Year of Fire Year of Ash: The Soweto Schoolchildren’s Revolt that Shook Apartheid

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‘We can say without fear of being contradicted by history, that June 16, 1976 heralded the beginning of the end of the centuries-old white rule in this country.’ Nelson Mandela Originally banned on publication by the apartheid government, Year of Fire, Year of Ash is an eye-opening account of how, in June 1976, 20,000 school students faced down the tanks and guns of a vicious racist regime, in a revolt that galvanized the black working-class and became a pivotal turning point for the anti-apartheid movement. More than this, the book overturns much of the conventional logic that served to explain the event at the time, showing it was not simply a student protest, but part of a wider uprising. Released in this new edition to mark the fortieth anniversary, Year of Fire, Year of Ash provides an unparalleled insight into the origins and events of the uprising, from its antecedents in the 1920s to its role in inspiring global solidarity against apartheid. As South Africa experiences a new wave of popular discontent, and as new forms of black consciousness come to the fore in movements around the world, Baruch Hirson’s book provides a timely reminder of the Soweto revolt’s continued significance to struggles against oppression today. Cover About the Author Title Page Copyright Dedication Contents Tables and Maps Foreword Abbreviations Nineteen Seventy-Six Introduction Race Riots or Class War? The 19608: from Quiescence to Resistance Students in Revolt The Uprising of June 1976 References Part 1: From School Strikes to Black Consciousness 1. The Black Schools: 1799-1954 Schools: Segregated and Unequal First Steps in the Cape Education in the Interior Early African Criticisms Discrimination After 1910 The Students' Response Strikes in the Schools The University College of Fort Hare Politics Comes to the Campus References 2. Bantu Education: 1954-1976 Christian National Education: The Afrikaner Ideal Bantu Authorities and Bantu Education ANC Responds: the 'Resist Apartheid Campaign' Higher Education Under Attack The Extension of University Education Act Schools Dismantled and the Struggle Continues References 3. The University Student Movements: 1960-1969 Bantu Education Implemented The Black Campus Protest The NUSAS Issue 'Black Man, You Are On Your Own.' References 4. Black Consciousness Politics: 1970-1974 SASO and the Black Consciousness Movement Black Peoples Convention (BPC) Launched, July 1972 Black Consciousness in Action The May Revolt, 1972 The 'Viva Frelimo' Rally References 5. Secondary Schools and the African School Movement Education for Black Labour? New Labour Needs and School Expansion Secondary School 'Explosion' The Language Bombshell School Students Organise The South African Students Movement References 6. The Black Consciousness Movement: Ideology and Action One Million Members? An Impossible Goal The Myth of BPC Radicalism Non-collaboration? The BPC Dilemma Buthelezi's Politics Pose a Problem References Part 2: Workers and Students on the Road to Revolt 7. Black Workers Set the Pace The Economic Paradox Workers' Organisations: Old and New Black Consciousness and the Workers The Strike in Namibia, 1971 Natal Workers on Strike, 1973 The Intervention of Barney Dladla The Organisation of Trade Unions References 8. The Strike Wave Spreads Black Miners Shake the Country Strikes Become Endemic East London: Bantustan Leaders as Strike-Breakers Strikes Without End The Strikes and the Political Struggle References 9. State Repression and Political Revival: 1974-1976 The Schlebusch Commission Reports Detentions and Arrests Impact of the Trials: 1976-76 The Bus Boycotts in 1975-76 'The Revolt Is Already Under Way' South Africa Invades Angola Buthelezi's Road to Liberation References 10. The Soweto Revolt: June 1976 Chaos in the African Schools The Campaign to Stop Afrikaans Medium Lessons The Demonstration of June 16, 1976 The Youth Take Revenge Police Terror The Response of a People Revolt in the Northern Transvaal Leaders of the Revolt The Parents Play Their Part The Underground Organisations References 11. The Revolt Takes Shape The Funeral Ceremonies Back to School? The March on Johannesburg Nation-wide Response References 12. The Cape Province Explodes The Shaping of Cape Society The 'Eiselen' Line The Schools in Cape Town 'Coloureds are Black, too' Coloureds and Apartheid Politics The Theron Commission Cape Schools Join the Revolt Separate, Yet Together Blacks Invade the White City Was There a Cape Town Leadership? Other Centres of the Revolt References 13. New Tactics in the Revolt Reaction Takes the Offensive Azikhwelwa Madoda! (Stay at Home!) To Return or Not to Return to School Legality and Illegality in Soweto The September Stay-at-Homes The Workers Stay at Home Problems of the Political Strike References 14. The Revolt Winds Down The March on Johannesburg Alcohol and the Christmas Season Divided Counsel on Examinations The SSRC Abolishes the UBC The First Commemoration of June 16 SASM Politics in 1977 The Police Move In References Part 3: Black Consciousness and the Struggle in S. Africa 15. Anatomy of the Revolt Origins Consciousness and the Revolt Black Consciousness as an Ideology Black Consciousness and the Rejection of Class Analysis The Black Consciousness Movement and Black Business The Petty Bourgeoisie: Urban and Rural References 16. Black Consciousness in South African History The Roots of Black Consciousness The Message of the CYL Leadership Economics and the Poverty of CYL Policy The ANC and the Programme of Action From Africanism to Black Consciousness Black Consciousness and Violence References A South African Glossary When Did It Happen? A Chronology of Events Bibliography Acknowledgements Index