Defiance Campaign
The Defiance Campaign against Unjust Laws was presented by the African National Congress (ANC) at a conference held in Bloemfontein, South Africa in December 1951.[1] The Campaign had roots in events leading up the conference. The demonstrations, taking place in 1952, were the first "large-scale, multi-racial political mobilization against apartheid laws under a common leadership."[2]
Background[edit]
In 1948, the National Party (NP) won the election in South Africa and began to impose apartheid measures against Black people, Indians and any people of mixed race.[3] The NP restricted political power to white people only and allocated areas of South Africa for different races of people.[4] Workers, trade unionists and others spoke out on 6 October 1949 against these apartheid measures and began to discuss a possible political strike.[3] In December of that year, leaders in the African Congress Youth League (ANCYL), such as Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu and Oliver Tambo, took power.[3] The African National Congress (ANC) also "adopts the Programme of Action" on 17 December, which advocated a more militant approach to protesting apartheid.[3]
In 1950, the ANC started promoting demonstrations, mass action, boycotts, strikes and acts of civil disobedience. During this time, 8,000 black people were arrested "for defying apartheid laws and regulations."[3] The South African Indian Congress (SAIC) worked in partnership with the ANC.[5] The NP used the Population Registration Act to ensure that individuals were permanently classified by race and only allowed to live in areas specified by the Group Areas Act.[3] On 26 June 1950, the National Day of Protest took place.[6] The ANC asked that people not go to work as an act of protest.[7] As a result of the protest, many people lost their jobs and the ANC set up a fund to help them.[7]
The Campaign[edit]
The Defiance Campaign was launched on 26 June 1952, the date that became the yearly National Day of Protest and Mourning.[3] The South African police were alerted about the action and were armed and prepared.[8] In major South African cities, people and organizations performed acts of defiance and civil disobedience.[5] The protests were largely non-violent on the parts of the participants, many of whom wore tri-color armbands signifying the ANC.[9] Black volunteers burned their pass books.[10] Other black volunteers would go into places that were considered "whites-only," which was then against the law. These volunteers were arrested, with the most arrests (over 2,000 people) being made in October 1952.[11] When protesters were arrested, they would not defend themselves in court, "leading to large-scale imprisonment."[10] Others who were offered fines as an alternative chose to go to prison.[12] The mass imprisonment, it was hoped, would overwhelm the government.[8]
The South African government labelled the protests as acts of anarchy, communism and disorder.[13] The Nationalist newspaper, the Oosterlig, wrote that the protesters "find prison a pleasant abode. These people only understand the lash."[9] Police often used batons to force protesters to submit.[9] On 9 November 1952, police fired on a group of black protesters in Kimberley killing 14 and injuring 39.[14] Other orders to shoot demonstrators "on sight" were issued by the South African Minister of Justice, Charles Swart.[15] Arrests of peaceful protestors "disgusted a section of white public opinion."[9] In July 1952, there were raids of ANC and SAIC offices.[16]
As a result of the protests, the NP started "imposing stiff penalties for protesting discriminatory laws" and then they created the Public Safety Act.[2] The goals of the Defiance Campaign were not met, but the protests "demonstrated large-scale and growing opposition to apartheid."[2] The United Nations took note and called the apartheid policy a "threat to peace."[15]
In the middle of April 1953, Chief Albert Luthuli, the President-General of the ANC, proclaimed that the Defiance Campaign would be called off so that the resistance groups could reorganize taking into consideration the new political climate in South Africa.[17]
The Defiance Campaigns, including bus boycotts in South Africa, served as an inspiration to Civil Rights Activists in the United States.[18] Albert Luthuli was tried for treason, was assaulted and deposed of his chieftaincy of his Zulu clan.[11] Mandela took over the ANC after Luthuli.[19]
Apartheid was finally ended in the early 1990s, as marked by the 1994 South African general election, the first South African election held using universal adult suffrage.