Urban apartheid and African responses : aspects of life in Mamelodi township, 1953-1990

Abstract

This thesis examines how urban apartheid affected Mamelodi residents, and how they responded to it, in the period 1953 to 1990. The thesis challenges the idea that township residents were victims of urban apartheid, and did nothing to improve their lives. It also challenges the idea that the African response to urban apartheid was limited to political struggles. It argues that forms of struggles went beyond social, economic and political ones, to challenge all the facets of urban apartheid. From 1953, Mamelodi residents realised the effects of apartheid laws on their lives. The thesis takes into account the influence of race, class and age in the evolution of the struggles against urban apartheid, which was implemented by bureaucratic administrative structures created by the National Party government. The notion of African Nationalism influenced Mamelodi residents in their political struggles. They saw themselves as Africans who had a birthright to rule themselves in South Africa. The thesis shows how the existence of different classes as social categories in the township contributed to various forms of struggle. These included daily struggles such as illicit beer brewing, hawking and taxi pirating. They were complemented by more organised political struggles initiated by the black middle class in the earlier years. The thesis argues that African responses in Mamelodi township made it difficult for the government to control the lives of urban blacks. It began to concentrate on curbing resistance rather than insisting on the implementation of its urban policies. This defiance on the part of the residents led to government policy losing direction. The government became defensive as it concentrated its energies and resources on curbing resistance. In the mid 1980s, the thesis argues, the government lost control of the township due to co-ordinated campaigns, which it failed to curb. When the government unbanned political organisations and released political prisoners in 1990, it was acceding to demands that township residents had made for many years.