South Africa Theme 3 Flashcards
(57 cards)
who founded the ANCYL and what is his famous quote
anton lembede
‘look at my skin, it is black, black like the soil of mother africa’
what was black consciousness
international movement which had origninated in USA, concerned with taking pride in back identity, history and culture
back consciousness was tolerated at first because it felt that is emphasis on seperate development might tie in with apartheid.
black consciousness goals and attitude to white people
no cooperation with white, even if sympathetic
encouraged indians and coloured to be equal subject to white oppression
the movement was not necessarily antiwhite but felt that it had to fight apatheid through its own efforts.
many supporters wanted no help from white aparhtied symphathisers.
donald woods and steve biko
Woods was negative in his view of Black Consciousness, as he believed it to be an inversion of apartheid, by excluding white liberals such as himself
Woods and Biko became friends, despite apartheid laws. Woods explains what he learned about the BCM from Biko
When Biko was killed in police custody in 1977, Woods worked to expose his death as murder.
Woods was placed under a banning order, where he secretly wrote a biography of Biko.
Woods and his family escaped South Africa, and the book ‘Biko’ was published in Britain in 1978
abram tino
student activist and black consciousness mlitant
expelled from uni for political activities as part of SASO
killed by parcel bomb in botswana in 1984
key role in soweto
what was soweto
On 16 June 1976 over 2000 high school students in Soweto, Johannesburg marched to Morris Isaacson High School and then towards Orlando Stadium (the main soccer venue) where they planned to demonstrate and protest against the government’s new education directive, enforcing the use of Afrikaans in schools
They had been mobilized by the South African Students Movement (formed 1969 with Biko as President) and were inspired by the Black Consciousness Movement.
As news of the protests spread, police began to converge on Soweto, shooting at school children and throwing tear gas. The first victim, 13-year-old Hector Pieterson was shot by police.
The demonstrators, joined by angry crowds of Soweto residents, reacted by attacking and burning down government buildings. 174 Africans and 2 whites were killed that day.
what were the causes of soweto
can be traced back to the introduction of the Bantu Education Act in 1953
The rise of the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) and the formation of South African Students Organisation (SASO) raised the political consciousness of many students
Afrikaans Medium Decree which made the use of Afrikaans compulsory in school.
what was the results of soweto
the aftermath of the events of June 16 1976 had dire consequences for the Apartheid government.
Images of the police firing on peacefully demonstrating students led an international revulsion against South Africa as its brutality was exposed.
In living rooms across the country, the footage was frightening for white South Africans, and encouraging for many black South Africans on a television service just 6 months old
Within South Africa, the demonstrations spread across the country. Townships in major cities joined the protest which spread to more than a hundred urban centres and many smaller rural towns.
Worker stay-at-homes and consumer boycotts continued and were enforced by threats. The insurrection continued with varying intensity for more than a year, taking the form of rioting, burning barricades, stoning of cars, and the destruction of government buildings and official beer halls.
As of February 1977, the official death toll stood at 575: 496 African, 75 coloured, 2 Indian and 2 white
the extension of university education act 1959
put an end to black students attending white universities (mainly the universities of Cape Town and Witwatersrand). This Act set up separate ‘tribal colleges’ for black university students. So-called ‘bush’ Universities such as Fort Hare, Vista, Venda, and Western Cape were formed. Blacks could no longer freely attend white universities.
stats on education following acts such as extensions of uni education and the bantu education act
pupil: teacher ratios went up from 46:1 in 1955 to 58:1 in 1967.
In 1961, only 10 per cent of black teachers had completed their last year of high school.
In 1961, only 10 per cent of black teachers had completed their last year of high school.
40 new schools were built in Soweto from a change in government policy in 1972 as a result of pressure. Between 1972 and 1976 the number of pupils at secondary schools increased from 12,656 to 34,656.
R644 was spent annually for each white student, while only R42 was budgeted for a black school child.
In 1976 there were 257,505 pupils enrolled in Form 1 at high schools which had a capacity for only 38,000 students.
SASM
South African Students’ Movement
formed in the early 1970s and viewed as a school based version of SASO and was fully focussed on school maters.
They were independent of Black Consciousness and SASO. SASM organised boycotts against the Afrikaner decree and oragnised the June 16 protest.
SASO had been banned in 1975 but SASM with its student representative councils remained legal.
consequences of Biko’s death
On 12 September 1977, Steve Biko was the forty-fifth person to die in police custody since the introduction of detention without trial in 1963.
There was international disgust, not only at his death but at the police cover-up which followed it. The truth about what happened to him did not emerge until twenty years later, in the hearings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that was undertaken after the fall of apartheid.
Biko’s funeral on 25 September, was the first big political funeral in South Africa. As bus-loads of mourners neared they passed Black youths standing solemnly along the road with their clenched fists raised.
30 000 people marched and sang freedom songs. For five hours, speakers eulogised Biko.
total onslaught
attack on apartheid by communists
the defence minister in 1978, Botha declared’ SA facing total onslaught by communist forces
total strategy
And what did it lead to
deployment of every possible means to protect apartheid, political, economical, psycological and militarily
led to restructure of government
a state security council set up, compromised of army generals and police chiefs to oversee security
biko song : peter gabriel
released 1980
donated proceeds towards black consciousness movement
38 in the charts.
enourmous impact creating political awakening.
chris hani
General Secretary of the South African Communist Party and Umkhonto we Sizwe chief of staff. joined SACP in 1961
Joined Umkontho We Sizwe in 1962. Left South Africa in 1963 to undergo military training in the Soviet Union.
Took part in failed “Wankie Campaign” in 1967 and was arrested and detained in prison for two years. Imprisonment left him critical of the failure of the ANC to assist him and he wrote the ‘Hani Memo’ criticising leadership of the ANC.
In 1974 Hani re-entered South Africa to establish an underground infrastructure for the ANC. In 1982, he was subject to several assassination attempts, including at least one car bomb.
Hani took over as General-Secretary of SACP following the unbanning in 1990.
In April 1993 Chris Hani was assassinated. This was organised by a ultra right-wing Conservative MP Clive Derby-Lewis. Hani’s assassination nearly derailed negotiations for the end of apartheid
winnie mandela - the mother of the nation
She was first banned in 1962 following Nelson’s arrest before the Rivonia trial.
In 1965, a new and more severe banning order put her under virtual house arrest.
In 1969 she arrested without warrant under Vorster’s 1967 Terrorism Act.
she was kept in solitary confinement for seventeen months and tortured. When she was released, she was banned for another 5 years
The police raids were relentless, with intrusions into her home sometimes happening up to four times a day.
In May 1977 she was banished for eight years to a small, isolated town, Brandfort. But she established a creche, soup kitchen and clinic for the local people.
Once her banishment ended, she returned to Soweto in 1986 and established a place for disenfranchised youth to feel at home, organise, and socialise: Mandela United Football Club (MUFC).
Winnie was later accused of murdering a number of people including the 14 year old activist Stompie Seipei. This was overshadowed in 1990 by the release of Nelson Mandela
the international defence and aid fund
The International Defence and Aid Fund was set up in Britain in 1956 by Canon John Collins. It was started to pay for lawyers to defend the treason trialists and look after the families of those imprisoned. £75,000 was raised during the Treason Trial.#
When John Collins died in 1982, Trevor Huddleston took over as director.
first success of the AAM
The Anti-Apartheid Movement started as a boycott group in 1959 in response to an appeal by Albert Luthuli
The AAM scored its first major victory when South Africa was forced to leave the Commonwealth in 1961. It held a 72-hour vigil outside the Commonwealth venue, Marlborough House, and found willing allies in Canada, India and the newly independent Afro-Asian Commonwealth member states. Trevor Huddleston became President of the AAM in 1981.
‘Stop the Seventy Tour Campaign’
In autumn 1970 the South African Springbok rugby team came to Britain. The Anti-Apartheid Movement set up a special ‘Stop the Seventy Tour Campaign’ to disrupt the matches. Tin-tacks (similar to drawing board pins) were thrown on to the pitch and several matches were abandoned. It was the last time a South African sports team played in Britain until 1996
trade boycotts
The Anti-Apartheid Movement turned its attention to the British government, calling for trade boycotts of South Africa. Many British people refused to buy South African goods such as fruit and wine. Demonstrations were held outside the offices of British companies which invested in South Africa or which had factories or branches there.
what bank was boycotted
barclays
economic sanctions
the United Nations was among the first to condemn apartheid in 1952.
In 1962 the UN proposed tough economic sanctions: cutting off all trade links with South Africa, particularly in essential supplies such as oil. This ‘economic war’ was supposed to force the South African government to change, or face economic ruin.
It was up to those countries with the most trade with South Africa to make the sanctions work. These countries were Britain, USA, Germany and Japan.
They did not want to impose tough sanctions on South Africa as many of their countries businesses and people had invested money in South Africa.
The economy was doing well, with a growth of 5-7% in the 1960s.
Additionally South Africa had not only a large supply of diamonds and gold, but also some rare minerals which modern industry cannot do without.
UK government response to calls for economic boycott and AAM reaction
1970 tory government, Edward Heath, withdrew britain from arms bycott and rejected economic disengagement and focussed on contructive engagement. they said theyd invest in SA and said they will ensure the business they worked in wass ethical
the AAM was furious arguing it was just business as usual.
