South Africa- Topic 1

The period of British South African history required to understand the backdrop for apartheid South Africa (1948)

3 Ways that South Africa was affected by WW2

- Manufacturing industry began to expand because of the war and need for supplies
- Employees in the manufacturing industry increased by 60% from 1939-1945
-More black people in the labor force as many whites went to war

The 2 parties in South Africa in 1948 and their leaders

National Party- Daniel Malan
United Party- Jan Smuts

Election Results 1948

National Party won with 70 seats/ constituencies

Why did NP win election (Fear of Black Africans)

-1909 South Africa Act meant that many black South Africans couldn't vote
-There was tons of discrimination

Meaning of Swart Gevaar & Oorstrooming

Swart Gevaar- Fear of Blacks
Oostrooming- Fear of black people flooding into white areas

Why did NP win election (Rise of Afrikaner Nationalism)

-Malan was very anti-British
-Malan introduced the Broederbond which represented and appealed to Afrikaner Nationalism

Why did NP win election (United Party failures)

-Smuts took South Africa to fight in WWII with Britain
-Afrikaners defeated British in Boer war, resented the fact they had to fight for them
-Smuts was also heavily involved in the establishment of the UN

Why did NP win election (National Party strengths)

- Effectively used an electoral campaign against the Swart Gevaar & Oostrooming.
-Population of countryside was smaller than urban areas - but there were more constituencies in country side - Afrikaners dominated rural areas.

Definitions of Social Darwinism and Eugenics

-Social Darwinism: The idea that people become more powerful as they are innately better.
-Eugenics: The practice or advocacy of improving the human species by selectively mating people with specific desirable hereditary traits

What was the National Party views?

-They wanted to preserve white supremacy in South Africa
-They advocated for apartheid and believed in the segregation of white and non-white people
-They sought to mobilize the Afrikaner community by appealing to Afrikaans culture

Afrikaner Nationalism

Advocated for the independence of a particular nation or people (Afrikaner people)

3 ways that the National Party changed the constitution

-Introduced new Afrikaner judges
-Packed the senate with sympathetic Afrikaners
-In 1949, 6 members of parliament were added for whites in Namibia where the Nationalists had support.

Definitions of Homelands and Separate Development

Homelands: A territory set out for only Black people to inhabit
Separate Development: Blacks rights and freedoms only within the confines of the Africans' designated homeland, while outside the reserves blacks were to be classed as foreigners.

The Tomlinson Report (1955)

- Tomlinson wanted to invest over £500 million to transform Bantustans
-He recommended creating a class of full-time farmers by increasing the size of the agricultural plot
-He advocated major funding for rural industries. Believed that private enterprise should be encouraged to invest in these areas.

Why was the Tomlinson Report rejected

-Verwoerd didn't believe that white South Africans would support expenditure on this level
-Verwoerd didn't want this business to compete with white businesses
-Verwoerd believed that the Bantu should develop at it's own pace

2 ways that the Government dealt with opposition

-Accused 156 members of the Congress Alliance of high treason, leaders were tied up in legal cases for many years

Defiance Campaign (1952)

- The strategy for groups of volunteers to break racially based restrictions, such as curfews and
segregated facilities, to risk arrest. Protesters arrested willingly as they hoped the sheer numbers to
overload the courts and make apartheid laws unenforceable

What caused the Defiance Campaign

-After the National party won, they introduced new apartheid laws and enforced stricter ruling on discriminatory legislations, e.g. Pass laws and amendments to the Immorality Act

Successes of the Defiance Campaign

-The first campaign pursued by all racial groups under the leadership of the ANC and the SAIC
-The first time Africans and Indians, with a few whites and colored's were engaging in joint political action under a common leadership
-The campaign gained momentum
-It gained attention from the UN
-ANC membership increased from 4,000 to 100,000

Failures of the Defiance Campaign

-In November rioting erupted and the number of protestors began to fall
-Due to the breakout of riots in November, the government had to send out armed vehicles
-Government arrested the leaders of the campaign

Congress of the people

Multi-racial alliance organised to lay out freedom for people of SA

Freedom Charter

-A charter written out by the Congress Alliance outlining their core political beliefs and a fully democratic SA
-It was very helpful in gaining international support

Women's protest

-Founded in 1948, and merged women's protests into the ANC
-In 1955 the government extended pass laws to women. Because of this, led by Lilian Ngoyi, the women collected signatures and 20,000 women marched to signature buildings against pass laws
-In 1957, they protested outside the pass office in Johannesburg.

Why was opposition ineffective?

-Opposition was fragmented and they were keen to achieve different goals
-The campaigns weren't effective enough, e.g.: Defiance Campaign
-The government still had reigning power over opposition groups