The Crisis

of
Apartheid
: Internal
Resistance
Source Based question
 Suppression: to
Conspiracy:
subdue the
conspiracy
opposition by force

Colour barrier:
Definitions Assault: attack segregation in the
workplace

Mobilize: To
Prosecution: to be
organize people to
charged in court
get ready for action
Government efforts to
reform apartheid
PW Botha: Government has developed a
policy of: “Total Assault-Total Strategy”
Government propaganda led SA to believe
that communism had devised plans to seize
power in SA
NP government has adopted a “total
strategy” to thwart this onslaught
Total strategy involved:
Extensive military reinforcement
Censorship
Banishment of those who threatened
government
Prohibition of certain organizations
and political gatherings
Detention without trial
From 1985 declaration of state of
emergency
The Black Local Government Act of 1982
• Following the Soweto Uprising, the government appointed
local Community Councils (consisting of white government
officials)
• Purpose was to administer townships
• In 1982 the Local Government Act was passed
• Provide for limited power at local level
• Community councils could be elected by local residents
• Was responsible for the collection of rent and service fees
• The arrangement was very unpopular with township
people
Tricameral parliament
• In 1983 a new constitution was introduced - Tricameral Parliament
• Try to win support from brown and Indian community
• White control was still maintained
• Separate parliaments were set up for white, brown and Indian
representatives
• House of Assembly (white) / Council of Representatives (brown) / Council
of Deputies (Indian)
• Each house would control “own affairs” (such as education and housing)
• All other matters were managed by the Volksraad
• Political power was still in the hands of the white parliament
• Africans excluded in three-chamber parliament
KEY QUESTION: HOW DID SOUTH AFRICANS
RESPOND TO THE INTRODUCTION OF THE THREE-
CHAMBER GOVERNMENT SYSTEM?
SOURCE 1A
The source below explains Prime Minister P W Botha's reform strategies in the 1980s

... Botha's government proposed in 1983 that political power in South Africa be shared among whites, coloreds and
Indians, with separate houses for each racial group in parliament.
This proposal provoked furious opposition including several national leaders, sixteen, including Andries Treurnicht
were suspended when they refused a motion of confidence in Botha's leadership. to sign. Treurnicht founded the
Conservative Party of South Africa (CP) and brought together old enemies of Botha such as Connie Mulder and
supporters of the Cramped faction of the NP. Botha went ahead with his plans and called for a referendum in which
only white voters would be asked if they would approve the prime minister's plans for constitutional change.
Some liberal opponents of the government, such as Frederik van Zyl Slabbert, leader of the Progressive Federal
Party (PFP), and Harry Oppenheimer, head of the Anglo-American Corporation, condemned (opposed) Botha's
plans because they would permanently exclude blacks from any political role in South Africa. Many other politicians
and businessmen, English- and Afrikaans-speaking, argued that any change in apartheid would be an improvement.
Most white voters agreed, and two-thirds of those who took part in the referendum voted 'yes'.
The new constitution came into force in 1984. In place of the single House of Parliament, there were three
constituent bodies: a 178-member House of Representatives, a Council of Representatives of eighty-five (colored
representatives) and an (Indian) House of Representatives (45 members). ). Whites thus retained a majority in any
joint sitting. The state president chaired the three houses. The state president was elected by an electoral college
consisting of 88 members, in the 4: 2: 1 ratio of whites: coloreds: Indians.

[From: https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/south_africa5.htm. Accessed January 2, 2021.

According to the source: Use the information from the source to answer
the question.

.1 Using Source 1A.

1.1.1 Identify THREE South

African racial groups, from the
source, with whom Botha's
government was willing to
share political power in 1983.
(3 x 1) (3)
1.1.2 Who, according to the source,
was the leader of the Conservative
Party. (1 x 1) (1)

1.1.3 Why do you think 1.1.4 Uses the information from the source and your
the Conservative Party own knowledge and explains why did the Liberals
broke away in 19 of the condemn Botha's reforms, which permanently excluded
National Party? (1 x 2) (2) the Blacks from parliament? (1 X 2) (2)
Internal resistance to reform
Widespread protests have been held against
government reforms:
Local Government Act
Three-chamber government system

Spate of mass resistance in the 1980s by:

Emerging power of unions
Civic Associations
 Emerging power of trade union movements since 1973

Workers and unions play important role in the

protests
Initially, unions were concerned with workplace
issues such as wages and working conditions.
Organized forms of resistance, boycotts and stay-
away actions with community organizations:
Encouraged community organizations to boycott
companies with poor labour practices
After 1983, unions became more actively involved in
wider politics
Trade unions join the United Democratic Front
Trade unionists persuaded people to boycott the
three-chamber parliamentary elections
 COSATU adopted the Freedom Charter in
1987
An end to apartheid and
racism
Lifting the ban on political
parties
Release of political prisoners
One person, one vote
Constitutional Assembly
Since 1985, unions have been involved in increasing strikes
COSATU involved in a campaign of subsistence wages (higher
wages for the rising cost of living in times of inflation)
Trade unions called in 1985 for May 1 to be a stay-away action
so that the importance of labour could be emphasized.
May 1 support - stay-away action increased
By 1987, two and a half million people supported it
Government's attempts to limit industrial action through
legislation were unsuccessful
COSATU and other unions have launched a massive campaign
of abstinence and boycotts to oppose it
Trade unions demanded in 1985 that May 1 be a no-go
action

Trade unions demanded in 1985 that May 1 be a no-go action

 Response to PW Botha's reform - new
methods of mobilization
• The Black Local Government Act (1982) and the
three-chamber constitution (1983) had far-
reaching political consequences
• Nationwide mass protests followed
• It was clear to everyone that the government was
trying to transform apartheid
• A number of democratic organizations have
joined forces to discourage voters from
registering and not voting in the upcoming
elections.
• Was successful- less than 20% of the coloured
and Indian voters made an effort to vote for the
Three-Chamber Parliament in 1984
Labour's 'extended' mass action

• The response to Botha's reforms in the black townships was dramatic

• Uprisings began in the townships in the Vaal Triangle
• Sharpeville, Sebokeng, Boipatong
• Uprising and protests were against rent increases in a period of
economic hardship and general unemployment
• Uprising develops into a mass uprising across the country
Role of civilians
Civic associations have mobilized people to improve their quality of
life
Citizens across the country took part in rental boycotts, consumer
boycotts, workers' stay-away action and boycotts of local elections
Sometimes these boycotts have led to violent clashes with the police
Civic associations targeted black councillors in the Community
Councils (responsible for township administration)
Those who served on the Community Councils were considered to be
collaborators of the government.
Some members of the Community Councils were very unpopular —
they were killed by the necklace method
• In 1985, the government declared a state of emergency in many
magisterial districts
• Spread throughout the country
• The police and army used excessive force to deal with the uprisings.
• The army was sent to the townships
• Within a few months thousands of people died in clashes with the
security forces.
• The police and army did not succeed in gaining complete control
in the townships
Mass Democratic
Movement
• The United Democratic Front (UDF) was founded
in 1983 in Mitchell's Plain near Cape Town.
• The UDF consisted of 400 national, regional and
local organizations
• The ANC in exile supported the UDF
• By 1985, the UDF had three million members
• Well-known leaders were: Desmond Tutu, Allan
Boesak, Albertina Sisulu and Helen Joseph
• UDF called for boycotts of elections for the
Tripartite Parliament and local councils in the
townships
• Arrange rental boycotts, school protests, stay-away action and
consumer boycotts
• UDF organizes sustained resistance between 1984 and 1986
• Certain UDF leaders have been charged with high treason in two high-
profile hearings
• The leaders are accused of working with the SACP and the ANC to
overthrow the government
• In the first trial, 16 leaders, including Albertina Sisulu, were acquitted.
• In the Delmas high treason trial, 19 accused were initially convicted -
but later acquitted
• The UDF united and coordinated the opposition in the fight against
apartheid
• Out of fear, the government declared the UDF banned in 1988
• Smaller resistance organizations protested against
specific targets Conscription
• The End Conscription Campaign (ECC) was against campaign
military service - after leaving school all white men
were obliged to perform national service
• Young soldiers were either sent to townships or were
involved in the Border War
• Refusal to perform military service could lead to six
years in prison
• The ECC supports conscientious objectors against
military service
• They also launched the "Troops from the Townships"
campaign.
• In 1985, 1,750 conscripts refused to report for military
service
• The government banned the ECC in 1985
 • In the 1980’s the role of the Black Sash
changed
Black Sash
• After the abolition of the pass laws, they
began to focus on welfare issues such as
housing and child support.
• The Black Sash became more involved with
issues in rural communities
• The younger generation of Black Sash
women were particularly influenced by
feminist ideas.
• Lydia Kompe, for example, formed the
Rural Women's Movement:
• Black women were encouraged to oppose
laws and practices that prevented them
from owning land
Protest by scholars and church leaders

School education was

Scholars' protests were an COSAS organized Leads to the detention of severely disrupted when
important part of the demonstrations and school hundreds of scholars and the slogan "Liberation
liberation struggle boycotts everywhere teachers before education" gained
support in many townships

In December 1985 the The NECC (National

Use the slogan “Education
disintegration of education Education Crisis School boycotts lifted
for Liberation”
was discussed Committee) was formed

Scholars and teachers were

encouraged to challenge Scholars were empowered
the education system from to fight apartheid
within the school
 • Some church leaders and churches have played an
active role in protests
• Committed to non-violent action
• The South African Council of Churches (SACC)
Protest by coordinated the opposition
church leaders • In 1985 the church leaders issued the "Kairos
document"
• Calls on all Christians in SA to be part of the struggle
for liberation by supporting civil disobedience,
consumer boycotts and strikes
• Certain Muslim and Jewish organizations also
supported the freedom struggle
• The Dutch Reformed Church openly condemned
kindness
Mass Democratic Movement
• The banned ANC requested that
1989 be a "Year of Mass Action"
• After a hunger strike - hundreds
of political detainees released
• MDM (Mass Democratic
Movement) was formed from
UDF supporters and COSATU
members - the core of the
organization
 MDM launches
resistance
campaign against Also protested
government to end against three-
segregation in chamber elections-
hospitals, public September 1989
transport and
beaches

Three million MDM organizes

workers stayed massive freedom
away from work on marches in major
polling day cities

By the end of 1989,

Time was right for
it was clear that the
major changes in
government was no
South Africa
longer in power.
Additional resources

Refer to the Exemplar question

Lesson Plan: Additional sources
of 50 marks for
for informal tasks
Term 2 Week 3 revision purposes