The Black Consciousness Movement in South Africa

1990 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Hirschmann
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Black People ◽  
Black Politics ◽  
African National Congress ◽  
Black Consciousness ◽  
National Congress ◽  
Black Consciousness Movement

Black politics in South Africa changed dramatically after 1976. It spread far and fast, with black organisations multiplying at all kinds of levels. The African National Congress (A.N.C.) returned and the United Democratic Front (U.D.F.) emerged. The trade unions strengthened considerably and black youths demonstrated their power. Ideologies changed and evolved. Yet at the same time as the movement broadened and deepened its hold on black people, internal divisions grew more intense. Organisational, ideological, and strategic differences became more bitter, and leaders continued to accuse each other of betraying the struggle.

Stability and Governability the Benign Effects of Party Dominance in South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-75
Author(s):  
Ainara Mancebo
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
African National Congress ◽  
The Other ◽  
Democratic Transitions ◽  
African Countries ◽  
National Congress ◽  
Independence Era ◽  
Party Dominance

A tripartite alliance formed by the African National Congress, the South African Communist Party and the Congress of South African Trade Unions has been ruling the country with wide parliamentarian majorities. The country remains more consensual and politically inclusive than any of the other African countries in the post-independence era. This article examines three performance’s aspects of the party dominance systems: legitimacy, stability and violence. As we are living in a period in which an unprecedented number of countries have completed democratic transitions, it is politically and conceptually important that we understand the specific tasks of crafting democratic consolidation.

scholarly journals CLERGY’S RESISTANCE TO VENDA HOMELAND’S INDEPENDENCE IN THE 1970S AND 1980S

2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 121-141
Author(s):  
Thias Kgatla
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Black People ◽  
Church Leaders ◽  
Community Leaders ◽  
Black Consciousness ◽  
Lutheran Church ◽  
Real Community ◽  
Student Christian Movement ◽  
Black Consciousness Movement

The article discusses the clergy’s role in the struggle against Venda’s “independence” in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as resistance to the apartheid policy of “separate development” for Venda. It also explores the policy of indirect white rule through the replacement of real community leaders with incompetent, easily manipulated traditional chiefs. The imposition of the system triggered resistance among the youth and the churches, which led to bloody reprisals by the authorities. Countless were detained under apartheid laws permitting detention without trial for 90 days. Many died in detention, but those responsible were acquitted by the courts of law in the Homeland. The article highlights the contributions of the Black Consciousness Movement, the Black People Conversion Movement, and the Student Christian Movement. The Venda student uprising was second in magnitude only to the Soweto uprising of 16 June 1976. The torture of ministers in detention and the response by church leaders locally and internationally, are discussed. The authorities attempted to divide the Lutheran Church and nationalise the Lutherans in Venda, but this move was thwarted. Venda was officially re-incorporated into South Africa on 27 April 1994.

Steve Biko and the Black Consciousness Movement

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie Anne Hadfield
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
White Supremacy ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
The State ◽  
African National Congress ◽  
Black Consciousness ◽  
Eastern Cape ◽  
The South ◽  
Black Consciousness Movement

The Black Consciousness movement of South Africa instigated a social, cultural, and political awakening in the country in the 1970s. By the mid-1960s, major anti-apartheid organizations in South Africa such as the African National Congress and Pan-Africanist Congress had been virtually silenced by government repression. In 1969, Steve Biko and other black students frustrated with white leadership in multi-racial student organizations formed an exclusively black association. Out of the South African Students’ Organization (SASO) came what was termed Black Consciousness. This philosophy redefined “black” as an inclusive, positive identity and taught that black South Africans could make meaningful change in their society if “conscientized” or awakened to their self-worth and the need for activism. The movement emboldened youth, contributed to the development of Black Theology and cultural movements, and led to the formation of new community and political organizations such as the Black Community Programs organization and the Black People’s Convention. Articulate and charismatic, Steve Biko was one of the movement’s foremost instigators and prolific writers. When the South African government understood the threat Black Consciousness posed to apartheid, it worked to silence the movement and its leaders. Biko was banished to his home district in the Eastern Cape, where he continued to build community development programs and have a strong political influence. His death at the hands of security police in September 1977 revealed the brutality of South African security forces and the extent to which the state would go to maintain white supremacy. After Biko’s death, the state declared Black Consciousness–related organizations illegal. Activists formed the Azanian People’s Organization (AZAPO) in 1978 to carry on Black Consciousness ideals, though the movement in general waned after Biko’s death. Since then, Biko has loomed over the history of the Black Consciousness movement as a powerful icon and celebrated hero while others have looked to Black Consciousness in forging a new black future for South Africa.

Post-Liberation South Africa: Sorting Out the Pieces

2012 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 257-268
Author(s):  
EC Ejiogu
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
African National Congress ◽  
Racial Democracy ◽  
History Of ◽  
National Congress ◽  
Alliance Partners ◽  
State Of Affairs ◽  
Democratic Elections

The written history and narratives of the anti-apartheid liberation struggle in South Africa has been cast, albeit erroneously, as if it was waged and won solely by the African National Congress (ANC), its ally the South African Communist Party (SACP), and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), the three alliance partners that have held the reins of state power since the first multi-racial democratic elections in 1994. The truth is that the Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC) of Azania, the Azania People’s Organization (AZAPO), the New Unity Movement (NUMO), and several other liberation movements played significantly vital roles in that struggle. The ensuing discourse puts this state of affairs on the PAC’s diminished status in the politics of post-liberation South Africa, which derives partly from its radical antecedents from its inception that placed it apart from the ANC from which it split in 1959, earned it immediate proscription from the apartheid stage before it could root itself properly as well as notoriety in the West. The discourse argues and concludes that a more comprehensive narrative and written history of that struggle will benefit the on-going quest for the transformation of South Africa’s multi-racial democracy and the course of democracy in the rest of Africa.

Banned in South Africa: A Personal Account

Worldview ◽  
1980 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 6-9
Author(s):  
Diana E.H. Russell
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Black People ◽  
Black Consciousness ◽  
Personal Account ◽  
Daily Mail ◽  
The World ◽  
The Government ◽  
Black Consciousness Movement

October 19, 1977, was described by one of South Africa's best-known newspapers, the Rnnd Daily Mail, as "the bleakest day in South Africa's history." On that day the government banned the country's only black newspaper, The World, eighteen organizations (including most groups in the Black Consciousness Movement that had come to be associated with the name of Steve Biko), and seven individuals. Forty-two black leaders were imprisoned without trial, nineteen homes and offices were raided. "What it has done," wrote the editor of the Mail, "is to leave the Black people who reject separate development with no outlet, no organization, no mouthpiece even, through which to express themselves." And so it remains today.

Itumeleng Mosala: Giving Theology Its World, Feet and Hands

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Takatso Mofokeng
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Black People ◽  
Black Consciousness ◽  
History Of ◽  
Black Consciousness Movement

Worthy of celebration is the contribution made by Itumeleng Mosala (hereafter Mosala) to the Black Methodist Consultation, the theological community in Southern Africa, and the Black Consciousness Movement. This article attempts to give theology its world, feet and hands in the person of Mosala. The article departs from the narration of the history of Mosala. It locates Mosala within township life and Old Testament scholarship. Furthermore, the article searches for suitable and effective weapons of intellectual struggle in light of Mosala’s life. The aim of this article is to celebrate the indelible footprints that Mosala made as he communed with black people.

The Market Theatre of Johannesburg in the New South Africa

2002 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 359-374
Author(s):  
Hilary Burns
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
New South ◽  
Black Consciousness ◽  
Black Artists ◽  
The Past ◽  
Form Part ◽  
Incumbent Regime ◽  
Apartheid Regime ◽  
Black Consciousness Movement

The Market Theatre of Johannesburg opened in 1976, the year of the Soweto Uprising – the beginning of the end for the oppressive apartheid regime. Founded by Barney Simon, Mannie Manim, and a group of white actors, the theatre's policy, in line with the advice to white liberals from the Black Consciousness Movement, was to raise the awareness of its mainly white audiences about the oppression of apartheid and their own social, political, and economic privileges. The theatre went on through the late 'seventies and 'eighties to attract international acclaim for productions developed in collaboration with black artists that reflected the struggle against the incumbent regime, including such classics as The Island, Sizwe Bansi is Dead, and Woza Albert! How has the Market fared with the emergence of the new South Africa in the 'nineties? Has it built on the past? Has it reflected the changes? What is happening at the theatre today? Actress, writer, and director Hilary Burns went to Johannesburg in November 2000 to find out. She worked in various departments of the theatre, attended productions, and interviewed theatre artists and members of the audience. This article will form part of her book, The Cultural Precinct, inspired by this experience to explore how the theatres born in the protest era have responded to the challenges of the new society.

Michael Harmel (1915-1974): A South African Communist and His Discourse

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Milan Oralek
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Political Identity ◽  
African National Congress ◽  
Core Beliefs ◽  
Literary Interpretation ◽  
Nelson Mandela ◽  
Private Correspondence ◽  
National Congress ◽  
Actual Contribution

<p>This thesis explores the life and work of a South African journalist, editor, and activist Michael Alan Harmel (1915–1974), a political mentor and friend of Nelson Mandela. A resolute believer in racial equality and Marxism-Leninism, Harmel devoted his life to fighting, with “the pen” as well as “the sword”, segregation and apartheid, and promoting an alliance of communists with the African National Congress as a stepping stone to socialism in South Africa. Part 1, after tracing his Jewish-Lithuanian and Irish family roots, follows Harmel from his birth to 1940 when, having joined the Communist Party of South Africa, he got married and was elected secretary of the District Committee in Johannesburg. The focus is on factors germane to the formation of his political identity. The narrative section is accompanied by an analytical sketch. This, using tools of close literary interpretation, catalogues Harmel’s core beliefs as they inscribed themselves in his journalism, histories, a sci-fi novel, party memoranda, and private correspondence. The objective is to delineate his ideological outlook, put to the test the assessment of Harmel—undeniably a skilled publicist—as a “creative thinker” and “theorist”, and determine his actual contribution to the liberation discourse.</p>

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