Total Strategy

• Strengthening military/Police state

  • Botha Minister of Defence for years
  • Made state security council (SSC) ‘82
  • More influence than Cabinet
  • Increased armed forces
  • ‘72 South African males 9 months military service
  • Increased to 2 years
  • 720 extra days regular intervals or in emergency
  • 200000 schoolchildren went cadets
  • ‘81 South African Defence Force number over 250000 reserve
  • Arms boycott
  • Made own arms (ARMSCOR)
  • Guns, tanks, rocket launchers and more
  • Often used parts from countries willing to break boycott
  • Military spend: 700mil rand ‘74 to 3000mil rand ‘81
• Military actions to neighbours

  • Angolan + Mozambique Communist governments came to power when Portuguese rule end '75
  • Angola
  • Namibian independence fighters + MK make bases
  • SADF supported UNITA (ani-gov rebels)
  • Kept civil war active
  • Raided bases
  • Bureau of State Security (BOSS)
  • Secret police
  • Much of their activity only came out through Truth and Reconciliation Commission
  • Mozambique
  • No anti-government force
  • SADF made armed one
  • Civil war
  • Agreed to not assist ANC
  • Psychological warfare
  • Said fighting war against communism
  • For democracy and freedom
• Western Diplomacy

  • '78 South Africa was part of international trade
  • Wealthy South Africa whites accustomed to foreign goods
  • Needed Western leaders to continue trade
  • UN, commonwealth and black SA leaders call for sanctions
  • Many ordinary people pressured their governments
  • Total Strategy for West was to play on communist worries
  • Help from 2 west leaders
  • Regan (US '80-88), and Thatcher (Britain '79-90)
  • Neither wanted principles to affect trade
  • Resisted sanction pressure from UN, Commonwealth, and their people
• Petty Apartheid

  • 1979: Reikert report
  • 1981: Some beaches de-segregated
  • 1981: Lange Report
  • 1983: New constitution
  • Indians and Coloureds vote
  • Elected representative could not debate whites
  • 1985: Permit mix marriage
  • Black partners not live white area
  • 1985: Some hotels de-segregate
  • Too expensive for blacks
  • Many facilities segregated
  • Group Areas Act crumble
  • White housing empty
  • Black area overcrowd
  • 1986: Many white reserve job opened
  • 1986: Pass law abolished
  • Travel economic difficult
  • Black unemploy still high
  • 1986: Blacks full citizenship
• Reform Result

  • Anti-apartheid opposition campaigners wanted apartheid scrapped, not reduced
  • Opposition white supremacists, led by Eugene Terre Blanche
  • 1982: New ultra-right Conservative Party launched
• Reforms Table

  Label

  A) cities

  B) harrassed

  C) Trade Unions

  D) Skilled

  E) Complex

  F) educated

  G) education

  H) 80s

  I) poor

  J) necessities

  K) Urban Foundation

  L) middle

  
• Total strategy

  • By Botha
  • Term most South Africans are familiar, came into common use during P.W. Botha's era
  • Portrayed as apartheid government’s response to perceived threat of ‘total onslaught’
  • Method to suppress 'communist' threat
  • 4 main strands:
  • Reform
  • Strengthening military/Police state
  • Military actions to neighbours (e.g. Angola)
  • Western Diplomacy
  • Purposes:
  • Win West support
  • Justify black repression
  • Get whites to close ranks, especially in security forces and judiciary
  • Condone political activist torture and assassination
  • Justify neighbour destabilisation
• Reforms

  • Introduced ‘reforms’ as PM/President (title changed ‘83)
  • To seem more liberal
  • West ethically invest in South Africa
  • Help economy grow as apartheid changed to be more fair
  • WHAM policy (win hearts and minds)
  • Reforms had minimal changes to apartheid laws
  • Helped (white) big businesses reduce blacks protesting
  • Aimed to maintain apartheid, help big businesses and appease world pressure
  • ‘79: Black trade unions legal, strikes ‘84
  • Businesses struggling as in ‘70s, secret illegal unions sprung up
  • Argued legal unions would act more responsibly
  • White employers could negotiate
• Irony of total strategy doctrine

  • Designed to portray apartheid government as sole supporter of Western democracy in African continent
  • Whereas real purpose was to maintain apartheid power
  • Serving interests of 13% population at expense of 87%