South Africa: Revolution, Repression, Reform
| Published date | 01 December 1986 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070208604100406 |
| Date | 01 December 1986 |
| Author | Heribert Adam,Kogila Moodley |
| Subject Matter | Article |
KOGILA
MOODLEY
&
HERIBERT
ADAM
South
Africa:
revolution,
repression,
reform
The
options
for
South
Africa's
political
development
can
best
be
summarized
in
the
three
alternatives
of
revolution,
repres-
sion,
and
reform. In
the
present
escalating
crisis
each
of
these
responses
is
being
pursued
by
various actors.
It
is
in
the
inter-
play
between these
strategies
that
the
future
course
of
the
coun-
try
can
be
charted.
With
these
options
in
mind,
this
overview
sets
out
some
trends and
hypotheses.
The
strength of
each
tendency
is
assessed
and
conclusions
about the
foreseeable
fu-
ture
(the next
five
years)
in
South
Africa
are
drawn
on
the
basis
of
past
empirical
evidence.
REVOLUTION
The
politicization
of
the
people
in
the
black
townships
adjacent
to
South
Africa's
cities
has
reached
unprecedented
heights.
Together
with
a
new
cultural
resistance,
new
legends
and
heroes
have
emerged
of
which white
society
is
largely
ignorant.
Consumer
boycotts,
strikes,
and
agitation
have
created
a
climate
such
that
many
township
residents
falsely
believe
that
an
end
to
white
power
is
in
sight.
The
call
to
make
the
country
ungovernable
aims
at
creating
liberated
areas
(rather
than
anarchy)
in
which
the
opposition
forces
hold
control.
With
the
collapse
of
many
township administrations
in
the
wake
of
the
A
former
South African
of
Indian
descent,
KOGILA
MOODLEY
teaches
in
the
Multicultural
Program
in
the
Faculty
of
Education,
University
of
British
Colum-
bia,
and
has
published
widely
on
comparative
race
relations.
HERIBERT
ADAM
is
a
Professor
of
Sociology
at
Simon
Fraser
University,
Burnaby,
BC,
and
author
of
several
volumes
including
Modernizing
Racial
Domination.
The
two
authors
have
recently
published
South Africa
without
Apartheid:
Dismantling
Racial
Domina-
tion
(University
of
California
Press
1986).
International
Journal
XLU
autumn
1986
832
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
attacks
on
black
councillors
and
policemen,
the
state
has
retreated
to
sporadic
control
through
patrols
in
armoured
vehicles
but
no
longer
effectively
governs
many areas.
The
government
can
occupy
townships
and contain
large
demonstrations,
in
partic-
ular
keeping
them
from
spilling over
into
white
areas,
but
it
cannot prevent
illegal
mass
gatherings
from
taking
place
with-
out
risking
unacceptably
high
casualties
among the
protesters.
So
far
heavy
weapons,
such
as
machine
guns,
have
not
been
used
against
government
opponents,
and
the
indiscriminate
killing
of
blacks
not
involved
in
political activities
has
been
the
exception. Of
the
over
2000
persons
killed
since
the
latest
round
of
resistance
started
in
1984,
about
two-thirds were
victims
of
state action
while
the
rest
died
in
inter-black
fighting. In
a
population
of
30
million,
this
number
of
casualties
is
not
a
high
figure,
particularly
since
few
whites have
been
affected.
Thus
the
civil
war,
frequently
diagnosed,
is
only
incipient,
especially
since
the
government's
opponents
have
little
access
to
weapons
so
far.
The
new
aspect
of
the
protest
is
the
involvement
of
large
segments
of
the
urban
black
population
which
were
previously
inactive.
In
many areas,
almost
all
households
have
withheld
the
rents
on
government-owned
houses.
Increasingly,
street
committees
and
civic
associations establish
control
of
the people
in
place
of
the
official
agents.
People
are
warned
against re-
porting
crimes
or
grievances
to
the
police
and
instead
turn
to
people's
courts
which
mete
out
instant
justice.
A
double
sov-
ereignty
is
emerging.
Moreover, the
educational
system
is
in
disarray.
The return
to
school,
after
a
year
of
strikes,
often
meant
the
use
of
the
educational
system
for
overt
political
pur-
poses.
Classrooms
have
become
the
latest
locations
for
mobili-
zation.
A
new
curriculum,
stressing
political
relevancy,
has
emerged.
Unsympathetic
teachers
are
harassed
and
unable
to
continue
in
the
old
authoritarian
style.
Often pupils
teach
them-
selves.
Many
unemployed
and
unemployable
youth
('lumpen-
youngsters') together
with
ordinary
criminals
have
joined
the
political
activists
in
disrupting
the
routine
cycle
of
widespread
poverty
and
hopelessness.
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