Portland Observer
South Africa: Behind the uprisings
by J e u tfe r D eri»
On June 16th South African police fired
into a peaceful demonatratton by proteat
ing students in Soweto - a totally aegre
gated Black area 14 mile« outside Johan
neaburg During the following weeka. vi
olent confrontations shook many of the
ghettos in the Witwatersrand triangle,
which encloaea the largest single concen
tration of industriea and coal and gold
mining in South Arica. Violence flared
also in distant country areas, involving
students in at least three widely separat
ed Bantustans, as the reservations (re
serves) assigned to Africans are called.
The official death toll was 170, two white,
168 Black. Africans on the scene reported
1.000 killed and many more wounded,
beaten and arrested.
The immediate spark that fired the
explosions was Black student opposition
to the use of Africans in the teaching of
history and mathematics. Afrikaan, the
language of the ruling white Nationalist
Party, is identified as the language of the
oppressor, and the Government has al
ways had great difficulty in forcing A fri
cans to accept iL But using it in the
schools is onl^ a symbol of the whole
system of “Bantu education" which has
been a focus of Black resistance every
since its introduction in 1963.
In turn Bantu education is only one
element in the complex apartheid system
that has been constructed to produce
white privilege at the cost of Black dis
possession.
Press reports have consistently refer
ed to the June events as riots led by
"tsotis" - young hooligans - with the
implication that they are aimply isolated
eruptions of mindless, directionless vio-
ence. It would be more accurate to see
them as part of s new phase in the
African struggle for liberation, a penod
of increasing militancy and resistance af
ter a long lull. There has been African
resistance ‘to white conquest and approp
riation of wealth and power since the
beginning of colonization 900 years ago.
The brutal repression of the poat-Sharp-
enville 1960's, the banning of Black politi
cal organization, and the arrest and/or
exile of Black leaders slowed the process;
now it is growing again and with rapidly
increasing momentum.
There have been many signs of new
moves towards active struggle - a dra
matic wave of strikes among the African
workers, the formation of a Black student
organization (SASO) firmly dedicated to
bringing about radical political change',
and a growing number of political trials of
so called terrorists.
Almost 1.5 million Africans live in So
weto (South Western Township), an area
artificially created in the 1950's by the
forcing of thousands of Black families
from their homes in segregated enclaves
(PNS) "People outside the Caribbean
may think of us as living in some Garden
of Eden." says Jamaican artist and schol
ar Rex Ncttleford. “but we are not a
primitive or innocent people. Innocence
left us when the first slsve reached this
land."
Nettleford was a key organizer in the
recent Caribbean Festival of the Arts
(Carifesta “76) in Kingston, an eleven-day
spectacular that gathered thousands of
artists, performers, writers and others
from across the Caribbean to “convince
ourselves thaTwe are a people capable of
culture".
In Jamaica as throughout the Carib
bean. the search lor stability through
national and regional identity is emerging
against a backdrop of political turmoil
and cultural division that Nttleford com
pares to America's own post independ
ence ferment
As more Caribbean natins become po^
litically independent - many still remain
colonized ar. like Jamaica, have achieved
independence only within the past fifteen
years - they face enormous economic,
linguistic and even psychological barriers
to genuine independence.
The Caribbean's colonial heritage is the
chief hurdle.
"We must reshape our social order and
Put our own people at the center," says
Nettleford.
It will be a difficult task, involving
whst people here call "nation building" -
forgoing dependence on others and look
ing more to the present and future than
to the past.
Celeaial Legacy
The history of colonialism in the Carib
bean, which began with the arrival of
Columbus nearly 500 years ago, has not
been a noble one.
Around 12 million native Indians were
exterminated in the Caribbean region in a
mere forty years after the Spaniards
came, according to a Spanish priest of the
era named Bartholomew de las Casas. In
Jsmaica snd Puerto Rico alone, the na
tive populations of 300,000 were reduced
to s few hundred.
Of the some 25 million people who now
live in the Caribbean region - which
extends 2,000 miles from the Bahamas off
Paga 9
Inside Africa _
inside the “white” city to what was seen
as a less threatening location 16 miles
away. The ghetto was deliberately built
to be easily isolated and controlled -
placed in an open flat area (easily access
ible to planes snd helicopters), circled by
a ring of roads, with few major exits.
As a place to live, Soweto is both a
product and a victim of the apartheid
system. It has an official population of
800,000 but an actual population of close
to 1.6 million. The difference is accounted
for by over half a million men, women and
children who live, work and hide illegally
in the area.
It is this whole system that thousands
are rebelling against when they take to
the streets. Immediate targets for their
anger are the offices of the Bantu Admin
istration Boards, many of which have
been burned, thereby destroying the rec
ords by which their lives are so merci
lessly controlled. The Liquor stores and
bars, all owned by that board, were also
attacked, as were other symbols of the
white government. But it was the police,
not the people, who unleashed uncontrol
led brutal violence. Outside the segre
gated morgue in Johannesburg, one week
after the first shootings, John Burns of
the New York Times talked with a Sow
eto undertaker, waiting with some fami
lies who had come to seek out their dead.
He described three of the bodies he was
preparing for burial as those of children
■8®<1 12. 13. and 16.
The militancy which has finally erupted
in Soweto proved to be a nationwide
phenomenon. July and August saw the
growth of a continuous series of actions
all over South Africa in towns. Black
universities, urban and rural communi
ties Thousands are now in jail, including
children as young as nine years held
under brutal security regulations which
allow for indefinite detention in solitary
confinement, with no trial or right of
access to lawyer, family, or friend. We
are witnessing a new crucial stage- of the
liberation struggle in South Africa.
(Editor's Note: Jennifer Davis, Research
Director of the Africa Fund, is s political
exile from South Africa. The above is
adapted from an article by Ms. Davis
which appeared in the July 19, 1976 issue
of Christianity A Crisis The full text is
available from the American Committee
on Africa, 305 East 46th Street, New
York, NY 10017, on receipt of a self
addressed stamped envelope. An exten
sive list of reading materials on southern
Africa will be included. The American
Committee on Africa, founded in 1953 to
oppose apartheid, has since been active in
the support of independence and libera
tion movements throughout Africa.)
Jamaica seeks cultural roots
by Shepherd Bliss
Tfcareday, September 9th. 197«
the coast of Florida to Guyana on the
of the Caribbean movement for "total
northern tip of South America - most are
independence” from its colonial legacy.
of African descent, brought as slaves.
Though Jamaica won its political inde
But ethnic diversity is considerable:
pendence” from England in 1962, colonial
along with the Blacks are native Amer
vestiges are still apparent: cars ride on
indians, some Chinese, Indians brought
the left side of the road, an English
from India as indentured servants, a few
governor is titular head of state, Jamaica
Europeans and a sprinkling of other na
remains in the British Commonwealth.
tionalities.
With two million inhabitants it is the
Languages are nearly as diverse: Eng
largest of the Caribbean's English speak
lish, Spanish, French, Dutch and numer
ing nations.
ous local dialects, producing gulfs be
But while the U.S. is its main trading
tween island neighbors infinitely wider
partner, Jamaica is now seeking active
than the turquoise tropical waters.
ties with other non-aligned Third World
The colonial economic order was based
countries in an effort to achieve more
on the “plantation system" - first with
favorable trade relations with the devel
slaves under masters, later with inden
oped world.
tured servants and low-wage workers
“Developed countries export their
garnering and processing for export the
manufactured goods to us in exchange for
region's raw materials: bananas, sugar,
our raw materials,” says Finance Minis
oil, rum and bauxite.
ter David Coore. “But they determine the
Now, the region faces what Jamaican
price in both cases. We pay for manu
Prime Minister Michael Manley terms
factured goods on the basis of the stan
the "Caribbean dilemma" - the economic
dard of living in the developed world and
consequences of colonialism: “internal
must sell at a price which determines our
lower standard of living. Only by the
economic imbalance, external economic
disadvantage and foreign economic con
united action of Third World countries
trol . . . with all the legacies of poverty
can we change this."
that remain and are yet to be defeated."
Jamaica in recent years has turned to
I t is the material flaw in the tropical
what it calk “democratic socialism". Ac
paradise image.
cording to Coore, “This means parlia
But of all the colonial legacies perhaps
mentary democracy, but we go further.
the most difficult to overcome is the least
We see a country as democratic when the
visible. “Our deepest problem is psycho
majority has a say in the development of
logical", says Manley. “The enslavement
the society in ways other than with the
of the body which endured until 1838 was
vote."
as nothing to the enslavement of the mind
Concentration of wealth in the hands of
which has persisted since."
a few, says Coore, is not consistent with
And according to Guyana writer Yan
such a democratic society; he advocates
Carew, “To rob people of thier names and
land reform, regulation of excessive prof
countries was to set in motion a perma
its, and worker participation in industrial
nent psychological distortion."
and agricultural pknning.
Now, increased pride is emerging in
But “we do not want the state to be
the Caribbean toward its African heri
come the effectual owner of the means of
tage. The perspective of Haitian poet
production," Coore says (what he calk
Rene Depestre, speaking in Jamaica at
Carifesta “76, offers a distinctly Carib
bean view of Cuba's Angola involvement:
“The Cuban troops took the reverse route
of our exile", he said. “For the first time
in the history of Africa and America, an
African nation saw boats coming from the
Caribbean. On board were a people who
were bringing armed good news."
“state capitalism"). “Nor do we want'
comriunkiu."
After winning an overwhelming elec
toral victory in 1972, the Manley govern
ment has jo t had a smooth course. “We
get criticized by both the extreme left
saying we are going too slow and rtnhrn
saying we will soon end up in chaos or
communism", says Coore.
Meanwhile, there is much talk in Jam
aica about U.S. involvement in the Chile
an coup of 1973, with fears of similar
destabilization here.
“By Miking steps like pkeing a levy on
bauxite we have made some powerful
enemies," says Coore. “But no country
can be destabilized unless the internal
condition for such destabilizaion exkts.”
Since June 19th Jamaica has been in a
state of emergency declared by the gov
ernment, designed to reduce the political
violence that took the lives of 163 Ja
maicans in the first half of th k year.
The state of emergency has seen the
arrest and detention of important leaders
of the opposition Jamaica Labor Party,
whom Manley’s People’s National Party
government accuses of instigating vio
lence.
The state of emergency is set to last
another five months and the government
has until next February to call for elec
tions.
The critical political question now fac
ing Jamaica, according to Coore, k
whether a Third World developing coun
try can operate a multiparty democratic
system and survive.
"We believe we can,” Coore says, “but
it’s not easy. So many of the Third World
countries have opted out of the demo
cratic system because of the danger it
presents to nation-building in a small,
poor country, subject to many internal
and external pressures."
laereaeed U 8 leaaa for South Africa
N EW YORK (P N S /A N ) - U.S. and
other international banks are increasing
their volume of loans to South Africa,
despite that country's rising racial ten
sions and economic problems. U.S. banks
and their foreign subsidiaries have al
ready extended over $350 million worth
of loans to South Arican state owned cor
porations and projects, including Trans
kei, a Bkck “homeland" scheduled for
independence next month. The loans to
South Africa's government will at least
partially oil set a dramatic drop in direct
foreign investment in the country's pri
vate sector reported by Johannesburg’s
Nedsual Bank.
Among the major U.S. banks partici
pating in the lending are Chase Manhat
tan, Citibank, Manufactureres Hanover,
Morgan Guaranty and Barckys Interna
tional. Because of the increase lending
activity, U.S. and international financiers
are gaining an important position in the
South African economy that may give
them additional leverage on the govern
ment's racial policies.
N ew Zimbabwe splinter repudiated
SALISBURY. R H O DESIA - Forma
tion of a new party of Zimbabwean (Rho
desian) nationalists has sparked suspic-
kns here that “political opportunkts and
confidence tricksters" are attempting to
undermine further the already splintered
nationalkt movement against the white
minority government of Ian Smith. The
Reverend Thompson Tirivari announced
in Salkbury that he had been elected
chairman of the new Zimbabwe Reformed
African National Council (ZRANC), and
that Robert Mugabe, exiled in Mozam
bique, was named president. However,
Mugabe, a well known nationalkt leader
with close ties to the guerrilk army, said
the “new party k a complete surprise”.
He charged that ZRANC k proposing a
strategy of compromise with the white
minority government on conditions un
acceptable to the guerrillas. Meanwhile, a
BBC correspondent’s description of the
Reverend Tirivari and others in the r.ew
party as “political non-entities” has set off
specuktion as to who k actually behind
the ZRANC.
South African riots hncked to gold prices
P R E TO R IA - Persistent rijts and
strikes by South African workers are
giving rise to official concern here that
revolution may come from forces within
the country, rather than from guerrilk
attacks form neighboring Bkck nations.
P reto rk’s defense strategy has been pre
pared for the k tte r possibility, but the
threat of internal revolt has not been
regarded as serious until now.
Charles Simkins, a Capetown Univer
sity researcher, estimates Bkck unem
ployment is now around 20 per cent, or
two million of the Bkck kbor force. Of
ficials are worried that the figure could
rise drastically if international gold prices
continue to drop, forcing reductions in
mining, where many Blacks are employ
ed. Every ten-dolkr drop inprices means
an annual loss of about $238 million in
South Africa’s foreign exchange, as well
as reduced production and employment.
Meanwhile, economkts predict a long
recession in South Africa complicated by
further declines in gold prices and an
inability to attract foreign capital for pri
vate investment These factors, combined
with the government's recent curbs the
Balck trade union movement will likely
escalate rack! tensions.
N e African lenders at
Transkei Independence
JOHANNESBURG - The only Bkck
African leader prepared to attend the
independence ceremonies for South A fri
ca's Transkei next month has been re
jected by South Africa because of hk
“poor international reputation”. The gov
ernment has informed Central African
Republic President
Marshal Bokassa,
who indicated that he would attend the
October 26th ceremonies, that he is not
welcome. Bokassa was the only Bkck
African leader to ingore the decision by
the Organization of African Unity not to
recognize the Transkei's independence.
Ruler of one of the world’s poorest coun
tries, he has recently strengthened his
nation’s economic links with South A f
rica, which k building a hotel in the
Republic's capital of Banqui.
East African community «-m —
N A IR O B I, K E N Y A -- The nine year old
East African Community (EAC) - a com
mon market and economic federation of
Kenya, Tanzank and Uganda - has suf
fered permanent and perhaps terminal
damage as a result of the near war be
tween Uganda and Kenya. Though the
two nations have agreed to normalize
rektions, lingering tensions between the
governments and stark economic differ
ences make the once-bright future of the
EAC bleak, at best. Tanzank's socialist
strategy has conflicted with Kenya’s
commitment to a free market system, and
the erratic leadership of Idi Amin h««
nearly bankrupted Uganda. T » n 7» n i . h . .
pulled out of the Harbors and Railway
Corp., Kenya has threatened to abandon
the East African Railway in k v o r of
national networks, and Uganda has al
ready established its own national airline
apart from the Community's East African
Airways. Meanwhile, EAC employees are
being expatriated to their home coun
tries.
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