The Sharpeville Massacre, 1960

African National Congress

1982

“I had no epiphany, no singular revelation, no moment of truth, but a steady accumulation of a thousand slights, a thousand indignities, a thousand unremembered moments, produced in me an anger, a rebelliousness, a desire to fight the system that imprisoned my people.”

Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom

History of South Africa:

The Dutch established a presence in South Africa dating back to the 17th century, when they came looking for new lands and territories. Dutch settlers formed the Cape Colony in 1652, forcing the indigenous population out of the way for their settlement. The Dutch were the sole colonizers in South Africa from 1652 to 1795. During that time the Dutch people living in South Africa took on an African Dutch identity referred to as Afrikaners. The version of Dutch spoke in South Africa became known as Afrikaans.

The British landing at Cape Town in 1795 challenges the Afrikaners’ state. In the 1800s, the British Anglican church declared that Great Britain was to be the ‘Great Mother of Empires’. Seeing it as God’s will and their destiny, British settlers moved outwards along the coast and inwards into the continent. This brought the British into conflict with the Afrikaners. The first British settlers were merchants who more money than the descendants of the Dutch settlers, who were a largely farming class. While the British originally came in few numbers, the abundance of resources and ores in South Africa led many more British settlers to come in search of gold and diamonds.

It was not only language and nationality that separated the two groups of settlers. The Afrikaners followed the Dutch Reform Church, while the British followed the Anglican. Many Afrikaners held slaves, while the British subjected the indigenous population in other ways.

Disputes between the British and Dutch settlers led to the 1899 South Africa War (1899-1902), also referred to as the Anglo-Boer War, or the Boer Wars by the Afrikaners. Aided by the indigenous populations, Great Britain took the Orange Free State and Natal Republics from Dutch Afrikaners.

After the British won the war, there was a period of negotiations between the four South African Colonies (the Transvaal, the Cape of Good Hope, Natal, and the Orange River Colony). The negotiations ended when Great Britain passed the South Africa Act of 1909. The act created the Union of South Africa, a semi-autonomous part of the British Empire.

Afrikaners unhappy about their loss to the British during the South African War created the National Party. The National Party used its influence to propagate the ‘economic movement’, a system of favoritism that advanced the fortunes of the Afrikaners.

Racial Policies:

During the period of negotiations, the South African Native Affairs Commission of 1903 was tasked with answering “the native question”. The indigenous populations of South Africa, referred to as the ‘Bantu people’ or ‘Bantus’, were considered inferior by the British and hated by the Dutch. The Native Affairs Commission chose to separate the black population from the white population. The black people, it was decided, would live in “Bantustans”, or ‘black homelands’. The resulting Natives Land Act of 1913 left 10% of the South African lands to the black population, who made up almost 70% of the population.

The largest system of segregation started in the post war period was the creation of an internal passport system through a series of pass laws. Under the pass laws, Black and Coloured individuals needed to keep their passports with them at all times, or they could be deported from the white areas back to the Bantustans. Regional governments instituted their own pass laws, invariably placing harsh requirements on black men.

South Africa’s large Indian population faced many discriminatory laws, placing the Indian population at a similar low standing to that of Coloured individuals. Through the efforts of mass protests and the organization of a young lawyer from India, Mahatma Gandhi, Indian South Africans could better protect their interests. These actions and those of the Indian National Congress in India inspired the creation and actions of the African Nation Congress in 1912.

Apartheid:

World War II reinforced the Dutch/Afrikaners and British tensions within the Union. The Dutch support for German war efforts contrasted with Britain’s use of South African troops and resources in support of the Allied war efforts. The Dutch Reform Church took offense at the stance of the South African government, as the church’s belief in white superiority went along with the German government’s notion of pure Aryan blood.

Post WWII, the National Party came into power through the support of the Afrikaner voters who had felt ignored during the war. The NP took the segregation laws which already existed and solidified them through a system of apartheid—complete segregation of the races. Apartheid officially defined South Africa as having 4 distinct races; Whites, Coloureds, Indians, and Blacks.

Over the next twenty years the government created many laws to increasingly separate the races and prioritize white power. Some of the most important laws werethe Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act, which forbade intermarriage between the races; the Bantu Education Act, which segregated educational institutions at all levels; and the Reservation of Separate Amenities Act, which segregated all public facilities. The Population Registration Act of 1950 required every inhabitant of South Africa be classified and registered in accordance with his or her racial characteristics as part of the apartheid system, and the Pass Act of 1952 nationalized the previously regionalized pass law system. Under this law, all black people aged 16 or older must carry their passport anytime they left the Bantustans. Unless having specific permission from the government or a white employer, black individuals could not stay outside of these areas for longer than 3 days.

Many of the laws pitted Indians and blacks against each other. The South African Indian Congress (SAIC) and the African National Congress at various times worked with and against each other to protect the rights of the groups they represented – many members of the SAIC ended up joining the ANC as representatives of the Indian community.

In 1961 South Africa declared independence from the British Empire. The Constitution of 1961 ended the Union of South Africa and created the Republic of South Africa. The constitution included provisions for Whites to overlook Black affairs, while giving limited representation to Coloureds and Indians.

The Sharpeville Massacre:

In 1960, the ANC coordinated an anti-pass protest on the anniversary of the 1919 anti-pass campaign. The Sharpeville protest had upwards of 5,000 people. An incident of stone-throwing at the police led to a panicked policeman opening fire on the crowd. His fellow policemen followed and opened fire, leaving 69 people dead and over 150 seriously wounded. An inquisition into the events showed many victims were shot in the back as they were fleeing from the violence.

The Sharpeville Massacre made international headlines and put the South African policy of apartheid in new prominence around the world. Large rallies were held in several major cities in solidarity with the Sharpeville protesters. The United Nations Security Council condemned the actions of the South African government. The ANC, slowly becoming convinced that nonviolence was no longer an appropriate response to apartheid, created a new militant wing—Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK). The actions of the MK in defense of the ANC led to the South African government classifying the ANC as a terrorist organization. MK’s operations led to widespread allegations of torture and prison camps, and in reaction the South African government claimed the use of extraterritoriality to raid ANC camps in neighboring African nations. Due to the militant position of the MK the United States and the United Kingdom recognized the ANC as a terrorist organization.

The continuing focus on the apartheid system in South Africa led to a series of UN resolutions between 1963 and 1968. Many member states of the UN passed sanctions against South Africa. These sanctions had little effect beyond symbolism, at least initially. By 1970 blacks accounted for 89% of the population of South Africa, and yet they held the least amount of rights. In 1974 the UN General Assembly declared that South African apartheid was a system of racial discrimination, and formally suspended South Africa from the GA.

Soweto Uprising:

In 1976 the South African Students Movement mobilized several thousand high school students to protest the National Party changing the language requirements in Black high schools in a way which made education more difficult. The NP, as an Afrikaner party, wished to change the language of instruction to Dutch Afrikaans, a language which almost no Black students spoke. English, the previous language of instruction, allowed Black students the opportunity to communicate with the outside world and was spoken by many Black students.

When the students marched down the streets of Soweto, police fired teargas and ammunition on the students. The images of the uprising reverberated around the world.

The Current State:

This crisis is set during a period wherein Botha’s National Party government has publicly recognized the need to “reform” apartheid, due to increasing internal violence and mass international condemnation. Anti-apartheid activists are lobbying for a rapid end to the policies making up apartheid altogether.

Popular uprisings within South Africa have led to the mass imprisonment of anti-apartheid leaders, including Nelson Mandela, who has become a figurehead of black liberation domestically and internationally. Many other Black leaders live in exile, or are under permanent house arrest. Another tactic that Botha’s government uses frequently is ‘banning’, where Black leaders are banished to their ‘Bantustans’, confined in movement, and forbidden from meeting more than one other person at a time.

The crisis begins in the spring of 1982.

Considerations:

International support for the ANC is at an all-time high, and you believe you can capitalize on the momentum. It is vitally important that, as a majority black organization, you maintain the support of the Indian and Coloured communities. There are also some vitally important questions that you as a committee should keep in mind, mainly whether the ANC would like to formally accept communism or capitalism (or either) as a doctrine moving forward, and how far you are willing to accept violence to achieve your goals.

Keep in mind the repercussions of your actions: claiming communism as a doctrine might alienate the Western powers, just as claiming violence might alienate international support. Your armed wing, the MK, is already violent, and necessarily so if you all are to survive the assaults of the South African government. The ANC has several prison camps outside the South African border. However, these camps led to the US and the UK declaring the ANC terrorism

Notes:

Forthis simulation, you are all acting as ANC members meeting in a committee. Realistically ANC members met mostly in small groups, due to living in exile, being in prison, fears for their life, and ban orders. Some of your characters have been ‘preemptively’ removed from prison to bring diverse viewpoints into the committee.

It is also beneficial to remember that the people represented in this conference were a small minority of well-connected and well educated (mostly) black South Africans. The people you represent tend to be poorly educated through the poor system of education provided by the government, and tend to not skew as communist as the people in this committee.

Interesting readings:

Ross, R., Mager, A.K., and Nasson, B. (eds.)The Cambridge History of South Africa:. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2011.

De Kock, History of South Africa

Nelson Mandela, A Long Walk to Freedom

People

Oliver Tambo – President of the ANC from 1967 to present. Tambo spent his early years in the ANC organizing guerilla action with many other ANC leaders, including Joe Slovo. Tambo is willing to resort to violence if necessary, but is hoping to use nonviolence first.
Thabo Mbeki – A representative of the South African Communist Party (SACP), Mbeki has been living in exile. After spending several years working within the USSR, Mbeki returned to Africa to coordinate between ANC agents in exileand ANC members within South Africa. Mbeki is justifiably worried about his location (and the location of other ANC members in exile) being revealed to Botha’s government, as several attempts have been made on his life.
Jacob Zuma – A representative of South African Communist Party. Zuma believes in peaceful methods, which he is attempting to advocate for from his location in Mozambique.
Alfred Baphethuxolo Nzo – Living in exile in Tanzania, Nzo has been instrumental in the boycott of South African goods.
Ahmed Kathrada – Released from Robben Island just 2 years ago, Kathrada is currently in hiding from the government. He is a coordination with the ANC youth division. Kathrada has a payment-based relationship with aguard at Robben Island, and has used that relationship to sneak ANC communications between ANC leadership in prison and leadership outside of prison.
Chris Hani – A representative of the South African Communist Party (SACP), and head of the ANC militant group Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), Hani is suspected of using violence to suppress the ANC members who oppose communism.
Dulcie September – One of the head representatives of the ANC in France, September travels across Europe frequently to organize marches and group actions in solidarity with the black community of South Africa. September advocates for women within the ANC.
Thomas Nkobi- Treasurer General of the ANC ,Nkobi organizes and controls the ANC’s limited budget to best protect ANC members, buy supplies, etc. Nkobi may veto any ANC purchase which does not benefit the ANC.
Raymond Mhlaba – A member of the South African Communist Party (SACP), Mhlaba was recently released from Robben Island Prison. Mhlaba is trying to reacquaintance himself with the modern ANC. Mhlaba has connections in the Chinese Communist Party, and is interested in traveling to China to gain support with the Communist party there.
Ismail Joubert – An Arabic South African man, Joubert represents a miniscule portion of South Africa’s population. Joubert founded Al-Jihaad to act against apartheid, and recently joined Al-Jihaad with the ANC’s armed wing Umkhonto We Sizwe (MK).
Joe Slovo–A leading strategist in the South African Communist Party (SACP), Slovo is a far-left pro-USSR Jewish member of the ANC. Him and his wife, Ruth First, both came from Lithuania when they were younger.
Mac Maharaj – A member of the South African Communist Party(SACP). Maharaj, as an Indian representative within the ANC plays an important role as in making sure that Indian rights are supported, and that Indian peoples do not go along with the National Party’s pandering. Maharaj served time in Robben Island in the 1970s, where he became aclose friend of Nelson Mandela.
Winnie Mandela – Nelson Mandela’s wife, Winnie is often seen as a mother of Black South Africans. Winnie currently acts as a figurehead for the ANC, and a spokesperson for her husband.
James Calata – Areverend important in the church.Calataopposes the South African Communist Party. Calatabelieves in the power of religion to unite people of various positions and races.
Cyril Ramaphosa – A legal advisor to the National Council of Trade Unions, Ramaphosa just created the National Union of Mineworkers with Elijah Barayi. Both of them are large believers in the power of collective action.
KgalemaMotlanthe – Released earlier this year from Robben Island, Motlanthe was previously a moderate member of the ANC’s military wing. After a year in solidarity confinement, Motlanthe now believes in the necessity of radical action.
Dr. FreneNoshirGinwala – Dr. Ginwala travels around the English-speaking world to make people aware of the evils of apartheid. She has many journalistic connections across the world, and she has been a correspondent with the BBC.
Ruth Heloise First–A labor organizer and ardent communist, First is married to Joe Slovo. First uses her house to facilitate covert multiracial meetings.
Martin Legassick – A white man from Scotland,Legassick is an editorial member of three newspapers who wants to prioritize collective action and peaceful mass resistance. Legassick draws his principles from the tenants of Marxism.
Moses Mabhida – The leader of the South African Communist Party (SACP). Mabhida is a head of the ANC’s Department of National Intelligence and Security. Mabhida also plans to mobilize the SACP members within the committee to recognize communism as the official economic and political affiliation of the ANC.
Elijah Barayi – Two years ago Barayi established a trade union movement among miners in South Africa. Early this year, Barayi became the Vice-President of the new National Union of Mineworkers. As mining is a foundation of the South African economy, Barayi has great economic power.
Reginald September –A founder of the South African Coloured Peoples Organisation (SACPO), September is a trade unionist and a representative of Coloured South Africans within the ANC.