Overcoming Apartheid
The nature of resistance to Apartheid was through mass protest, boycotts and
passive resistance against Apartheid laws such as the Pass Laws. There was a
Programme of Action and the Defiance Campaign. The Women’s March united
black, coloured and Indian women against the Pass Laws.
Responses of the Apartheid state; repression in
the 1950s
The government response was harsh oppression and extreme violence and
many thousands of peaceful protesters were jailed or fined heavily. Repression
of the 1950s culminated in the Treason Trial.
From petitions to the Programme of Action
Between the 1920s and the 1950s, resistance to racial oppression and
Apartheid took many forms. Some resistance was informal and spontaneous,
while other forms of resistance were highly organised.
On 8 January 1912, chiefs, representatives of people’s and church
organisations and other prominent individuals gathered in Bloemfontein and
formed the South African Native National Congress, soon to be known as the
African National Congress (ANC). The ANC declared that its aim was to bring
all Africans together as one people to defend their rights and freedoms.
The Programme of Action, 1949
In 1944, the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) was formed. It was critical of the old
guard for being too cautious in its protest activity. The Youth League wanted
more militant action to involve the masses and put greater pressure on the
state.
The ANCYL put forward a Programme of Action, calling for strikes, boycotts and
civil disobedience. The ANC annual congress accepted the Programme in 1949.
Orientation towards mass mobilisation and alliances
in the 1950s
The 1950s was the start of a new era in South African resistance politics, with
the mass mobilisation of ordinary people to oppose Apartheid. Anti-Apartheid
organisations formed alliances in order to increase pressure on the
government.
The Apartheid system became more and more oppressive and dealt more and
more violently with those who opposed it. The government also responded to
resistance by passing more and more repressive laws to strengthen the
Apartheid regime.
The Defiance Campaign 1952
On 26 June 1952, the ANC and the South African Indian Congress organised a Day of
Defiance. Groups of protestors in towns and cities across South Africa set out to break
Apartheid laws. They left their passes at home, walked through ‘Europeans Only’
entrances, stood at ‘Europeans Only’ counters and entered ‘Europeans Only’ waiting
rooms. African men burned their passes. They hoped to overcrowd the jails and force
the government to remove the relevant legislation.
Over the next weeks and months, the Defiance Campaign gathered momentum. The
Defiance Campaign popularised the ANC and its membership rose from 20 000 to 100
000. For the first time, the South African freedom struggle gained some international
support.
The Freedom Charter, 1955
In 1954, the ANC (black Africans), SAIC (South African Indian Congress),
SCAPO (South African Coloured People’s Organisation) and COD (Congress of
Democrats, with a mainly white membership) joined together in the Congress
Alliance.
In June 1955, all the leaders of the Congress Alliance met in Kliptown, near
Johannesburg. They called the meeting ‘The Congress of the People’ and
agreed to adopt the Freedom Charter. The Freedom Charter was a list of
demands for the rights that most South Africans were denied. It became a
popular document, often quoted by freedom fighters during the long years of
resistance.
The response of the Apartheid state; The
Treason Trial, 1956
The Apartheid government did not accept the ideas
of the Freedom Charter. They arrested the leaders
of the Congress of the People and accused them
of high treason, or trying to overthrow the
government. The trial last for four years, but not a
single person was found guilty.
The formation of SACTU and the formation of
alliances, 1955
SACTU was founded in 1955 as a non-racial alliance of trade unions. It was
aligned with the Congress Alliance and sent delegates to the Congress of the
People in Kliptown. SACTU policy was that industrial relations could not be
divorced from politics and it openly engaged in political activities rather than
confining itself to ordinary trade union action.
The Women’s March, 1956
All African men had to carry a pass book. It contained information about their
residence and employment and helped the Apartheid government control black
workers. The pass laws were some of the most hated of all the Apartheid laws.
African men had to stand in line for hours to have their pass books renewed. Police
stopped men in the streets, or woke them up at night to check their passes.
In 1956, the government tried to force African women to carry passes. This sparked
a campaign by the Federation of South African Women (FEDSAW) and the Women’s
League of the ANC. On 9 August 1956, about 20 000 women marched on the Union
Buildings in Pretoria to protest against passes for women. They sang a song with the
following words: “You have tampered with the women; you have struck a rock
(imbokodo or grinding stone). Strijdom [the prime minister], you will be crushed.”
The Sharpeville massacre and the beginning of
the armed struggle
What was the impact of the Sharpeville massacre?
What was he Sharpeville massacre?
A crowd gathered at the Sharpeville police station on 21 March 1960 to
demonstrate against the pass laws. The police opened fire on the crowd, and at
the end of the day, 69 people were dead and nearly 200 wounded. Most of
those killed had been shot in the back as they tried to flee.
All black South Africans experienced Apartheid’s repressive laws on a daily
basis, but the Sharpeville Massacre was a particularly violent example of
Apartheid repression.
What was the impact of the Sharpeville Massacre
The Sharpeville Massacre was a turning point in South African history.
1. Repression increased: The government declared a state of emergency to crack down on its
opponents. Then, it quickly passed a new law called the Unlawful Organisations Act. This law banned
the two main resistance organisations, the ANC and the PAC.
2. The nature of resistance changed: the ANC and PAC cntinoued their work underground and
illegally. Some members of both organisations left the country to continue the struggle in exile. The
South African Communist Party had been banned long before this. Members of both banned
organisations, the SACP and the ANC, worked together underground.
3. International pressure on South Africa grew: newspapers all over the world reported on the
Sharpeville Massacre. People everywhere learned about the brutality of the Apartheid system. For
example, there were anti-Apartheid demonstrations in London.
The beginning of the amed conflict
Within South Africa, resistance took a new course. Leading members of the ANC, the Communist
Party and the PAC decided to start an armed struggle to force an end to Apartheid.
The formation of Umkhonto we Sizwe
The ANC formed Umkhonto we Sizwe (‘the Spear of the Nation’, often known as MK)
in 1961 to perform acts of sabotage. The reasons for the adoption of the armed
struggle were set out in the MK’s founding manifesto, which was issued on 16
December 1961.
Many ANC members felt that it was useless to continue using nn-violence against a
government that responded with violent attacks on unarmed people, but the ANC
leadership was reluctant to start an armed struggle, because the organisation had
been so well known for its peaceful character. However, the leaders eventually agreed
that passive resistance would not work on its own in South Africa and set about
creating an armed wing.
Poqo, the PAC and armed conflict
Robert Sobukwe, the leader of the PAC, was arrested after Sharpeville, a given a three-year jail
sentence. He was not released until 1972.
The PAC formed an armed wing called Poqo, which:
Means ‘pure’ or ‘alone’ in isiXhosa
Had a support base in the Western Cape and Transkei
Embarked on a violent sabotage campaign
Intentionally killed whites, and blacks who were policemen or chiefs
Was an anti-white underground movement
Provoked mass terror among whites
Did not have mass support
Lack of support and the government repression meant that Poqo did not survive. By 1968 the military
functions of the PAC were taken over by the Azanian People’s Liberation Army (APLA).
State repression: The General Law Amendment
Act, 1963
The government campaign to crush internal resistance was led by John Vorster, then
Minister of Justice and by General; Hendrik van den Bergh, Head of the Bureau of
State Security (BOSS). They were both former members of the Ossewabrandwag and
had been interned for pro-Nazi activities during World War Two. They introduced the
General Law Amendment Act of 1963, which allowed the police to detain people for
ninety days without charging them and without allowing them access to a lawyer. At
the end of that period, the police could re-arrest and detain them for a further ninety
days.
The law was used to detain MK members before the Rivonia Trial.
Resistance driven underground
Responses to the banning of the liberation movements were varied. The ANC and
PAC went into exile.
