Hence the TuC earer usume lear our or Black South Africa Explodes provides the essential information for an analysis of soulm Alnca today. powerful weapon in the struggle to build a Southern Africa Britain. After reading the CIS report no rules solely by its monopoly of the means or cor and volence The CIS Report rigorously documents the day by day events in South Africa after the initial student protest on 16 June in Soweto. The spark that set off the fire that swept South Africa was the introduction of Afrikaans as a compulsory medium of instruction in schools. students responded with massive demonstrations, their self confidence already fuelled by the defeat of the whites in Angola earlier in the year.
TARGETS Government buildings and property were the chief targets; beer halls bottle stores, the property of the Bantu Administration, were burned or smashed up. The siudents raised slogans such as "less liquor, better education' and "we want more schools and less beer halls'. These slogans brought to the fore two of the sharpest forms of their oppression. The beer halls are for many the escape from the drudgery of life in South Africa. They are encouraged by the white regime, ine elect being the numbing of black militancy and widespread apathy.
o increase ner ecarveness ne su dents begin to turn to the black working class. +ne ponce responaca with incrcasce violence. In a new upsurge on 4 August, the students marched on Johannesburg. • Although students made no attempt to break through the cordon. and the tron rank held up notices saying "We are not fighting, don't shoot". shot down and three died immediately." By 11 August, Cape Town was ablaze as well.
A demonstration formed in Langa, one of the Cape Town townships, in solidarity with the victims of Soweto. As the CIS Kepori says, the march was peacerul, that is until the police decided otherwise.
protests spread to other townships and the death toll mounted. As one resident put it, *It was a peaceful demonstration till the police arrived. It is only a pity that the police fired on the mobs because the people then adopted a militant stand. When you kids are shot you keep your cool. I saw people fleeing in panic and shot running away. CIS concludes: It is very unclear wnen tne ponce startca snoonn: to kill, or who the first victims were. we can sav definitelv is that armed police killed sixteen unarmed Africans that day and wounded at least 51 more.
ESCALATED The efforts of the students escalated. *Weekend 21/22 August. Over the weekend leaflets calling for a three day general strike were put under the door of every house in Soweto. This operation was organised by the Soweto Students Representative Council and involved careful planning the week before. Black office workers had been approached and asked to make copies of leaflets calling for the stayaway. At the same time rumours of the strike spread among workers, and pickets were out at many stations, the previous week, of people who thought and only 12 of them were CCnL....
industrialists, were stayed away."
unster sewerers massive impi (tribal band), holders.' The CIS INTOICES speaking the hostel dwellers, singing war songs and brandishing assegais, go on the rampage. that the strike ought to start immediately. We had realised that we had gone as far as we could. and it was now important that we strike at the industrial structure South Africa.' (Tsietsi Mashinini)
The strike was an obvious success. The evening papers reported that 'the absentee rate throughout Johannesburg was 80 per The Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce reported that 'the stayaway hit retailers and insurance you companies. tuner no-one turnca up on the black staff, or considerable numbers As a response to the success of the strike ine ponce mica to wragment the solidarity of the working class by attempting to turn ine migrant nostel workers against the strikers. In certain cases hostel dwellers attacked the students and their supporters violently. First reports told of armed with sticks, assegais and pangas (long bladed knives) charging through the street. breakand aracking nousc This of course was exploited to the maximum by the South African press and their supporters in Britain and elsewhere.
Report contains an excellent account of this event, clearly showing the involvement of the South African SecurThis is the account of a reporter who spent the night in Orlande West, a township of Johannesburg: After witnessing neighbours fleeing the township to seek reluge in townships aeeper in soweto after watching houses being stoned and raided by neavily armed culus, chose d coal box to shelter in. At two-fifteen in A POLICEMAN and an interpreter on a police 'hippo' address a crowd of hostel dwellers outside Mzimhlope Hostel. As he finishesG Zulus (in Zulu) to stop raiding houses; "We didn't order vou to destroy West Rand (Administration Board) property. You were asked to fight people only, so asked withdraw Such incidents abounded. CIS relentlessly document the methods the police employed in their attempts to break the strike.
COLOUREDS Not only the blacks were involved. The coloured school children in the Cape Peninsula demonstrated their throughout July and August. CIS report that on 24 August several thousand coloured women and children demonstrated against the apartheid sysOnce again another myth shattered, the attempts of the regime to divide the two groups along race lines had failed. Black power was strictly for the blacks. Coloured power was something that people just thought of dream but not real. not something to die for. Now all that's changed-and it's the children who have brought about that change.
Monday 13 September was the first day the township by Representative quarter million coloured workers miles away in the Cape. imme- caDe own was estimated di in commerce support calls of the students.
City of workers.
Was - a pipe blacks and the trade unions.
-was Board Tactory British of the new general strike in Soweto 'Azikwela' - Zulu for 'we do not work - leaflets were distributed throughout the Soweto Students Council. According CIS, by Wednesday half a million black people were on strike in the Reef and this time they were joined by 80 per cent of the SUUU The strike in Steel) 70-80 per (IC cent complete in industry and 40 per cent This was the high point of the strike movement. Although the general strikes showed the enormous power of the black working class in South Africa, the continual calling of such mass mobilisations without results ran the risk of demoralising the black workers. By November the workers were no longer responding to the CiS make the correct points: "The strike called in sympathy with those in detention was ignored by the vast majorThey agreed with the students' demands, but in conditions of starvation wages and chronic unemployment, the failure of the Black Consciousness Movement to connect with the black trade unions meant that the breakdown of the tactic was inevitable. The fact that the best organised black workers in the mines and in Natal have not yet responded to the uprisings in the townships is also indicative of the gap between the young instructions to 'asking its mem engaged in trade with South Africa that the bannis black trade unionists as counter productive' [Morning Star, 14 Jan bosses aren't so Times Januar commemed inar me ar ot British business shown to have hardened signific antly over the past three years should take a and cemand a similar narcenina o their leaders against those who stand in the way of the N.1. further details AAM tions with South ATrICa as of it. Any attempts, overwhelmingl UN General Asported oy таке embaret mandatory nave been blocked b Britain, France and the USA using their power of veto most recent British veto cast -ust tree weeks ane the Labour rarv conterence nac demanded 'British support for a mandatory UN arms SIDE-STEPPED The CIS report outlines the way in wich ine embargo is aeroer ately side-stepped The Government grants expor licences under the 1970 Customs and Excise Export of Goods (Contro Croer even tor items wnose will clearly be example of this is the For the export of a mh mine recent granting pound communications system to Armaments British firms can grant manufacturing Ticences Tor THeir brod ucis to soul ancan companies On 9 August 1976, tor Instance Defence the country's first Botna openec Manuiablure inteerated •CIrCUITS pointed out, integrated circults of sophisticated weapons with electronic systems will be invaluaole hese circums will be manu factured under licence from the Provided an he ney way ha Plessey, which has nical expertise (neR I Inere are subsidiaries or britisi . Here the Labour Govthrough its ownership of Leyland. Leyland's South African subsidiary, wnich reruses to rec anise black trade unions specalises in the production of Land Rovers - which go straight to the Never - cenerar invest ment in South Africa contributes to its arms capacity CIS explain:
An armaments industry as soph Africa's enos on a well-develosed MOUS trial base • It needs steel (Britis!
Mobil), chemicals many but agail ment retuses to tall into line ever with the Composite 44 resolution of the last Labour Party which mediate wreeze on a new ment in contrary, the 68 percent Govern British Petroleum has recently announced that it will spend zoom or a nycycal vestment programme in sout Africa.
These so-called "leaders' of the labour movement must be brought to account without delay, and a total ban placed on South African trade and investment which car help bring the apartheid regime to its knees pamphlet 20 р.
25p (including p&p) from Relgo crest, 97 Caledonian Rd, London
----- pull-quotes -----
6 MARCH SOUTHERN AFRICA DEMONSTRA- Assemble 1.30pm Hyde Park, Speakers Cor- Arrives 3.30pm for rally Trafalgar Square.
How Labour Supports