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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Protest Marches in South Africa |
Authors: | Du Pisani, Andre Broodryk, M. Coetzer, P.W. |
Year: | 1990 |
Periodical: | Journal of Modern African Studies |
Volume: | 28 |
Issue: | 4 |
Period: | December |
Pages: | 573-602 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | South Africa |
Subjects: | protest freedom of association Miscellaneous (i.e. Demography, Refugees, Sports) Politics and Government History and Exploration Ethnic and Race Relations |
External link: | https://www.jstor.org/stable/160922 |
Abstract: | The September 1989 general elections for the tricameral Parliament of South Africa marked a turning point in the direction of governmental policies. Nowhere has the changing mood been more clearly demonstrated than in the streets of the cities and towns. A countrywide spate of protest marches has occurred since the historic first government-approved peaceful antiapartheid march in Cape Town on 13 September 1989. This paper surveys the attitude of the government towards the freedom of political expression, including all forms of assembly, and the ways in which this freedom has been exercised, in the following periods: the preapartheid era (1910-1948); the 1950s, when the National Party started implementing its apartheid policies; the 1960s and 1970s, which were marked by harsh repression of black resistance and extraparliamentary opposition; the 1980s, which saw the resurgence of black resistance and the declaration of the state of emergency (in 1985 and 1986); the turning point of September 1989. The protest marches demonstrated the dynamic of mass collective action, and the potential strength of organized, nonviolent pressure. However, such protests have limited potential as instruments for constructive change and must not be regarded as an end in themselves. They must be followed by meaningful negotiations. Notes, ref. |