The 1950’s brought about the introduction increasingly repressive laws practiced by the white minority National Party government which made black resistance difficult, but slowly the majority black population started to organise their opposition. Black resistance movements became organised and effective through groups such as the African National Congress (ANC) founded in 1921, and the Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC) which formed in 1959. After decades of receiving no response from the National Party government to demands for justice and equality, the ANC launched the Defiance against Unjust Laws Campaign in 1952, in cooperation with the South African Indian Congress, an Asian anti-apartheid political organization. Black people were arrested for defying and ignoring various racial apartheid laws in form of protest, such as walking through ‘whites only’ entrances. The non violent resistance campaign led to the jailing of almost 8000 participants. In reaction to the black resistance movement the government introduced the Public Safety Act to strengthen the government’s authority to arrest dissenters and the Criminal Law Amendment Act which outlined that any person who persuaded or helped others to break the law or to protest against any laws, would themselves be breaking the law. It stated: "Any person who in any way whatsoever advises, encourages, incites, commands, aids or procures any other person,... or uses language calculated to cause any other person to commit an offence by way of protest against a law ... shall be guilty of an offence" (GRADE 9 Apartheid in South Africa, Internet, 2005) These laws made it more difficult for people to hold non-violent protests, but they continued breaking the law, so resistance was still not impossible.
The Defiance Campaign led to increased unity among resistance groups and triggered another black resistance movement in protest of the repressive laws of the apartheid system. In the early 1950’s an ANC campaign to gather mass input on freedom demands became known as the Freedom Charter which called for basic human rights, racial equality before the law, freedom of speech and social reforms. The Freedom Charter was signed on the 26th June 1953, at the Congress of the People in the black township of Soweto. The government regarded the Freedom Charter as a treasonable document. In the following year, 156 leaders of the ANC were charged for treason, however all the accused were acquitted in 1961. This acquittal must have shown protestors that the system could be beaten, and they would have been encouraged to continue their resistance.
As black resistance grew, the National Party Government took harsh repressive action in the form of violence and new laws. In 1960, the Pan-African Congress leaders organised nationwide peaceful demonstrations against ‘pass laws’ that restricted individual freedom. A large group of blacks in the town of Sharpeville refused to carry their passes. Their campaign led to what became known as the Sharpeville Massacre. Protests were met with violent opposition when police forces opened fire on an unarmed crowd of black protestors killing 67 and wounding over 200. In reaction, the government declared a State of Emergency arresting 20,000 and detaining a further 2000 without trial. Civil rights were suspended and police and security personnel were given extra powers to suppress any resistance and opposition. The ANC and the PAC were outlawed under the Unlawful Organisations Act after their involvement in Sharpeville and related demonstrations. The government also introduced the Internal Security Act. This act could declare certain organisations illegal, place people under house arrest, ban meetings and gatherings, ban newspapers and other publications, detain witnesses for political trial, and hold people in indefinite preventive detention. These new acts made black resistance even more difficult, but opponents fought the system through demonstrations and protests in order to challenge the government’s repressive laws, showing resistance was possible.
The growth of youth movements in the 1970’s was also a clear indication that the National Party government’s introduction of other repressive laws and banning nationalist movements was encouraging black resistance. The Bantu Education Act of 1954 allowed the government to take over responsibility for the education of Africans from church missions. In a speech made by General Hertzog’s, the leader of the United Party in 1936, expressed his belief that if black South Africans received proper education, the white population of South Africa would be threatened by black domination. “If the Natives get the necessary education, and the necessary schooling, they must eventually get the upper hand.” (Sorrenson, 1976, p33) Education was used to help perpetuate segregation and domination by preparing black children for low paid, unskilled jobs. Following the Bantu Education Act a campaign was launched against the system involving the youth in rural and urban areas. Students organised a massive protest against the use of Afrikaans as the official language of instruction in the Bantu education system. In 1976, black students in South African high schools and primary schools refused to go to classes. Thousands of students embarked on a series of protests and demonstrations to demand their rights to be treated equally and be given and education of the same standard as white students. Students marched on streets, conducted ‘stay-a-ways’ from school, and defied police. Originally intended to be a peaceful protest, it turned into tragic violence. On the 16 June 1976, students from the South African Students Movement (SASM) organised a protest march in Soweto through the streets of the township. Police forces fired into a massive gathering of school children triggering a wave of protests and interracial violence across the country. Protests led to a series of confrontations between black students and the police, resulting in more than 575 deaths and thousands of injuries and arrests. Many students were even tortured, imprisoned and killed. Clearly the National Party government’s reaction to opposition and particularly youth movements was certainly made difficult due to the use of violence against protestors but despite the loss of lives did not make black resistance impossible.
From the evidence presented it is clear that the repressive laws of the apartheid system which were introduced and practiced by the white minority National Party government after 1948, triggered opposition and protest among racial groups in South Africa. Through laws such as the Public Safety Act, the Criminal Law Amendment Act, the Internal Security Act and the Unlawful Organisations Act, all strengthened the government’s authority to stop any resistance movements, even by means of violence which resulted in thousands of deaths. In summary, the repressive laws of the apartheid system certainly made black resistance difficult but not impossible.
Bibliography:
Cowie, H.R. (
Gilligan, B. (1997) Twentieth Century Studies: The Struggle for Freedom. McGraw-Hill Book Company Australia Pty Limited.
Sorrenson, M.P.K. (1976) Separate and Unequal. Heinemann Ltd, Auckland.
‘Apartheid Timeline’ (online) (retrieved via the internet 2003, May 27)
‘GRADE 9 Apartheid in South Africa’ (online) (retrieved via internet 2005, May 27)
‘Let's Go - South Africa - The Apartheid Era’ (online) (retrieved via the internet 2005, May 27)
‘South_Africa_Apartheid’ (online) (retrieved via the internet 2005, May 27)
‘The University of Manitoba - The Manitoban - February 5, 2003’ (online) (retrieved via the internet 2005, May 27)
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