Reforms

• Botha started to introduce ‘reforms’ during his time as Prime Minister/President (the title changed in 1983)
• This was done to be seen as more liberal to the rest of the world; essentially saying to the West that they can ethically continue to invest in South Africa it helped the economy to grow because the apartheid system is being changed to make it more fair (W.H.A.M policy - winning hearts and minds)
• In reality, these reforms involved minimal changes in apartheid laws, helped out (white) big businesses and reduced the amount of black people protesting
• The aim was to maintain apartheid, help big businesses and appease world pressure
• 1979: Black trade unions legalised - led to strikes in 1984 (by the Wiehahn Report)
• Businesses had been struggling due to ‘Wildcat’ strikes in the 1970s, when secret illegal unions had sprung up and Wiehahn argued that legal unions would act more responsibly and white employers would know who to negotiate with
• Reikert report of 1979 said blacks should be able to move more freely around the country and buy houses; they could buy property on black townships - Influx control and laws against blacks owning property in urban areas were relaxed
• Reikert report of 1979 had Botha and his friends in big businesses create the Urban Foundation to build new, better houses in black townships and advertisement began to focus on this new, wealthy, black middle-class
• 1981: Some beaches de-segregated
• 1981: Lange Report recommended that a single education system be set up and to spend more on black education - Botha was not prepared to do the first of those but the spending on black education tripled through the 1980s
• 1983: New constitution allowed Indians and Coloureds to vote, but their elected representative could not debate with whites
• 1985: Mixed marriages permitted, but black partners could not live in a white area
• 1985: Some hotels de-segregate, but these hotels were way too expensive for blacks anyway (equally many facilities remained segregated
• Group Areas Act was crumbling for economic reasons - white housing empty, black areas over crowded
• 1986: Johannesburg's business district opened to non-whites for economic reasons - many jobs previously reserved for whites opened up
• 1986: Pass laws abolished, but travel was economically very difficult and black unemployment was still very high
• 1986: Blacks allowed to be full citizens of the Republic of South Africa
• Opposition from anti-apartheid campaigners who wanted apartheid to be completely scrapped, not just reduced
• Opposition from white supremacists, led by Eugene Terre Blanche
• 1982: The new ultra-right Conservative Party launched
• Needs of business owners/farmers: A steady supply of reasonably satisfied workers for their factories but black workers found it hard to move to cities - and were harassed when there
• Needs of business owners/farmers: Skilled workers for their modern complex machines but black children were poorly educated and learned few of the needed skills
• Needs of business owners/farmers: People in South Africa with enough money to buy their goods but most blacks were so poor they couldn’t afford the necessities
• Needs of business owners/farmers: Fewer unskilled farm workers because big farms were now mechanised but black people were tied to the land
• How were these needs met by Botha’s reforms? Trade Unions legalised - so they would possibly act more responsibly and easier for businesses to deal with
• How were these needs met by Botha’s reforms? More was spent on black education - it tripled through the 1980s (to get better workers)
• How were these needs met by Botha’s reforms? Urban Foundation was set up to build new, better houses in black townships (focus on this new, wealthy, black middle class)