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Why the
liberation struggle of South Africa delayed until 1994
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The struggle to end Apartheid was
not easy. The nationalists and freedom fighters faced a number of problems in
their struggle to bring about change in South Africa.
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Repressive legislation of Apartheid
and how it was entrenched.
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The use of terror, electric shock,
torture and execution like at Sharpsville in 1960 and Soweto in 1976.
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The exclusive radical nationalism of
some nationalist movements in South Africa, for example PAC wanted South Africa
for black Africans only, which scared the whites.
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An inferior education, little money
spent, not beyond primary level, which was not useful in the struggle. The
co-operation of some African countries with the apartheid regime like Lesotho,
Swaziland, Malawi. The economic strength of South Africa as an industrial power
with good economy and capital
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The strength of the South African
army and intelligence to contain Black Nationalist guerrillas for a long time.
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The nuclear capability of South
Africa that had scared the Front Line States reduced the zeal in assisting the
liberation.
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The South African government raided
African countries which harbored South African 'terrorists' like in 1979
South African planes bombed ANC training camp in Angola. This reduced
commitment towards liberation of South Africa.
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The assistance by South Africa to
dissidents in the neighboring countries for instance UNIT A in Angola, which
reduced the morale, and zeal in the liberation of South Africa.
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The forces of the cold war. The
western countries gave support to apartheid regime to check spread of communism
an activities of the communists in neighboring countries.
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The weakness of the OAU, which
lacked a high military command and penalty to countries cooperating with
Apartheid.
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The creation of Bantustans, setting
up of Bantustans on ethnic lives caused ethnicism, which undermined the struggle.
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Division among the nationalists like
ANC and the Inkatha Freedom Party. These clashes escalated and distracted the
liberation struggle.
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The weaknesses of the UNO
manipulated by the western powers failed to enforce resolutions and did not
supervise sanctions against South Africa.
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Sabotage from the western world
mainly the US and Britain.
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The South African government had an
efficient intelligence network with police.
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The white leaders being conservative
didn't believe in practical multiracial ideal and blocked progress of majority
government, these included Dr. Malan, Verwoerd, Voster, Botha, Fischer until
De'Klerk came to power.
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The repressive Apartheid law
institutions like Parliament remained for whites only and the creation of
Bantustans all favored the Apartheid policy.
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By 1950, the Group Areas Act
established gazetted reserves for Africans called Bantustans.
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Most African countries a round South
Africa, which could have provided bases for a strong anti- Apartheid campaign,
got their independence at a later date and the struggle remained at the mercy
of the racist regime.
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In 1948, Dr. Malan banned all
political activities through the white Parliament, for instance they could not
recruit membership and mobilize the masses, which made it easy for the regime
to crush them.
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By 1970's, South Africa was a
nuclear with highly developed military academies where the army and police
trained.
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The racist regime arrested or
detained nationalists without fair trail, for instance Nelson Mandela, Oliver
Tambo, Steve Biko, Walter Sisulu, among others.
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Non-whites in South Africa including
Blacks, Coloureds and Indians were denied the right to vote; and without the
right to vote, the non- whites had no power to stop Apartheid but only armed
struggle as an option.
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Role of
the armed struggle in the liberation of South Africa
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Since unarmed resistance had failed
completely, the younger and the more militant members of the ANC and PAC formed
underground movements of military resistance -Umkhonto We Sizwe and Poqo.
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Armed struggle was the revival of
the warrior tradition in African setting like the rising under Shaka and the
Barnbata rebellion in 1906 and others.
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Umkhonto We Sizwe (the spear of the
nation) was formed in June 1961 by Nelson Mandela and other ANC Militants. From
May 1961 he went underground to organize the general strike against South
Africa's new Republican states. The next month he organized Urnkhonto and lived
the life of an outlaw until his arrest in august 1962.
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Umkhonto
We Sizwe's objective was to disrupt the life
of the country by acts of sabotage of government installations. It was
concerned with attacks on people; it was controlled violence rather than
terrorism. It operated through a cell organization and was interracial in
composition. Its adherents were mainly ANC members (nearly all the blacks) or
the communist party members (nearly all radical whites opposed to Apartheid).
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The other aims and nature of the
organization were - include all races, peoples' rights and freedom.
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Umkhonto
We Sizwe carried out 193 acts of sabotage by
May 1963, mainly in the Eastern Cape and Port Elizabeth. Its activities were
spectacular and symbolic than effective. Leaders made plans to move towards
guerrilla warfare. About three hundred men were sent for guerrilla training in
Ethiopia, Algeria and China. .
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But the movement was crushed by the
police who managed to infiltrate its organization.
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After the Rivonia Tria.Is in 1963
and 1964, Nelson Mandela was accused of sabotage and conspiracy to overthrow
the government by revolution. He was sentenced to life imprisonment on Robben
Island where he remained up to 1990 with five other political prisoners.
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Umkhonto
We Sizwe activists paid the ultimate
sacrifice and should not be forgotten for example Vuyisile Mini- a trade union
leader, Zinakile Mkaba and Wilson Khayingo, who were hanged on 6th
November 1964 at Pretoria central jail for allegedly having been been members
of the regional command of Umkhonto We Sizwe which ordered the killing
of a state witness. The actual killers were found after the hangings.
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The Pan-Africanist Congressc (PAN)
also formed an armed wing called POQO which emerged at the same time as Umkhonto
We Sizwe as t military wing of ANC.
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Unlike Umkhonto, POQO
attacked with pangs, Machete like knives and only few guns. . POQO activities
were scattered and uncoordinated and the general mass rising it planned never
took place.
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Over 3,000 POQO members were
arrested by June 1963. The PAC then turned to the strategy of a protracted
armed struggle, as it sent more men abroad for guerrilla training.
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White liberals also carried out acts
of sabotage under the African Resistance Movement (ARM). In July 1964 active
bomb exploded in Johannesburg railway station. This bomb had been planted by
John Harris, a white activist in the South African Liberal Party (SALP) who was
hanged in January 1965. Blanket repression and sheer ruthlessness were adopted
by Dr. Verwoerd and John Vorster, as torture was a routine in prisons and
police stations.
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Despite their activities by the late
1960's the ANC, PAC and CP had ceased to exist inside South Africa and had
become wholly exile movements with guerrilla warfare. They trained in Zambia,
Tanzania, Algeria and Angola.
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With Communist support, the time was
ripe for a guerrilla offensive into South Africa from Mozambique in 1970's.
Many young recruits after the June 1976 Soweto Rising left South Africa for
guerrilla training.
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The murder of Steve Biko in police
custody on 121hSeptember 1977 reminded a new generation that renewal of the
armed struggle was probably the only way to change the political situation and
many more young men left the country for guerrilla training.
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Guerrillas bombed railways and
police stations and shopping centres in 1978. They also ambushed police patrols
near the Swaziland border. Many arrested guerrillas awaited trail.
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In August 1978, a four hour battle
took place near Rustenberg, 75 miles west of Pretoria between a small Umkhonto
We Sizwe detachment and the South African army assisted by the Bophuthatswana
National Guard, which encircled the guerrillas and sprayed the area with
gunfire, napalm and defoliant chemicals. There were causalities on both sides
and some of the guerrillas managed to retreat and escape the South African
police also fought the guerrillas in northern Transvaal.
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Official militarization began of
white farmers in the Order Area. In 1979 on advice from Israel military experts,
a plan was announced to offer land near the border at low prices to young
whites with military training. They would settle in small towns to form a chain
of defense strongholds. The towns and farms would be equipped with alarm
systems, flood- lighting and two-way radio contact and fitted into the security
network with the police and the army. In August 1979 South African planes
bombed an ANC training camp in Angola, one plane shot down.
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By September 1979, Umkhonto We Sizwe
troops started urban guerrilla warfare when they attacked and seriously damaged
the main police station in Soweto, killing four policemen .
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But the Umkhonto had not sought
large scale confrontation with South African security forces (SADF) -instead it
concentrated on smuggling large quantities of weapons into South Africa and
hiding them for future use. As for POQO it had stepped up its guerrilla
activity due to Chinese support by training several PAC guerrillas in China,
Tanzania and Libya.
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As for Angola and Mozambique they
supported the Soviet-backed ANC armed wing / (Umkhonto
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we Sizwe). PAC also followed Chinese
advice to support UNlTA against the MPLA in the Angolan civil war.
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Despite the fact that the guerrillas
didn't have direct access to South Africa, many of them managed to enter South
Africa and carryout some acts of sabotage. None the less, the initiative of
sustained guerilla warfare was taken by the ANC's Umkhonto We Sizwe to a larger
extent and not by the PACs Poqo.
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Umkhonto's greatest military success
was in June 1980 when two units attacked Sasol I and Natref plants at Sasolburg
in the Orange Free State and the Sasol II plant at Secunda in the Transvaal.
They also set fire to four oil tanks at Sasol l and three at Natref The attack
was a blow to South Africa's oil from coal industry, which was the white
regimes main defense against a threatened international oil boycott.
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From 1980 to 1990 many ANC guerrilla
received training in Uganda, Tanzania, Mozambique, Algeria, Libya, Angola, an
Guinea Bissau. In face of sanctions, vast struggle of Namibia and other
problems there was no sign that the nationalist party government in Pretoria
was ready to learn the lessons of the Zimbabwe experience
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