Nonviolent resistance to
Apartheid 1945-1994
By Nick Jackson
• ‘‘ Probably the largest
grassroots eruption of diverse
nonviolent strategies in a single
struggle in human history.’’
(Wink, 1987)
Structure
1.
2.
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6.
Historical background
The Apartheid state
Resistance in the early years of Apartheid
Black Consciousness Movement
UDF, COSATU, ANC, and the end of Apartheid
Some questions…
1)Historical Background (1685-1948)
• 1685 Marriage Law
• Mid C19, wealth determined franchise
• 1910 Union of SA-consolidation of European
power
• 1913 Native Lands Act-Turning point
• ANC (African National Congress) formed 1912legal battles
• 1948 National Party Victory
2)Key Apartheid legislation
• 1949 Prohibition of Marriages Act, 1950
Immorality Act
• 1950 Population Registration Act-White, Black
Coloured, Indian
• 1950 Group Areas Act
(The three key pillars of the Apartheid state)
• But other important legislation too
3)Early Apartheid and the ANC
• Defiance Campaign(1952) ‘dignity, equality
and freedom to every South African’. 10,000
transgressed segregation laws, many
imprisoned
• Govt. suppression
• 1954 Freedom Charter, ‘The people shall
govern’
PAC, Sharpeville, Violence
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PAC(1959)-mass protests against pass laws
21st March 1960 Sharpeville Massacre
Was it non-violent?
ANC changed tactic- Umkhonto we Sizwe
(Spear of the Nation)
• Mandela’s criticism of non-violence
4)Black Consciousness Movement(BCM)
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Revival of non-violent resistance?
Reject ideology, then system
Liberate minds
Redefined Black
Excluded whites
Soweto Uprising(1976)-against imposition of
Afrikaans
• BCM lost momentum, had achieved goals, no
future strategy
5)United Democratic Front (UDF)
• Formed August 20, 1983
• Co-ordinate local struggles into national issues
• Umbrella for 565 organisations at its start to
700 at its peak
• Grassroots=strength
• 1984 election boycott success
• Undermine state control in communities
• People Power
The Congress of South African Trade
Unions (COSATU)
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Dependence on black labour=leverage
Political and economic battle
Link smaller industrial issues to larger problems
Strikes and stayaways
Hurt white business, undermine Apartheid’s
power
• Leadership in campaign 1988- Mass Democratic
Movement
ANC
• Never a genuine threat to regime through its
violence
• Increasingly popular
• Historical leader of movement
• Iconic figures
Other
• Whites
• The Church
• International Pressure
The end of Apartheid
6)Some Questions
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What were the main fault-lines in the apartheid regime that could be opened up
through nonviolent resistance?
Assess Nelson Mandela’s critique of nonviolent resistance – how valid was it in the
circumstances?
How did the Black Consciousness movement led by Steve Biko in the 1970s relate
to nonviolent resistance?
How did the United Democratic Front (UDF), which was launched in 1983, relate to
nonviolence?
Given the strength of the apartheid state, which forms of nonviolent resistance
proved most effective in the long term?
What brought the eventual downfall of the apartheid regime? Was it influenced by
the growing violence in the townships, with ‘necklacing’ of collaborators and so
on? Were nonviolent forms of resistance more important? What was the role of
international pressure on the apartheid regime?
Essay question-‘Non-violent resistance proved far more effective than violent
resistance in overthrowing the apartheid regime in South Africa.’ Discuss