GRADE LEVEL SECTION SUB-SECTION DURATION
12 SOUTH AFRICAN HISTORY FROM RESISTANCE TO DEMOCRACY 5 LESSONS

Resistance and Extra Parliamentary Activities
The Role of the Churches: South African Council of Churches

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(Source: Eric Miller, Iafrica Photos)
Oudstroom mass demostration led by Church leaders against apartheid
and in support of the UDF and ANC in the late 1989

The Church in South Africa under the leadership of the South African Council of Churches (SACC) and World Council of Churches played a major role in the opposition to the government. Reverend Allan Boesak, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Father Trevor Huddleston and Beyers Naude were key leaders in the struggle against apartheid. The government responded with threats but the Church maintained that it had a holy duty to fight injustice and to stand up for the oppressed. When the Tricameral Parliament was introduced, the SACC submitted a memorandum.

Desmond Tutu and other religious leaders addressing a public meeting
(Source: Eric Miller, Iafrica Photos)

The Grievances of our People

For three years in the Vaal triangle, for the past fourteen months in Soweto, for many months in many other townships, people have been boycotting the payment of rent and service charges massively and persistently. They have been boycotting rent as a form of non-violent protest, because of the many grievances, which had never been attended to by the authorities.

The ongoing increase of rentals have made it more impossible to many families to pay, due also to the deepening economic crisis which has left many people without vital resources.
The ancient promises that after a certain amount of time houses would be owned, never materialised. The majority of our people feel that their housing has long been paid for.
The deterioration of the services in the townships: poor sewerage, if any, lack of decent streets and tarred roads, no street lights at night, haphazard collection of refuse, no maintenance at all of the houses, fences and public parks by the municipal authorities.

Source L
Extract from the pastoral letter, Ministers United for Christian Co-Responsibility, on township rent boycott.

The continued opposition to the government led to bombing of the SACC headquarters in Johannesburg in 1988 leaving 23 people injured.

Learning Outcome 2: Historical concepts
The learner will be expected to have an informed understanding of key concepts as ways of analysing the past. They will be expected to understand and explain the dynamics of change in the context of power relations operating in societies. They will also be expected to compare and contrast points of view/perspectives of the past and draw their own conclusions based on evidence

Activity 5

Source based questions:

  1. The government criticised churches for being involved in politics. Do you think the government was justified?
  2. What argument did the church make for participating in the UDF movement?
  3. Why do you think people were not paying rent and costs of other services? (Source L)
  4. Do you think religion should keep separate from politics? Investigate the ideas of liberation theology ?

 

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