● INTRODUCTION:
● emboldened by black consciousness and bolstered by economic and diplomatic
conditions, resistance against apartheid had picked up momentum
● government countered with force and sought allies in African communites
● senior member of the ANC met with leaders of the MP
● F.W. de Klerk replaced by P.W. Botha in 1989 quickening the pace of political change
● conflict between different African political movements
●
● WHY DID THE TOWNSHIPS REVOLT IN THE YEARS 1984-87?
●
● The Political Context of Revolt
● reform was designed not to end white power but to find new routes to preserve it
● Botha's govt invested large amounts into the hope of making homelands 'viable' as
separate states
● attempts made to draw in Coloured and Indian politicians through the tricameral
parliament
● strategy in winning black allies ⇒ giving them greater responsibility and political power
○ African people in the cities were offered new urban black councils under the
Community Council Act of 1977 & Black Local Authorities Act 1982
○ hope elected black councillors would absorb and defuse discontent
■ most urban voters refused to vote in 'fraudulent' elections
● Sam Buti in Alexandra used the new powers to improve social conditions in the
townships
● councils have direct power to allocate housing, employ local officials, award contracts
and grant licences for businesses
○ attracted businessmen with entrepreneurial energy
● govt devolved to task of raising more local revenue locally
○ majority of urban black lived in council housing and had to pay rent
○ 1980s: council had to increase rents to improve public facilities
● attempts by urban councils to control the spread of unplanned, informal shack
settlements created further tension
● councillors were taking advantage of their position ⇒ betraying their communities
●
● The United Democratic Front & Grass Roots Organisations
● new United Democratic Front (UDF) mobilised against Botha's measures arguing for a
fully democratic SA
● 1st rally: August 1983 at Mitchell's Plan ⇒ huge Coloured township
○ many families were forcibly resettled from District 6 and the inner suburbs of
Cape Town
○ emphasised non-racial character of new movement
● old members of the ANC and new national leaders eg, Desmond Tutu ⇒ associated
with the church and Frank Chikane ⇒ former Turfloop BC activist
● Allan Boseak elected as president of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches
○ speech to 10,000 from over 500 organisations at Mitchell's Plan
● UDF adopted the Freedom Charter ⇒ did not advocate armed struggle
● organised boycotts of Botha's Indian and Coloured parliaments and councils in the
townships
● 13% of Indian voters and 18% of Coloureds voted for two parliaments
● UDF's success in mobilising against there key reform policies effectively rendered
Botha's institutions inoperable as representative bodies
● UDF was an umbrella or political front that attempted to manage strands of opposition
to apartheid
○ affiliation of grass roots movements: trade unions, church groups, student
organisation, community groups
● 1983: COSAS aligned with UDF ⇒ established itself in the townships of the Tranvaals in
1984
● emboldened by black consciousness and bolstered by economic and diplomatic
conditions, resistance against apartheid had picked up momentum
● government countered with force and sought allies in African communites
● senior member of the ANC met with leaders of the MP
● F.W. de Klerk replaced by P.W. Botha in 1989 quickening the pace of political change
● conflict between different African political movements
●
● WHY DID THE TOWNSHIPS REVOLT IN THE YEARS 1984-87?
●
● The Political Context of Revolt
● reform was designed not to end white power but to find new routes to preserve it
● Botha's govt invested large amounts into the hope of making homelands 'viable' as
separate states
● attempts made to draw in Coloured and Indian politicians through the tricameral
parliament
● strategy in winning black allies ⇒ giving them greater responsibility and political power
○ African people in the cities were offered new urban black councils under the
Community Council Act of 1977 & Black Local Authorities Act 1982
○ hope elected black councillors would absorb and defuse discontent
■ most urban voters refused to vote in 'fraudulent' elections
● Sam Buti in Alexandra used the new powers to improve social conditions in the
townships
● councils have direct power to allocate housing, employ local officials, award contracts
and grant licences for businesses
○ attracted businessmen with entrepreneurial energy
● govt devolved to task of raising more local revenue locally
○ majority of urban black lived in council housing and had to pay rent
○ 1980s: council had to increase rents to improve public facilities
● attempts by urban councils to control the spread of unplanned, informal shack
settlements created further tension
● councillors were taking advantage of their position ⇒ betraying their communities
●
● The United Democratic Front & Grass Roots Organisations
● new United Democratic Front (UDF) mobilised against Botha's measures arguing for a
fully democratic SA
● 1st rally: August 1983 at Mitchell's Plan ⇒ huge Coloured township
○ many families were forcibly resettled from District 6 and the inner suburbs of
Cape Town
○ emphasised non-racial character of new movement
● old members of the ANC and new national leaders eg, Desmond Tutu ⇒ associated
with the church and Frank Chikane ⇒ former Turfloop BC activist
● Allan Boseak elected as president of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches
○ speech to 10,000 from over 500 organisations at Mitchell's Plan
● UDF adopted the Freedom Charter ⇒ did not advocate armed struggle
● organised boycotts of Botha's Indian and Coloured parliaments and councils in the
townships
● 13% of Indian voters and 18% of Coloureds voted for two parliaments
● UDF's success in mobilising against there key reform policies effectively rendered
Botha's institutions inoperable as representative bodies
● UDF was an umbrella or political front that attempted to manage strands of opposition
to apartheid
○ affiliation of grass roots movements: trade unions, church groups, student
organisation, community groups
● 1983: COSAS aligned with UDF ⇒ established itself in the townships of the Tranvaals in
1984
