A level History: South Africa Chapter 3 Revision Notes
Black Consciousness and Soweto
Extension of University Education Act, 1959
Late 1960s opposition developed a new momentum in universities, where apartheid had been applied with the
act of 1959.
The act was designed to provide skills needed for the white economy, create an echelon of officials and
professionals for the homelands and foster loyalty to the homeland.
Higher educational provision for black students expanded rapidly. At these universities students didn’t have to
compete for space with white students and they encountered a range of political ideas.
1966 Bobby Kennedy visited SA at invitation of the National Union of SA Students and met Luthuli.
Steve Biko and Black Consciousness
Biko a medical student at Natal Uni. Attended NUSAS and University Christian Movement congresses and drew
ideas from these.
Led the black delegation to the 1967 NUSAS Congress at Rhodes University. Uni refused to allow black students
to stay on campus or use the facilities equally = angered black students but accepted by white students.
Triggered a split.
South African Students’ Organisation (SASO) founded July 1969 at Turfloop. Biko first president.
Liberation theology: religion can and must take a leading role in struggles against social and political oppression.
Black Consciousness: argued that black people should lead themselves and liberate their own minds. An
intellectual orientation which asserted self-assurance in being black and encouraged people to self-define.
Advocated non-co-operation with white people and encouraged Indian and coloured people to see themselves
as black and equally subject to oppression.
BC initially tolerated by NP because of its emphasis on separate development, which it thought might tie in with
apartheid goals.
SASO able to maintain strong presence on black campuses by controlling the Student Representative Councils.
1972 organised strikes about inferior facilities.
Staged mass protests following end of Portuguese rule in Mozambique (1974). Turfloop rally 1200 people.
1972 Black Consciousness Movement and Black People’s Convention launched. New generational movement of
students and youth in search of a new identity that transcended apartheid and subservience.
1972 Tiro expelled from Turfloop following speech at graduation ceremony criticising inequalities. Went on to
teach at Morris Isaacson High School in Soweto.
March 1973 banning orders issued against SASO leaders inc. Biko. Tiro dismissed from teaching post. SASO 9
tried under Terrorism Act. SASO banned 1975 but continued as underground org.
The mobilisation of school children: The Soweto Uprising, its significance and suppression
1975 number of Af school children 3.5 million. 280,000 in secondary school. ^ in Af enrolment of 150% 1970-75.
Reduction in govt expenditure = pressure on buildings and staff. Class sizes 60+
School students ^ militant. Fighting on 2 fronts: against govt and against tsotsis. Also criticised by parents.
1974 Transvaal Bantu Education Dept under Treurnicht decided to expand teaching in Afrikaans to include
subjects such as maths. Angered students – language of oppression and made education harder. Frustrated by
fact that purpose of school was to maintain their subservience.
Other long-term factors:
o Conditions in overcrowded townships, such as Soweto. Crime, squalor, overcrowding. Problems mid-
1970s exacerbated by govt. cutting subsidies on maize and corn at a time of economic depression.
Desmond Tutu had warned govt 3 weeks earlier that anger was at crisis point. Common for up to 20
people to share a 4-roomed house with minimal sanitation.
o Conditions in schools
o Absence of recognised leaders who could possibly have marshalled frustrations. Tambo later admitted
ANC had few active units and no military presence inside Soweto and communications between exiled
leaders and townships poor. Did make links where possible e.g. activist Joe Gqabi worked with SASM.
, May 1976 SASM tried to organise boycotts and announced a demo on 16 th June. 2000 students gathered and
confronted by 50 armed police at Orlando Wets School. A few killed, some wounded. Death of 13 year old
Hector Petersen. Protests spread to Transvaal, Natal and Cape.
Students attacked govt. buildings, killing 2 officials and erecting barricades. Govt responded with force and 138
killed in a few days. Treurnicht intransigent. Students boycotted schools.
17th June 1976, 300 Wits students marched and Turfloop students tried to burn down Afrikaans dept.
18th June official buildings, shops and liquor stores in Alexandria, J’burg, attacked.
Soweto Students’ Representative Council formed Aug 1976 by Tsietsi Mashinini and tried to trigger stayaways
and boycotted white owned shops.
Black Parents’ Association formed by Winnie Mandela and Dr Nthatho Motlana to org funerals.
Govt commission: 575 died in revolt and aftermath. (possible up to 1000 died in reality). Subsequently
suppressed 18 orgs inc. Christian Institute. Kruger said that demonstrators were responsible for trouble. Govt
officials accused them of seeking communist revolution.
April 1977, local administration declared rent rises and the Soweto Student Council org mass demo. Burnt down
offices of Urban Bantu Council and secured postponement. Council resigned.
Estimated 4000 youths fled SA to avoid arrest and many joined MK. Not afraid to die.
Demonstrations and protests the biggest seen so far. Clear there was no central organisation from ANC, PAC or
BCM. Localised, spontaneous and organised by children = new feature = more dangerous because of
unpredictability.
Official line remained the same: govt provided resources for Af education and therefore had right to choose
what form it could take.
The Impact of the Death of Steve Biko, 1977
1973 Biko banned and forced to live in Kingwilliamstown. Restricted movements and not allowed to attend
political meetings. Wrote under the name ‘Frank Talk’ and involved in local BCM activities. Profile raised by
Donald Woods.
Arrested 1974 for breaking banning order. Had attended rallies in support of the independence of Angola and
Mozambique. Used his trial to explain his case, attracting wide publicity and becoming an international figure.
August 1977 left Kingwilliamstown and was arrested, interrogated and severely beaten.
Died on 12th September 1977. Subsequent enquiry showed he died of brain damage exacerbated by a 700 mile
journey to a prison hospital covered in just a blanket.
The police claimed his death was due to a hunger strike, but Woods challenged this and alleged police brutality.
Biko’s funeral was attended by over 10,000 people, including several foreign ambassadors.
Significance:
o Biko was the face of black protest and widely respected. UN and USA protested over his death.
o Worldwide condemnation. Cry Freedom lead to ^ condemnation of aratheid regime.
o Authorities remained impassive, as exemplified by Kruger’s assertion that Biko’s death left him cold.
o Govt inquest reported improbably that Biko had gone berserk before fatally hitting his head against a
wall. Few believed it.
Soweto and Biko’s death = end of the point at which people considered the chance of any peaceful solution to
problems caused by apartheid possible.
Govt had spoken in vague terms in Aug 1977 about giving Indian and coloured people more rights, but this had
no impact at the time.
Intransigent govt against an increasingly militant opposition.
How did the ANC strengthen its position?
The ANC: Difficulties in Exile and Reorganisation
ANC had headquarters in London, where it mainly coordinated its strategies for gaining international support.
Within Africa ANC activities concentrated in Tanzania and Zambia. Tambo based in Lusaka, Zambia, from 1967.
President Kaunda sympathetic and it was appropriate and cheaper to work from an African country.
MK based in Zambia. Wankie and Sipolilo campaigns both failed. Kaunda worried about SA reprisals and
demanded MK find a base elsewhere.
Black Consciousness and Soweto
Extension of University Education Act, 1959
Late 1960s opposition developed a new momentum in universities, where apartheid had been applied with the
act of 1959.
The act was designed to provide skills needed for the white economy, create an echelon of officials and
professionals for the homelands and foster loyalty to the homeland.
Higher educational provision for black students expanded rapidly. At these universities students didn’t have to
compete for space with white students and they encountered a range of political ideas.
1966 Bobby Kennedy visited SA at invitation of the National Union of SA Students and met Luthuli.
Steve Biko and Black Consciousness
Biko a medical student at Natal Uni. Attended NUSAS and University Christian Movement congresses and drew
ideas from these.
Led the black delegation to the 1967 NUSAS Congress at Rhodes University. Uni refused to allow black students
to stay on campus or use the facilities equally = angered black students but accepted by white students.
Triggered a split.
South African Students’ Organisation (SASO) founded July 1969 at Turfloop. Biko first president.
Liberation theology: religion can and must take a leading role in struggles against social and political oppression.
Black Consciousness: argued that black people should lead themselves and liberate their own minds. An
intellectual orientation which asserted self-assurance in being black and encouraged people to self-define.
Advocated non-co-operation with white people and encouraged Indian and coloured people to see themselves
as black and equally subject to oppression.
BC initially tolerated by NP because of its emphasis on separate development, which it thought might tie in with
apartheid goals.
SASO able to maintain strong presence on black campuses by controlling the Student Representative Councils.
1972 organised strikes about inferior facilities.
Staged mass protests following end of Portuguese rule in Mozambique (1974). Turfloop rally 1200 people.
1972 Black Consciousness Movement and Black People’s Convention launched. New generational movement of
students and youth in search of a new identity that transcended apartheid and subservience.
1972 Tiro expelled from Turfloop following speech at graduation ceremony criticising inequalities. Went on to
teach at Morris Isaacson High School in Soweto.
March 1973 banning orders issued against SASO leaders inc. Biko. Tiro dismissed from teaching post. SASO 9
tried under Terrorism Act. SASO banned 1975 but continued as underground org.
The mobilisation of school children: The Soweto Uprising, its significance and suppression
1975 number of Af school children 3.5 million. 280,000 in secondary school. ^ in Af enrolment of 150% 1970-75.
Reduction in govt expenditure = pressure on buildings and staff. Class sizes 60+
School students ^ militant. Fighting on 2 fronts: against govt and against tsotsis. Also criticised by parents.
1974 Transvaal Bantu Education Dept under Treurnicht decided to expand teaching in Afrikaans to include
subjects such as maths. Angered students – language of oppression and made education harder. Frustrated by
fact that purpose of school was to maintain their subservience.
Other long-term factors:
o Conditions in overcrowded townships, such as Soweto. Crime, squalor, overcrowding. Problems mid-
1970s exacerbated by govt. cutting subsidies on maize and corn at a time of economic depression.
Desmond Tutu had warned govt 3 weeks earlier that anger was at crisis point. Common for up to 20
people to share a 4-roomed house with minimal sanitation.
o Conditions in schools
o Absence of recognised leaders who could possibly have marshalled frustrations. Tambo later admitted
ANC had few active units and no military presence inside Soweto and communications between exiled
leaders and townships poor. Did make links where possible e.g. activist Joe Gqabi worked with SASM.
, May 1976 SASM tried to organise boycotts and announced a demo on 16 th June. 2000 students gathered and
confronted by 50 armed police at Orlando Wets School. A few killed, some wounded. Death of 13 year old
Hector Petersen. Protests spread to Transvaal, Natal and Cape.
Students attacked govt. buildings, killing 2 officials and erecting barricades. Govt responded with force and 138
killed in a few days. Treurnicht intransigent. Students boycotted schools.
17th June 1976, 300 Wits students marched and Turfloop students tried to burn down Afrikaans dept.
18th June official buildings, shops and liquor stores in Alexandria, J’burg, attacked.
Soweto Students’ Representative Council formed Aug 1976 by Tsietsi Mashinini and tried to trigger stayaways
and boycotted white owned shops.
Black Parents’ Association formed by Winnie Mandela and Dr Nthatho Motlana to org funerals.
Govt commission: 575 died in revolt and aftermath. (possible up to 1000 died in reality). Subsequently
suppressed 18 orgs inc. Christian Institute. Kruger said that demonstrators were responsible for trouble. Govt
officials accused them of seeking communist revolution.
April 1977, local administration declared rent rises and the Soweto Student Council org mass demo. Burnt down
offices of Urban Bantu Council and secured postponement. Council resigned.
Estimated 4000 youths fled SA to avoid arrest and many joined MK. Not afraid to die.
Demonstrations and protests the biggest seen so far. Clear there was no central organisation from ANC, PAC or
BCM. Localised, spontaneous and organised by children = new feature = more dangerous because of
unpredictability.
Official line remained the same: govt provided resources for Af education and therefore had right to choose
what form it could take.
The Impact of the Death of Steve Biko, 1977
1973 Biko banned and forced to live in Kingwilliamstown. Restricted movements and not allowed to attend
political meetings. Wrote under the name ‘Frank Talk’ and involved in local BCM activities. Profile raised by
Donald Woods.
Arrested 1974 for breaking banning order. Had attended rallies in support of the independence of Angola and
Mozambique. Used his trial to explain his case, attracting wide publicity and becoming an international figure.
August 1977 left Kingwilliamstown and was arrested, interrogated and severely beaten.
Died on 12th September 1977. Subsequent enquiry showed he died of brain damage exacerbated by a 700 mile
journey to a prison hospital covered in just a blanket.
The police claimed his death was due to a hunger strike, but Woods challenged this and alleged police brutality.
Biko’s funeral was attended by over 10,000 people, including several foreign ambassadors.
Significance:
o Biko was the face of black protest and widely respected. UN and USA protested over his death.
o Worldwide condemnation. Cry Freedom lead to ^ condemnation of aratheid regime.
o Authorities remained impassive, as exemplified by Kruger’s assertion that Biko’s death left him cold.
o Govt inquest reported improbably that Biko had gone berserk before fatally hitting his head against a
wall. Few believed it.
Soweto and Biko’s death = end of the point at which people considered the chance of any peaceful solution to
problems caused by apartheid possible.
Govt had spoken in vague terms in Aug 1977 about giving Indian and coloured people more rights, but this had
no impact at the time.
Intransigent govt against an increasingly militant opposition.
How did the ANC strengthen its position?
The ANC: Difficulties in Exile and Reorganisation
ANC had headquarters in London, where it mainly coordinated its strategies for gaining international support.
Within Africa ANC activities concentrated in Tanzania and Zambia. Tambo based in Lusaka, Zambia, from 1967.
President Kaunda sympathetic and it was appropriate and cheaper to work from an African country.
MK based in Zambia. Wankie and Sipolilo campaigns both failed. Kaunda worried about SA reprisals and
demanded MK find a base elsewhere.
