campaigns of 50s
  • Organised leaflets, posters and door-to-door visits
  • Ideals same as ANC - Albertina Sisulu (wife of Walter Sisulu) played a large role in UDF
  • Revived Interest in ANC - increasing Mandela release calls
  • At voting, boycott was successful
  • 29% coloured and 19% indians voted
  • In black councils 21% (some places even lower)
  • Mayor of Soweto had 1,115 votes despite Soweto having a 2 million population
• Vaal Triangle Uprising 1984-5

  • Vaal Triangle: Area of black townships
  • Protest started with school boycott, september '84
  • End unqualified books, excessive corporal punishment and sexual harassment
  • Access to free books and paper
  • COSAS had helped Trade Unions with disputes
  • So Trade Unions helped COSAS with strikes (stay-at-home)
  • Councillors unpopular and corrupt
  • White government told them to up rents when unemployment was 30%
  • Links with local taxi firms locals depended on for work
  • Elsewhere gave liquor licenses to one another
  • More interested in making money than helping people
• Desmond Tutu

  • Anglican priest
  • Became general secretary of South African council of churches '78
  • Used his ability as a speaker to denounce Apartheid
  • Famous worldwide and won Nobel Peace Prize ('84)
  • Government not pleased about his award
  • 75% of whites said it was undeserved
  • '85 became bishop of Johannesburg
  • '86 Archbishop of Cape Town, head of Anglican church in South Africa
  • First black dean in Anglican Church ('75)
• ANC Activity

  • 1981: Launched over 80 armed attacks
  • South Africa invaded other countries to attack ANC bases and kill Apartheid opposition
  • Government agents killed an ANC official in Paris
  • ANC London offices bombed
  • 1985: Tambo told townships to make country ungovernable; more protests
  • Sep 1984 - Jan 1986: Security forces killed 628 blacks, blacks killed 327 blacks (often for government)
• Violence at Crossroad and Elsewhere

  • 1980: White rule ends in Rhodesia, renamed Zimbabwe, and blacks got the votes
  • Crossroads:
  • Illegal squatter town with 100,000 blacks
  • North of Cape Town
  • Over and over police destroyed shacks and took people 800 miles back to their homelands
  • Feb 1985:
  • Thought they were to be moved again
  • Built concrete barricades
  • Youth threw stones at police
  • Police fought back with tear gas and rubber bullets, then shotguns
  • Youths then started throwing petrol bombs
  • Fighting continued through year leaving over 1,000 blacks dead