History P1 Final Deck

What is the origin of Black Consciousness?

New ideas and philosophies were debated at university campuses. Black Consciousness arose out of these debates, inspired by global struggles against oppression, anti-colonial thinkers like Frantz Fanon, Pan-Africanism, the Negritude movement, newly independent African states and the Black Power Movement.

Who were inspirational figures prior to the Black Consciousness Movement in South Africa?

Pan-Africanist and nationalist figures such as Anton Lembede and Robert Sobukwe served as inspiration for the Black Consciousness Movement.

Why did Biko leave NUSAS?

At NUSAS conferences, Biko saw that although the organisation was formally non-racial and opposed apartheid, it was dominated by white students in its leadership, priorities and style of debate. Black delegates were a small minority, and the issues that most affected Black students were not central to the agenda.

Why did Steve Biko believe white liberals could not form part of the Black Consciousness struggle?

Biko believed that white liberals, however well-meaning, could not lead the struggle of Black people, and that integrated organisations tended to reproduce white dominance and Black dependency. He argued that Black students first needed to organise on their own, build their own confidence and define their own goals.

What was the specific incident that made Steve Biko leave NUSAS?

At the 1967 NUSAS conference at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, segregation rules meant that Black delegates could not be accommodated and fed on the same terms as white delegates and were housed separately. Biko objected strongly and argued that NUSAS should not accept these conditions. He was dissatisfied with the white leadership's response, because in his view the organisation protested apartheid in principle but went along with it in practice when resisting was inconvenient.

What is SASO, and how and when was SASO formed?

SASO is the South African Students' Organisation, a Black-only student union, which was a new direction for student activism and reflected a new militancy and vigour. In 1968, at a University Christian Movement conference in Stutterheim, Black students met separately and discussed forming their own organisation. In 1969 SASO was formally launched at the University of the North (Turfloop), with Steve Biko as its first president. Its founders and early leaders included Biko, Barney Pityana, Strini Moodley, Mamphela Ramphele and Saths Cooper.

What are the 7 key ideas of Black Consciousness?

1. Pride in Black culture, heritage and history.
2. Rejecting definitions based on whiteness, such as non-white, and preferring the term Black, which included all those oppressed by the apartheid state.
3. Mental liberation as a prerequisite for physical liberation, doing away with submissive attitudes and feelings of inferiority.
4. Self-determination, meaning the struggle should be Black-run and Black people should liberate themselves without relying on white liberals.
5. Pan-Africanism and solidarity, including all groups oppressed by the apartheid state in the definition of Black, which brought vigour to the struggle through increased unity.
6. Non-violence.
7. Total equality and an end to apartheid.

Where did Black Consciousness differ from most struggle movements in South Africa, and what was the effect of this emphasis?

Black Consciousness was a Pan-Africanist-inspired movement centred on self-determination, emphasising that the oppressed people themselves should lead the struggle. This differed from the multiracialism of the ANC. This emphasis gave Black South Africans, especially the youth, a new direction and philosophy to inspire resistance, and gave new impetus to organisations.

How did SASO become so influential among Black students?

Many SASO members became teachers and brought Black Consciousness ideas into schools. Its ideas also appealed strongly to the victims of the Bantu Education system.

What impacts did Black Consciousness have on anti-apartheid activism?

It removed feelings of apathy and hopelessness, and this psychological liberation brought new vigour to the struggle. It influenced the youth, as new ideas and new hope led more learners to join the struggle against apartheid.

What does self-determination mean in the context of Black Consciousness?

Self-determination means that the struggle should be Black-run, with Black people liberating themselves rather than relying on white liberals.

What organisations were under the BPC?

The main organisations linked to the BPC within the Black Consciousness Movement were SASO, the Black Community Programmes (BCP), SASM, the SSRC and BAWU. AZAPO was formed in 1978 as the BPC's replacement after it was banned.

What was BAWU?

BAWU was the Black Allied Workers' Union, a trade union formed in the early 1970s (1972 in most sources) that organised Black workers along Black Consciousness lines and offered them support such as legal advice. Self-help schemes such as cooperatives, literacy schemes and cultural forums were set up mainly by the BPC and the Black Community Programmes.

What was the job market like for Black people in the 1970s?

Inadequate housing and unemployment had a negative impact on Black communities. Pass Laws and influx control limited access to jobs. The colour bar reserved better jobs for white workers.

How did Black Consciousness impact the Soweto Uprising?

SASO members who became teachers brought Black Consciousness ideas into the classroom, for example Onkgopotse Tiro at Morris Isaacson High School. SASM was created as a Black Consciousness-aligned, school-based student union. SASM and the SSRC were vital in organising the Soweto Uprising. SASM supported boycotts, called for an exam boycott and was instrumental in planning the march to Orlando Stadium. The students' focus on Afrikaans and the conditions in schools can be at least partly attributed to raised consciousness and the influence of the Black Consciousness Movement. The government crackdown on the movement after the uprising suggests that the government saw it as a threat and a key factor in inspiring students to protest.

What publications supported Black Consciousness?

Publications that supported Black Consciousness included Thrust, Black Review, the SASO Newsletter and the writings of Steve Biko, such as I Write What I Like, published under the pen name Frank Talk.

What are the core tenets of Black Theology?

1. God takes the side of the oppressed, and the Bible was read as a story of liberation, with the Exodus as a central example.
2. Jesus was presented as a liberator who identified with the poor and the oppressed, not as a figure who blesses the existing social order.
3. Salvation includes this life, so faith requires action against injustice now, not only hope for heaven.
4. Being Black is not something to be ashamed of, rejecting the colonial Christian idea that Blackness was inferior or sinful and that European culture was the proper form of Christianity.
5. African experience and culture are valid sources for theology, which should start from the actual lives of Black people rather than from European traditions alone.

What made Black Consciousness so hard for the apartheid government to directly repress?

Black Consciousness as an idea could not be banned. Furthermore, its loose structure of community-based resistance made it hard to directly repress.

What did the following organisation do: BPC?

The Black People's Convention was an umbrella organisation formed in 1972 to coordinate the activities of the many Black Consciousness-aligned groups that had been formed. It promoted Black communalism, organised communities and self-reliance, and included trade unions, student councils and community programmes. This approach to self-reliance and community activism brought hope and vigour to communities, especially in the Eastern Cape. The BPC grew to over 40 branches, spreading Black Consciousness ideas beyond universities and intellectuals to a wider range of ordinary people.

What were important community programmes under the BPC?

Important programmes included the Zanempilo Community Clinic, education and upliftment programmes, day-care centres, Black Consciousness-aligned theatre groups, cooperative home-based industries and the Zimele Trust Fund for political prisoners. These represented a new way of approaching resistance that relied on building communities and providing internal support in defiance of the government, rather than organised public protest.

What were the 6 factors that caused the Soweto Uprising?

1. Black Consciousness, as both an organisational and an ideological trigger.
2. The popularity of international movements, namely the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Power Movement.
3. Worker militancy.
4. African liberation movements.
5. Bread and butter issues.
6. Bantu Education, especially the Afrikaans Medium Decree of 1974.

How did the Civil Rights Movement and Black Power Movement affect South African resistance?

Both movements were active in the United States in the 1960s and early 1970s. The Civil Rights Movement led to legislative changes in the 1960s. The Black Power Movement changed the attitudes of African Americans through Black pride and promoted Black identity, culture and history. This influenced the thinking of the Black Consciousness Movement, and the success of Black Power in the USA motivated Black South Africans.

Describe worker militancy in the Black Consciousness era.

The 1973 Durban strikes, which began at the Coronation Brick and Tile factory and spread to tens of thousands of workers, were caused by very low wages, rising prices and a lack of workers' rights. They led to widespread worker agitation and militancy and more active protest against the apartheid state, adding to the general growth of grassroots resistance.

Which African liberation movements inspired South Africans in the 1970s?

Most African colonies were independent by the late 1960s, but Portugal held on to Angola and Mozambique. Liberation movements there fought wars against Portugal in the early 1970s and succeeded, and Angola and Mozambique became independent in 1975. Their success inspired protest against the apartheid state, encouraged the growth of internal resistance and emboldened South Africans.

What were the bread and butter issues during the 1970s?

Black South Africans were still subject to the harsh laws of the apartheid state and continued oppression. There was a lack of adequate housing, high unemployment, the impact of Bantu Education and a lack of service delivery. The youth of the early 1970s were inspired to change their daily lives, and the June 1976 protests were shaped by this ongoing oppression.

What did the following organisation do: SASM?

The South African Students' Movement was created as a Black Consciousness-aligned, school-based student union, acting as an umbrella body for high school pupils within the wider movement. SASM and the SSRC were vital in organising the Soweto Uprising, so Black Consciousness ideas had a significant influence on its organisation, planning and execution. It was the largest uprising against apartheid since the early 1960s. SASM supported boycotts, called for an exam boycott and was instrumental in planning the march to Orlando Stadium.

What led to the rise of the Black Consciousness Movement by the 1970s? (Extended writing heading)

1. The leadership of Bantu Steven Biko.
2. African independence.
3. Civil rights movements.
4. Reaction to apartheid, both physical and mental oppression.
5. A response to the leadership vacuum of the 1960s after 1963.
6. Bush university movements and Black Theology.
7. SASO, including a discussion of its origin.

What was the Black Parents' Association and when was it formed?

The Black Parents' Association was an organisation formed in Soweto in June 1976, shortly after the 16 June student uprising, by parents and community leaders such as Dr Manas Buthelezi and Winnie Mandela. It supported pupils and their families by arranging funerals for those killed, providing legal and medical help and speaking on the students' behalf to the authorities, until it was banned on 19 October 1977.

How did the Black Consciousness Movement challenge apartheid in the 1970s? (Extended writing heading)

1. The BPC.
2. The Black Community Programmes.
3. Black literature.
4. The Black Parents' Association.
5. The Zimele Trust Fund.
6. The Zanempilo Community Clinic.
7. Home-based industries.
8. Day-care centres.
9. Education.

What were the bush universities?

Bush universities, also called bush colleges, was the popular and mostly disparaging name for the separate universities the apartheid government created for Black, Coloured and Indian students. They included the University College of the North at Turfloop for Sotho, Tswana, Pedi, Venda and Tsonga speakers, the University College of Zululand at Ngoye for Zulu and Swazi speakers, the University of Fort Hare, which the government took over in 1959 to 1960 and restricted to Xhosa speakers, the University College of the Western Cape for Coloured students, and the University College for Indians in Durban for Indian students.

What did the following organisation do: SASO?

The South African Students' Organisation was a Black university student organisation founded in 1968 to 1969, with Steve Biko as its first president, after Black students broke away from the white-led National Union of South African Students. It spread Black Consciousness ideas among students, encouraged Black people to lead their own liberation, helped create the Black People's Convention in 1972, and was banned on 19 October 1977.

What did the following organisation do: SSRC?

The Soweto Students' Representative Council was formed by Soweto school pupils during the 1976 uprising, with Tsietsi Mashinini as its first leader. It coordinated student protests against Bantu Education and the Afrikaans Medium Decree, organised marches, school boycotts and worker stayaways, and was banned on 19 October 1977.

What did the following organisation do: AZAPO?

The Azanian People's Organisation was founded in 1978 to continue the Black Consciousness Movement after the Black People's Convention and related organisations were banned in 1977. It opposed apartheid and the homeland system, later combined Black Consciousness with a socialist focus on class, and still exists as a political party today.

What was the government reaction to Black Consciousness?

At first the apartheid government saw the Black Consciousness Movement as aligning with ideas of separate development, but it soon recognised it as a threat to white power. It repressed Black Consciousness materials and banned and arrested leaders, for example banning eight leaders, including Biko, in 1973. Repression increased after the 1976 uprising, with mass detentions without trial and Black Consciousness leaders particularly targeted. The 1976 SASO-BPC trial ended with nine leaders found guilty under the Terrorism Act and sent to Robben Island. On 19 October 1977, all Black Consciousness-aligned organisations were banned, including the BPC, SASO and SASM. Biko was killed in detention in September 1977. Government repression cut off the movement's leadership but could not destroy its ideology. Detention without trial, torture and deaths in detention increased.

What economic crisis made living conditions worse in townships?

The 1973 oil crisis caused a recession that hit working-class and township residents the hardest, as workers were retrenched, wages remained low and inflation increased.

When were the BPC and SASO leaders sent to prison?

The BPC and SASO leaders were convicted in the SASO-BPC trial in 1976 and sent to Robben Isl

What happened on 10 February 1985, and why did it matter?

Zindzi Mandela read out her father's rejection of Botha's conditional release offer at Jabulani Stadium, Soweto, further inspiring the anti apartheid movement.

What was the Rubicon Speech, and what crisis did it trigger?

A 1985 speech in which Botha rejected both significant reform and international pressure, triggering a financial crisis in which foreign banks cancelled loans, the rand dropped 35%, and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange closed for four days.

How many conscripts failed to report for military service in 1985, and where were many believed to be?

1750 conscripts, many believed to be living in Europe as draft dodgers.

What began reshaping the international and domestic climate around apartheid from 1985?

Gorbachev's rise in the USSR and the policies of perestroika and glasnost.

What happened to the Sharpeville Six, and when?

They were sentenced to death, then their sentences were commuted to imprisonment in 1988, following wide local and international protest.

What happened to churches' role in opposition after the 1987 to 1988 bannings?

After many organisations were banned, churches became virtually the only legal voice of opposition.

According to Source L, Tom Lodge, what was UDF Phase 5?

A revival from 1988, led by churches and labour unions.

What happened in February 1989 that led to the release of political detainees?

A highly publicised hunger strike led to hundreds of political detainees being released.

What did the banned ANC call 1989?

A Year of Mass Action.

What international event in 1989 removed the ideological basis for the government's Total Onslaught fears?

The fall of the Berlin Wall and the failure of communism in the Soviet Union.

What happened to P.W. Botha in 1989, and who replaced him?

He suffered a stroke, forcing his resignation as Prime Minister and State President, and he was replaced by F.W. de Klerk, who recognised the need to negotiate with the ANC.

By 1985, why were business leaders growing anxious about apartheid's continuation?

They worried about instability and sanctions, and were already hoping for reform even before the Rubicon Speech confirmed the government's refusal to change course.

What was the immediate trigger for the 16 June 1976 march?

The Afrikaans medium policy, requiring Afrikaans instruction for half the subjects taught at Black high schools.

Who formed the Action Committee that planned the march, and when?

SASM, at a meeting on 13 June 1976; it was later renamed the Soweto Students' Representative Council.

What happened during the 16 June march itself?

Roughly 20000 students marched through Soweto, the government banned outdoor public meetings, and 13 year old Hector Pieterson became the first schoolchild killed.

What was the government's short term policy response in July 1976?

It backed down on the Afrikaans policy, though school disruption continued into the following year.

What was the overall human cost of the uprising?

Over a thousand people killed, mainly by police action, and many thousands wounded, with many student leaders detained.

What happened to SASM leaders during the uprising in terms of ANC contact?

They made contact with ANC leaders recently released from Robben Island.

How did the exiled ANC respond to the uprising while it was banned?

It kept contact with students and issued pamphlets during the uprising, even though BC ideas had inspired the protests.

What happened to students who left South Africa after the uprising?

Over 12000 students left to join the ANC in exile and receive military training, increasing sabotage activity inside South Africa.

What did Khotso Seatlholo of the SSRC argue in his 29 October 1976 statement, Source G?

That the current generation of students would take up the liberation struggle themselves.

How is the Soweto uprising characterised in terms of its significance to the National Party?

As the biggest and most sustained challenge the National Party had faced since coming to power in 1948.

What happened at Biko's funeral in September 1977, and why does it matter for understanding the uprising's aftermath?

Thousands of mourners raised clenched fists and chanted Power, around ten thousand heard speakers warn his death would push black South Africans toward violence, diplomats from thirteen Western nations attended, and police stopped mourners travelling from other cities from reaching the funeral.

Why did Bantu Education funding rise sharply between 1976 and 1978, and what does this suggest about the government's response?

From R78 million for 1976 to 1977 to R117 million for 1977 to 1978, suggesting a reactive attempt to address underlying grievances about school conditions after the uprising exposed them.

What was the immediate trigger for the 16 June 1976 march?

The Afrikaans medium policy, requiring Afrikaans instruction for half the subjects taught at Black high schools.

Who formed the Action Committee that planned the march, and when?

SASM, at a meeting on 13 June 1976; it was later renamed the Soweto Students' Representative Council.

What happened during the 16 June march itself?

Roughly 20000 students marched through Soweto, the government banned outdoor public meetings, and 13 year old Hector Pieterson became the first schoolchild killed.

What was the government's short term policy response in July 1976?

It backed down on the Afrikaans policy, though school disruption continued into the following year.

What was the overall human cost of the uprising?

Over a thousand people killed, mainly by police action, and many thousands wounded, with many student leaders detained.

What happened to SASM leaders during the uprising in terms of ANC contact?

They made contact with ANC leaders recently released from Robben Island.

How did the exiled ANC respond to the uprising while it was banned?

It kept contact with students and issued pamphlets during the uprising, even though BC ideas had inspired the protests.

What happened to students who left South Africa after the uprising?

Over 12000 students left to join the ANC in exile and receive military training, increasing sabotage activity inside South Africa.

What did Khotso Seatlholo of the SSRC argue in his 29 October 1976 statement, Source G?

That the current generation of students would take up the liberation struggle themselves.

How is the Soweto uprising characterised in terms of its significance to the National Party?

As the biggest and most sustained challenge the National Party had faced since coming to power in 1948.

What happened at Biko's funeral in September 1977, and why does it matter for understanding the uprising's aftermath?

Thousands of mourners raised clenched fists and chanted Power, around ten thousand heard speakers warn his death would push black South Africans toward violence, diplomats from thirteen Western nations attended, and police stopped mourners travelling from other cities from reaching the funeral.

Why did Bantu Education funding rise sharply between 1976 and 1978, and what does this suggest about the government's response?

From R78 million for 1976 to 1977 to R117 million for 1977 to 1978, suggesting a reactive attempt to address underlying grievances about school conditions after the uprising exposed them.

What was the immediate trigger for the 16 June 1976 march?

The Afrikaans medium policy, requiring Afrikaans instruction for half the subjects taught at Black high schools.

Who formed the Action Committee that planned the march, and when?

SASM, at a meeting on 13 June 1976; it was later renamed the Soweto Students' Representative Council.

What happened during the 16 June march itself?

Roughly 20000 students marched through Soweto, the government banned outdoor public meetings, and 13 year old Hector Pieterson became the first schoolchild killed.

What was the government's short term policy response in July 1976?

It backed down on the Afrikaans policy, though school disruption continued into the following year.

What was the overall human cost of the uprising?

Over a thousand people killed, mainly by police action, and many thousands wounded, with many student leaders detained.

What happened to SASM leaders during the uprising in terms of ANC contact?

They made contact with ANC leaders recently released from Robben Island.

How did the exiled ANC respond to the uprising while it was banned?

It kept contact with students and issued pamphlets during the uprising, even though BC ideas had inspired the protests.

What happened to students who left South Africa after the uprising?

Over 12000 students left to join the ANC in exile and receive military training, increasing sabotage activity inside South Africa.

What did Khotso Seatlholo of the SSRC argue in his 29 October 1976 statement, Source G?

That the current generation of students would take up the liberation struggle themselves.

How is the Soweto uprising characterised in terms of its significance to the National Party?

As the biggest and most sustained challenge the National Party had faced since coming to power in 1948.

What happened at Biko's funeral in September 1977, and why does it matter for understanding the uprising's aftermath?

Thousands of mourners raised clenched fists and chanted Power, around ten thousand heard speakers warn his death would push black South Africans toward violence, diplomats from thirteen Western nations attended, and police stopped mourners travelling from other cities from reaching the funeral.

Why did Bantu Education funding rise sharply between 1976 and 1978, and what does this suggest about the government's response?

From R78 million for 1976 to 1977 to R117 million for 1977 to 1978, suggesting a reactive attempt to address underlying grievances about school conditions after the uprising exposed them.

What were the terms of Biko's 1973 banning order?

He was banned from teaching or making public addresses, banned from speaking to more than one person at a time, barred from entering educational institutions, and required to report weekly to his local police station.

What did banning BC leaders from 1973 physically do to them?

It forced them to live in restricted, isolated locations inside South Africa.

What did the Internal Security Amendment Act of 1977 replace, and what powers did it give the Minister of Justice?

It replaced the Suppression of Communism Act, giving the Minister of Justice power to declare organisations unlawful, ban publications, prohibit attendance at gatherings, restrict people to certain areas, and detain persons or witnesses without trial.

How many organisations were banned in the 1977 crackdown, and how many people were detained?

17 organisations, including SASO, SASM, BPC, and SSRC, with 42 people detained.

What happened to Steve Biko during his final detention before his death?

He was chained to a grill overnight, left in urine soaked blankets, stripped naked, and kept in leg irons for 48 hours before the brain damage that killed him.

What explanation did police initially give for Biko's death, and how was it officially described?

Police initially claimed he died from a hunger strike, which is disputed, and his death was officially described as a prison accident.

What immediate action did the government take against the press after Biko's death?

It banned the newspaper The World, in addition to Thrust, already banned during the 1975 build up.

What mechanism did the Riotous, or Violent, Assemblies Act provide the government during the Soweto uprising?

It let the government ban outdoor public meetings, used after the 16 June 1976 march.

What was the Bantu Education system designed to enforce, and through what other measures?

Keeping black workers as a source of manual labour, enforced through Bantu Education, the colour bar, pass laws, and the homeland system.

What was the Afrikaans medium policy of 1975, and to how much of the curriculum did it apply?

A Department of Education policy requiring Afrikaans instruction, applied to half of the subjects taught at Black high schools, directly triggering the Soweto march.

What mechanisms did the government use to increase state control after the 1960 Sharpeville massacre?

It banned the ANC and PAC, increased state control of media, allowed indefinite detention without trial, and used restriction orders and house arrest against critics.

What was the Total Onslaught, Total Strategy policy, and who devised it?

A policy devised by P.W. Botha and Defence Minister Magnus Malan from 1978, claiming a communist plot via military attacks, protests, and international criticism, the Total Onslaught, met with a Total Strategy of military build up, censorship, bannings, and detention without trial, paired with limited reform to win support from the black middle class.

What reforms did Total Strategy include, despite its repressive core?

Effectively dropping the separate development and homeland independence policy, giving urban Africans the right to live permanently in cities, giving African workers limited trade union rights, relaxing some urban facility segregation, and permitting some multi racial private schools.

What did Total Strategy still deny Africans, and what powers did it give the army?

Africans still had no political rights outside the homelands, and the army was given increased powers in the townships and for cross border raids against anti Frelimo and anti MPLA proxy forces.

What penalty did conscripts face for refusing military service under Total Strategy?

6 years' imprisonment.

What was the Black Local Authorities Act of 1982 designed to do, and why did it backfire?

It gave elected Community Councils more power, including collecting rents and service payments, aiming to satisfy black demand for political power without conceding real power, but this rent collecting role made the councils unpopular and a target for civic resistance.