A major part of the opposition was the Black Consciousness movement led by Steve Biko. His theory was that “as a result of living for generations in a white-dominated society, black people had lost confidence in themselves. They came to assume that the whites were superior so they accepted too easily, if unhappily, the bad ways in which they were treated”. The aim of the movement was to end the dependence blacks had on white society. The movement caused riots in Soweto where more than 700 blacks died and 970 buildings were destroyed. The death of Steve Biko in 1977 made him appear as a martyr of apartheid which encouraged many young people to defy the government at almost any costs. This weakened the government and the strength of apartheid.
Industrial unrest also resulted in a lot of black opposition. In the 1960s, on average, 2,000 blacks were taking strike action. However, in 1973, there were 160 strikes involving 61,000 workers for the first 3 months alone. Wages were not keeping pace with rising prices and bad management. There was no political campaigning and the strikes were hard for companies and the government to defeat. The strikes were successful and provided better wages for blacks.
Although blacks were winning better wages, economically, there was a slow down. This changed a lot of big business view on apartheid. The wealth of white South Africans, and their power, started to decline due to a rising population. After 1980, whites were becoming less wealthy even though the country was become wealthier. Businesses realised that the economy was slowing down because blacks, who were the main labour face, were being excluded from a lot of jobs and had a lack of education. As a result the wages of black people rose by 60% between 1970 and 1986 whereas white wages only rose by 18%. People started to question apartheid as business people were not benefiting as much.
Economic slow down caused economic sanctions from the West who refused to buy certain products. People in the USA and Europe refused to buy South African fruit and wine. In 1986 the Common Market banned the purchase of South African steel. Businesses who had in the past benefited by apartheid, started to get a lot of international criticism. Many critics of apartheid argued that sanctions were the only way Nationalists would give political rights to blacks. Many western businesses started to disinvest in South Africa.
More pressure from the west included protests and pitch invasions of sporting events especially rugby and cricket matches (1960s). These eventually led to a ban on overseas tours which upset people in S.A. There were also anti-apartheid movements in London (e.g. 1976). There was a boycott in the 1980s of Barclay’s Bank complaining about the S.A. branch of it. Many people closed their accounts in protest. This led to the sale of its South African network.
In February 1960, Harold Macmillan made it clear to the white parliament that Britain and the Commonwealth found South Africa’s apartheid polices unacceptable, “individual merit and merit alone is the criterion for a man’s advancement”. The west became especially hostile of the incident in Sharpeville where 69 black South Africans were shot in the back by the government. Many African colonies had recently gained independence and as they joined the UN, it became more critical of S.A. In 1963, the black African nations came together to form the OAU, making abolishing apartheid in S.A. a priority.
Pressure from the West forced South Africa to relax some of their apartheid laws. Blacks were enabled a more liberal lifestyle than before. They became wealthier and more independent. They were better educated and were not prepared to be treated as servants to white society as they became more aware of the world around them. There was even a group of blacks practically level with white wealth already. The black elite were middle-class blacks with their own cars, own savings and better jobs. Their was still a lot of discrimination, even among the black elite. Nevertheless black power was rapidly breaking through. From 1951-1991, the white population fell from 21% to 13%, emphasizing their growing weakness.
As black wealth grew, white cultural isolation lessened and divided attitudes to apartheid developed.
A less male-dominated culture started to appear when white South African women, who were well-educated became holders of responsible jobs. Until 1976, the radio was controlled and TV was banned until 1976. Around this period, more liberal views of apartheid were developing. This was due to being able to listen to different views from the radio and TV. Travelling abroad also helped opinion to spread. Support of apartheid in S.A. started to become more hostile.
As other southern countries saw the strength of apartheid weakening, they started their own resistance against white power and apartheid. Black liberation movements such as FRELIMO and FNLA fought for independence from whites. In 1974, white rule was severely weakened by a series of independence events. A revolution in Portugal resulted in independence for Portuguese African colonies and in Mozambique, a black government came to power. In Angola, a civil war broke out in which South Africa supported UNITA. In Rhodesia, guerrilla war wore down the white Rhodesians. The loss of colonies in the white empire diminished white power and their ability to keep support of apartheid.
His arrest in 1962 gave the MK a huge amount of international publicity.
