African History Lecture Notes – 27th November 2003

Subject: A description of the political system that dominated 20th century South Africa. 

The land acts (as discussed in the previous lecture) were NOT and informal segregation of peoples along racial lines, but not apartheid – which was a distinct philosophical and practical system

Boer political culture was paranoid about its own survival;
-	How could the culture, and its dominant position South African society be preserved?
With Africans and English in South African, the Boers felt that if their culture was not always vigorously defended, it would disappear

-	A structural feature of Boer society in the 20th Century was to shift to the 'right', politically, in a specific way; constant attempt to purify existing system, the orthodoxy, to return to the first principles of Afrikaners, to move to a more authoritarian state

Dr. Daniel Malan (associated with Broederband, the band of brothers) gradually came to lead the more extreme, right wing elements in South African society, in the 1930s.
-	he was involved in the definition of apartheid, a system of segregation, based on the idea of a hierarchical arrangement of races.

In the 1930s he had only minority support, and his ideas might have disappeared altogether had they not been influenced by two factors
-	firstly, he had extensive contacts amongst various Boer secret societies
-	secondly, and more importantly, the timing and nature of  WWII:

South Africa was nominally fighting on the British side in the second world war,  but was far removed from the theatre of battle; its role therefore was primarily industrial, and advanced rapidly in this period, an economic boom

The labour for this boom, as much by statistical default as anything, came from the black populations, and the Afrikaners had the freedom to move black labourer where they wanted to help the war effort

At the end of WWII, South Africa had a booming industy in the secondary, manfacturing sector, dependent on the new locations of Black people; i.e. in belts around cities, like Johannesburg (the biggest, but not only example), known there as Soweto,  SOuth WEstern TOwnships.

The Boers felt that the 'progress' of the Land Acts had been reveresed, and that they were surronded again, bringing back the paranoias of old

In 1948 Malan come to power, he was faced with practical issues relating to implementation of apartheid
- Apartheid was never really implemented, and can be summarized in 3 stages 1948-60, 60-76, 76-94

- digression about ANC - in 1913 it was campaigning legally, but ineffectively using legal means; WWII changed its role completely, its power moving to the industrial areas; 'Youth League' - run by Mandela and his generation, advocated 'mass action', not necessarily violence, but recognised that Africans, as a mass, could wreck the South African economy, and therefore they should have the power to change things

Malan realised that political necessity meant apartheid would only suceed as a 'total system' 
- 1st phase known as 'legislative apartheid'; Africans were denied education, and the Group Areas Act restricted, by race, where you can legetimately live/work - note: race is also defined by the state - other examples of social legislation
- Immorality act (1951) prohibited interracial relations (as well as delegitimating the products of interracial relations)
- Suppression of Communism Act - had the right to place anyone who the state defined as Communist

The ANC protested - strikes, mass actions at the end of the 1950s, the state was more interventionist, but also absurd

March 1960 - Sharpeville - An ANC demonstration was fired upon, 69 people were killed, and, just as significantly, it got TV publicity around the world, as one of the first major televised extents, beginning of Apartheid as an international issue

1960-76 - 'Bantustan'/'Reserve' apartheid

Emphasis on native reserves, each African, even if they worked near cities, belonged to other areas - this meant that the SA governmet could essentially do what they wanted to people outside 'their own areas' - work for slave labour with no rights, or be 'deported' in economic slumps

each area was given a tame, African government, with the intention of full autonomous republics

In 1973 OPEC raised oil prices, which was disastorous for South African economy (oil was one major mineral resource that was imported, not exported. By the time it had recovered from the recession, the rest of the world's leading economies had turned into infomation/knowledge based societies.

1976 - Soweto uprising

martial law, army moves to centre of South African state, end of civil apartheid. Apartheid no longer workable, focus of Boer groups now what was to replace it? not Boers still goverened by desire to maintain cultural/economic dominance - started to use state terror

by 1990 - new generation of politicians in power, more flexible and pragmatic (not liberal)

Mandela let out of jail - Afrikaners wanted to achieve solution with ANC, a compromises

now, Afrikaners still in power, but economy still in the hands of whites - economic order perpetuated - final chapter unknown as yet