The state of emergency in South African during the 80s

Explanation:

One of the key instruments used by the apartheid government to neutralise political dissent was the State of Emergency (SOE). In periods when the government faced unprecedented internal revolt – both in 1960 and in the 1980s – an Emergency was declared. This resulted in the detention of thousands of political activists within a short space of time, and an exodus of some to a life in exile.

In 1960, for the first time, the government was faced with a widespread revolt against passes gathering pace at an alarming rate. The revolt threatened to derail plans to implement apartheid measures and thus consolidate white minority rule. In the 1980s increasing internal unrest, political violence and attacks – particularly uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC) – precipitated the declaration of the State of Emergency. 

State of Emergency in 1960

“In 1960 the emergency was imposed so that the state could implement its apartheid policies,” reads an article which appeared in Isizwe (1986). The article also illustrates how the Nationalist Party (NP) had a clear political strategy to consolidate the apartheid laws – which were rejected by the majority of the people of South Africa. These policies included the development of Bantustans, the imposition of influx control through enforcing pass laws, the implementation of Bantu education, and forced removals under the Group Areas Act.

The massacre of unarmed protestors at Sharpeville, near Vereeniging in the province of Transvaal, on 21 March 1960, was a turning point in the history of South Africa. What began as a peaceful march by Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC) supporters to the police station – in protest against the pass laws and calling for a minimum monthly wage of 35 pounds – was turned into a massacre when police fired at the protestors, killing 69 people and injuring 180.

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