Black Consciousness in South Africa

1960s - 1970S
 Overview
• Changes that occurred in South Africa in the early 1970s
• Aims of Black Consciousness
• Role of Steve Biko in the Black Consciousness Movement
• Expression of Black Consciousness in South Africa
• Impact of the philosopy of BCM on student movements
• Reasons for the 1976 Soweto Uprisings
• Impact of the Soweto Uprising
• Reaction of the apartheid state to the Black Consciousness
Movement and Steve Biko
• Impact of BCM and Biko on South African politics
 Definitions
• Civil protest : opposition (usually to government policy) by
ordinary citizens of a country.
• Black Consciousness : An awareness of and pride in one’s
identity as a black person to encourage black people to unite
and take action to achieve their freedom (Early leaders included
Steve Biko, Barney Pityana, Mapetla Mohapi)
• Rolling Mass Action: On-going co-ordinated resistance
campaign to keep pressure on National Party government
(Initiated by the ANC after the Boipatong massacre in June 1992
which continued until NP signed the ‘Record of Understanding’
in Nov 1992.)
• Ideology: A belief system. A set of ideas which shape your
actions.
 Definitions (2)
• Uprising : A mass opposition and resistance to a government
or policy
• Bantu Homelands Regions identified under Apartheid as
being the ‘homelands’ of different language and cultural
groups. Policy intended that all Black people should ultimately
become ‘citizens’ of these areas and NOT south Africans.
• Tri-cameral parliament: a three-chambered parliamentary
system introduced by the national party in 1983, representing
only Whites, coloured and Indians (The African majority was
excluded)
• Resistance: when a group (or sometimes a person) works
against domination.
South Africa in the 1960s
• Very little protest in South Africa in
the mid 1960s due to state repression:
– After Sharpeville (1960), ANC and
PAC banned
– Key members of the liberation
movement were imprisoned or
went into exile
– New legislation increased the
Apartheid state’s power to
suppress protest (eg detention
without trial, house arrest)
– Increasing militarization of state
– Armed wings of ANC and PAC
curbed by state
– But in late 1960s: Emergence of
new form of protest
= Black Consciousness
 South Africa in the 1960s

• After Sharpeville there was a move to speed up the

process of separate development.
• Each African Language group would have a
‘homeland’ and eventually the trappings of
independence – including universities.
• The result was that in the late 1960s the numbers of
young black people with access to university
education grew dramatically.
 Why was Black Consciousness necessary
by late 1960s?
• ‘Divide and Rule’ Policy: The Apartheid government created
of ‘homelands’ for different African language groups and their
urban planning policies (which divided townships into
different language groups) aimed to divide black people, to
prevent them uniting as black people to resist Apartheid.
• The Apartheid government tried to push a policy of ‘separate
but equal’ and of ‘separate development’.
• Steve Biko believed it was essential to strip away the
language of ‘separate development’ and see Apartheid for
what it was - a racist policy which oppressed black people
because of their colour.
 The philosophy and aims of Black
Consciousness (BC)
• BC started as an attitude of mind
rather than a political movement.
• It defined as ‘black’ all those
oppressed by Apartheid.
• BC aimed to raise black confidence
to bring about liberation.
• Promote pride in black identity,
culture and history.
• Challenged white ‘liberals’.
• Promoted black unity.
 Biko the Philosopher
Books were important to him. His decision to read Fanon,
Senghor, Malcolm X, James Cone, or Paulo Friere was not a
passive activity but a philosophical action grounded in practical
necessities. "It wasn’t a question of one thing out of a book and
discovering that it’s interesting;’ he says in the 1972 interview.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=K5tMA3bkXmA
 Steve Biko: Early Life
• Born in King Williams Town December 18, 1946 
• Attends the Charles Morgan Primary School and the 
Forbes Grant secondary school 
• Attends Lovedale Institution and is expelled for 
anti-Apartheid actions and strong resentment toward
white authority. 
• Older brother Khaya was arrested and jailed for 9 
months during a government crackdown for being a 
suspected member of the military wing of the 
Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC)
 Biko: Timeline
• 1966 (age 19) Attends the University of Natal 
(Non-European section) at Wentworth as a medical 
student.
• 1969 (age 22) forms the South Africa Student's Organisation
(SASO) and is elected as its first president. Also forms the
Black People's Convention (BPC).
• 1972 (age 25) helps form and works for Black Community
Programmes (BCP) and the university discontinues his
medical studies.
• 1973 (age 26) banned and restricted to King William's Town
for five years. Not allowed to work for any political
organizations, not allowed to be published or quoted.
 Biko: Timeline
• 1974 (age 27) Arrested and discharged a number of times. 
On occasions charged and acquitted.
• 1975 (age 28) Founds Zimele Trust Fund and Ginsberg 
Educational Trust. Is detained and held for 137 days without
charge or trial.
• 1976 (age 29)  Elected as Honorary President of BPC.
Subpoenaed to give testimony in the SASO-BPC trial.
Detained in solitary confinement for 101 days.
• 1977 (age 30) Arrested in March, detained and then released.
Arrested again in July, charged, acquitted. Arrested again on
the 18 August.
 SASO
• Primary aim of the organization was to raise black
consciousness in South Africa through lectures and
community activities 
• Apartheid system had a psychological effect on the Black
population 
• Blacks had been convinced that they were inferior to
Whites 
• Biko preached Black solidarity to break the chains of
oppression.
 Banned
• In 1973 Biko was banned' by the Apartheid government 
• Restricted to his home town of Kings William's Town in the
Eastern Cape 
• The banning entailed prohibiting him from teaching or making
public addresses, preventing him from entering educational
institutions and reporting to the local police station once
every week 
• Could no longer support the BCP in Durban, but was able to
continue working for the BPC 
• While banned Biko helped set up the Zimele Trust Fund which
assisted political prisoners and their families
 Death

• On 21 August 1977 Biko was detained by the Eastern Cape

security police and held in Port Elizabeth 
• On 7 September "Biko sustained a head injury during
interrogation
• By 11 September Biko had slipped into a continual, semi-
conscious state 
• 12 September naked, lying on the floor of a cell in the Pretoria
Central Prison, Biko died from brain damage
 Cry freedom
Cry Freedom
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq4VjE0_AVQ

BBC Witness History- Steve Biko: Black

Consciousness Leader
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3csv26f
 Black Consciousness Movement
(BCM)
• Uniting Black people to oppose apartheid and 
white supremacy
• Born of “the realization by the Black man of
the need to rally together with his brothers
around the cause of their oppression” 
• "seeks to show the black people the value of 
their own standards and outlook.
 Biko’s definition of Black consciousness.
“Black Consciousness is in essence the
realisation by the black man of the need to rally
together with his brothers around the cause of
their oppression - the blackness of their skin -
and to operate as a group in order to rid
themselves of the shackles that bind them to
perpetual servitude. It seeks to demonstrate the
lie that black is an aberration [deviation] from
the "normal" which is white.”
 Aims of BCM - in Biko’s words
“It [BCM] seeks to infuse [fill] the black community with
a new-found pride in themselves, their efforts, their
value systems, their culture, their religion and their
outlook to life. Blacks no longer seek to reform the
system because so doing implies acceptance of the
major points around which the system revolves. Blacks
are out to completely transform the system and to
make of it what they wish. Such a major undertaking
can only be realised in an atmosphere where people
are convinced of the truth inherent [inborn] in their
stand.”
 Aims of BCM - in Biko’s words
“Liberation therefore is of paramount [vital]
importance in the concept of Black Consciousness, for
we cannot be conscious of ourselves and yet remain in
bondage [slavery]. We want to attain the envisioned
self which is a free self. Black Consciousness is an
attitude of the mind and a way of life… The most
potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the
mind of the oppressed.”
 1968: Establishment of South African
Student Organisation. Led by Steve Biko
July 1971 SASO’s Policy Manifesto stated:
i) "BLACK CONSCIOUSNESS" is an attitude of mind, a way of life;
ii) The basic tenet of Black Consciousness is that the Blackman
must reject all value systems that seek to make him a foreigner
in the country of his birth and reduce his basic dignity;
iii) The Blackman must build up his own value systems, see
himself as self-defined and not as defined by others."
 What shaped BCM
• Apartheid Government Banned Black
resistance groups including ANC and PAC. 
• An increase of strict legislation effectively silenced
Black opposition (bannings, arrests, and
imprisonment of leaders) 
• This lull in black resistance only strengthened the
force in the 1970s 
• Steve Biko filled the leadership roll
BC Movement influenced by:
Internationally
•Africanist views of Congress Youth
League and PAC
•Black Power in USA
•International youth revolt of 1960s
•Independence movement in Africa
•Growing international criticism of SA
BCM : Students – Workers - Communities

• 1972: SASO established Black

People’s Convention (BPC),
which included:
• South African Students’
Movement (SASM)
 SASM would play an important
role in Soweto uprising
• Black Allied Workers’ Union
• Black Communities Project
- economic cooperatives, literacy
campaigns, health projects,
cultural forums
 Under BCM
• SRC- Students Representative Council 
• UCM- University Christian Movement 1968 
• SASO- South African Student Organization 
• BPC- Black People Convention 
• NUSAS- National Union of South African Students
 Weakness of BCM
• It promoted a policy that required condemnation of
the Apartheid 
• Confrontation leading to outburst 
• June 1976 Soweto Riot begins the widespread
of spontaneous violence. 
• Steve Bikos death in 77 was one of the most 
shocking and prominent of the casualties.
National Party government’s response to
Black Consciousness:
• Government welcomed BCM it at first. It saw it as fitting
in with policy of ‘separate development’.
• But Biko was highly articulate and his support was
growing. He was clearly not going to be easily bought off
or controlled by Apartheid regime.
• Government increased its policy of repression:
expulsions, arrests, bannings (Biko was placed under
house arrest in Kingwilliam’s Town)
• In 1977 Biko was killed while in police custody and BC
organisations were banned.
Changes in South Africa in early 1970s

• Time of rising tensions and

crucial changes:
• Increasing dissatisfaction
among township residents
(result of urbanization and
housing shortages)
• 1973: World oil crisis ►
negative effects on SA
• Shortage of skilled labour
(result of Bantu Education)
• 1973: Series of strikes in
Durban and East Rand
- greater confidence
among black workers + (by
1979 led to legal recognition
of black trade unions)
• 1975: Independence in
Mozambique and Angola
- Victory for liberation
movements against
Portuguese rule
- ANC and PAC could
establish bases close to SA
- Hope of liberation for
black South Africans
 Causes of the 1976 Soweto student
protests
• System of Bantu Education:
• Aimed to prepare black
people for unskilled labour
• Schools poorly equipped;
teachers inadequately
trained; results poor; high
drop-out rates
• Government spent far less
on black education
The language issue:
• 1975: Government decided to
enforce Afrikaans language policy
- half subjects to be taught in
Afrikaans
- Effects of policy: major
difficulties for teachers and
students
- Objections from principals,
teachers, parents ignored
- Teachers fired for not applying
policy
- Students began boycott of
classes
The impact of the philosophy of BCM on
student movements.
• South African Students’ Movement
(SASM) was a established for school
students – it was inspired by Biko and the
BC philosophy:
• Spread ideas of Black Consciousness
through meetings, newspaper
• Growing support among students in
Soweto
- Government banned newspaper,
imprisoned or banned leaders
• 1976: SASM supported students boycotts
- Formed Soweto Students’
Representative Council (SSRC)
- Planned mass demonstration for 16
June 1976
 1976 Soweto uprising – a Turning Point in SA History

• Student Protests against

Education Policy which began on
June 16 1976
• became uprising against
apartheid regime and oppression
 The events of June 16 1976
• 16 June: March of students carrying placards (eg ‘Down with Afrikaans’)
• Marchers gathered at Orlando stadium in Soweto
• Mood of excitement, expectation – not anger, confrontation
• Confronted by police, using teargas, bullets, shootings
• Wave of violent protest actions: barricades, stonings, arson, killing, rioting

Further harsh police actions

• Countrywide protests:
• Involvement of whole communities
• Formation of Black Parents’ Association
• Forms of protest: boycotts, clashes with police, destruction of property,
community stayaways
 Impact of the protests and the
Soweto uprising
Disruption of education:
• Government backed down on language policy
• But schooling disrupted until following year
State reaction:
• Student leaders detained; 1000+ killed; thousands wounded
Increased support for armed struggle:
• Links between student protesters and ANC
• Thousands fled country and joined ANC and PAC in exile
• Armed struggle increased with new recruits
Negative effect on SA’s image:
• International criticism increased
• Destroyed attempts by government to end isolation
• Business leaders put pressure on government to reform
Further repression of opposition:
• 1977: 17 anti-apartheid organizations with links to Black Consciousness banned (eg
SASO, SASM, BPC, SSRC)
• Steve Biko killed in police detention
Organisations banned on 19 October 1977
• Black People's Convention (BPC)
• South African Students' Organisation (SASO)
• South African Students' Movement (SASM)
• Union of Black Journalists
• Black Community Programmes Limited (BCP)
• Black Parents' Association (BPA)
• Border Youth Organisation
• Soweto Students' Representative Council (SSRC)
• African Social Education and Cultural Education (ASSECA)
• Black Women's Federation
• National Youth Organisation
• Eastern Province Youth Organisation
• Medupe Writers' Association
• Natal Youth Organisation
• Transvaal Youth Organisation
• Western Cape Youth Organisation
• Zimele Trust Fund
• Siyazinceda Trust Fund
Cry Freedom
• This Hollywood
blockbuster gives
students a good idea of
the historical context of
mid-1970s south Africa.
It also uses many of
Biko’s writings as Biko
explains his philosophy
to white liberal and
journalist Donald
Woods.