Apartheid - Repression Flashcards
Nature, impact and significance of tactics of repression and oppression
- Total strategy
- Defence forces and military response
Botha government’s response to the ‘onslaught’ on the regime. They would use every possible means: military, economic, psychological and political.
- State Security Council
- The Bureau of State Security (BOSS) the secret police, carried out a ‘dirty war’ against ANC leaders in 1969
- Botha had been Minister of Defence for many years
- Set up SSC in 1982
Consisting of:
- Army generals + Police chiefs
Arms forces + arms industry
- Participation
- School
- Force member
- What they made
- Spedning
Forces
- From 1972 every South African male had to participate in 9 months of military service
- 200 000 school children participated in regular camps run by the army and joined cadet forces
- By 1981, the South African Defence Force (SADF) numbered over 250,000 with another 250,000 in reserve.
Industry
- Made guns, tanks, rocket launchers and many other kinds of weapons, often using parts and machines supplied by countries willing to break the boycott
- Military spending
= Rose from 700 million rands in 1974 to 3,000 million rands by 1981
Role of South African security forces
- Censorship
- An Act
- Social media
Information on deaths in detention could not be reported under the Inquest Act and allegations of brutality and maladministration by the police were outlawed under the Police Act
Under the Protection of Information Act, the press was prohibited from reporting on arrests unless it could be proved that the report would not endanger state security
Television and radio news were controlled by the government and the number of newspapers that were closed down increased
Main changes or reforms by the Botha government from …
1979 – 1983
In 1979 the government accepted the main recommendations of the Riekert and Wiehahn Commissions
- Riekert reversed apartheid principles for those blacks with Section 10 rights by allowing them to buy their own homes and to move more freely in search of work
1960-70s Examples of Government’s Use of Force and Repression
- Legislation
- Arrests banning confiscation
- Violence, torute
- Removal
Unlawful Organisations Act, Suppression of Communism Act, General Laws Amendment Act
October 1977 18 organisations declared illegal
1973- 21 Africans died in police custody
1976 - 77 Africans died in police custody
1954 to mid 1980s 3.5 million African removals
Summary of the 1950s - Policy of Repression Continued and Oppressive Legislation
- Defiance Campaign
- Laws
- Freedom Charter
Defiance Campaign, 1952= 8000 blacks arrested.
- 1953- Govt could declare state of emergency if there was the belief that there was a threat to public order= Public Safety Act (could last 12 months and be renewed)
- 1953- Criminal Law Amendment Act- govt could arrest anyone it wanted*
Freedom Charter= 156 ANC figures including Mandela, Tambo, Sisulu arrested on suspicion of treason- Treason Trial (went on for 5 years)
Total Strategy
- Reforms to petty aparthied
- Political reform
- Reforms to petty apartheid eg marriage, separate amenities - public and international image of SA
- Ending of race based segregation and allocated
- Limited independence granted to 4 Bantustans from 1976-81
- Improved infrastructure in black urban townships- reduce black riots and protest, gain support
The Botha governments introduced political power sharing
- It gave the franchise (right to vote) to coloured and Indian populations
Role of security forces
- 1960s and 1970s
1963 The State Security Committee;
1969- The Bureau of State Security (BOSS): The purpose of BOSS was to coordinate the security sections of the police and military intelligence division of the Defence Force.
1972- The State Security Council (SSC):
- The SSC had the job of advising the Prime Minister on security matters
After the Soweto Rising of 1976, the level of brutality on the part of the security organs, and the scope of their activities steadily increased.
Role of African security forces
- Successor
- Budget
Verwoerd’s successor, John Vorster
- Hard line minister of Justice and continued to build up police and defence forces
Defence budget rose from R44 million to R255 million during his period as justice minister (1961 to 1966)
Defence Forces
- Organisation
- Strength
The South African Defence Force (SADF) had been created in 1957 with a dual mission to defend the borders and combat counter-insurgency.
In 1963, the SADF had a strength of 25,000.
The South African Defence Force (SADF) had been created in 1957
Police Forces
- Act
- Organisation
Police forces were given ever-greater powers such as Section Six of the 1967 Police forces Terrorism Act, which gave them authority to detain indefinitely anyone suspected of terrorist activities or of supporting them.
1965 Police Amendment Act empowered police to make searches without any need for a warrant within one mile of the borders.
1969, the Bureau for State Security (BOSS) was created to co-ordinate the work of the defence and police forces.
DEVELOPMENT OF BANTUSTANS
Timeline
1913 Natives Land Act established reserves in the homelands
1950 - The Groups Areas Act provided for a particular area to be proclaimed as an area for a particular racial group – black people were forced to move out from ‘white areas’
1953 – SA government introduced homelands/Bantustans (Transkei and Ciskei – Xhosa)
1960s Homeland system – complete implementation of apartheid by creating independent homelands where black SA were forced to live
1970 – Black Homeland Citizenship Act - sought to provide a legal framework for homelands
HENDRIK VERWOERD
- Personality
- Ideology
Devout Christian – believed it was his God-given mission to set up a White SA
SEPARATE DEVELOPMENT
- Limit black and white interaction and didn’t want Black people in South Africa’s white cities
- UNSUCCESSFUL = Only a minority – about 39% by 1986 – actually lived in the Bantustans – the remainder lived in South Africa proper, many in townships
Motives of Verwoerd
- Political
- Economic
Divide and Conquer – based on ethnic differences
Land was separate from each other – prevent groups from forming a united front
Govt claimed it was trying to preserve cultural and ethnic differences
Govt could spend less money on services for the black population if they were now in separate homelands
Fewer hospitals, schools and houses would be needed in ‘white’ SA
Official SA stats show black population falling
BY THE 1970S UNDER BOTHA
- Intention
= Previous
- Reality
- Population
Govt wanted to make a number of the Bantustans fully independent black states.
- Previously, the Bantustans existed to push the message of ‘separate development’(Verwoerd) and the theory was to ‘retribalise’ black South Africans.
Reality: Overcrowded and impoverished and heavily relied on the South African infrastructure and economic aid.
e.g. Bopthuthatswana relied heavily on subsidies from the white govt.
Bantustans only ever housed one third of the black South African population and they never received international recognition as independent nations.
