Editing Defiance Campaign

{{Short description|Defiance campaign in 1952}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Use South African English|date=June 2012}}
[[File:The Soviet Union 1988 CPA 5971 stamp (70th birth anniversary of Nelson Mandela, South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, political leader and philanthropist).jpg|thumb|x200px|[[Nelson Mandela]] on a 1988 [[USSR]] commemorative stamp]]
{{Apartheid}}
The '''Defiance Campaign against Unjust Laws''' was presented by the [[African National Congress]] (ANC) at a conference held in [[Bloemfontein]], South Africa, in December [[1951 in South Africa|1951]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Lodge|first=Tom|title=Black Politics in South Africa since 1945|year=1983|publisher=Longman|location=London and New York|isbn=0-582-64327-9|pages=39}}</ref> The Campaign had roots in events leading up the conference. The demonstrations, taking place in 1952, were the first "large-scale, multi-racial political mobilization against [[apartheid]] laws under a common leadership".<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://overcomingapartheid.msu.edu/multimedia.php?id=65-259-9|title=The Defiance Campaign|website=South Africa: Overcoming Apartheid Building Democracy|access-date=3 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161201155811/http://overcomingapartheid.msu.edu/multimedia.php?id=65-259-9|archive-date=1 December 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Background ==
In 1948, the [[National Party (South Africa)|National Party]] (NP) won the election in South Africa and began to impose [[apartheid]] measures against Black people, Indians and any people of mixed race.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/topic/defiance-campaign-timeline-1948-1952|title=Defiance Campaign Timeline 1948-1952|website=South African History Online|access-date=3 September 2016}}</ref> The NP restricted political power to white people only and allocated areas of South Africa for different races of people.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/topic/national-party-np|title=National Party (NP)|date=30 March 2011|website=South African History Online|access-date=3 September 2016}}</ref> Workers, trade unionists and others spoke out on 6 October 1949 against these apartheid measures and began to discuss a possible political strike.<ref name=":0" /> In December of that year, leaders in the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL), such as [[Nelson Mandela]], [[Walter Sisulu]] and [[Oliver Tambo]], took power.<ref name=":0" /> The [[African National Congress]] (ANC) also "adopts the Programme of Action" on 17 December, which advocated a more militant approach to protesting apartheid.<ref name=":0" />

In 1950, the ANC started promoting demonstrations, mass action, boycotts, strikes and acts of civil disobedience. During this time, 8,000 black people were arrested "for defying apartheid laws and regulations".<ref name=":0" /> The [[South African Indian Congress]] (SAIC) worked in partnership with the ANC.<ref name=":3" /> The NP used the [[Population Registration Act, 1950|Population Registration Act]] to ensure that individuals were permanently classified by race and only allowed to live in areas specified by the [[Group Areas Act]].<ref name=":0" /> On 26 June 1950, the National Day of Protest took place.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/archive/report-national-day-protest-june-26-1950-issued-secretary-general-anc-and-initialed-nelson-r|title='Report on the National Day of Protest, June 26, 1950.' Issued by the Secretary-General of the ANC and initialed by Nelson R. Mandela, June 26, 1950|website=South African History Online|access-date=3 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160917050042/http://www.sahistory.org.za/archive/report-national-day-protest-june-26-1950-issued-secretary-general-anc-and-initialed-nelson-r|archive-date=17 September 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> The ANC asked that people not go to work as an act of protest.{{Sfn|Mandela|1990|p=32-33}} As a result of the protest, many people lost their jobs and the ANC set up a fund to help them.{{Sfn|Mandela|1990|p=32-33}}

== The Campaign ==
The Defiance Campaign was launched on 26 June 1952, the date that became the yearly National Day of Protest and Mourning.<ref name=":0" /> The South African [[police]] were alerted about the action and were armed and prepared.<ref name=":5">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6539641//|title=South Africa Armed Police Altered as Non-Whites Prepare Defiance Acts|date=26 June 1952|work=Newport Daily News|access-date=7 September 2016|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> In major South African cities, people and organizations performed acts of defiance and civil disobedience.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=http://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/south-africans-disobey-apartheid-laws-defiance-unjust-laws-campaign-1952-1953|title=South Africans disobey apartheid laws (Defiance of Unjust Laws Campaign), 1952-1953|last=Phalen|first=Anthony|date=11 June 2009|website=Global Nonviolent Action Database|access-date=3 September 2016}}</ref> The protests were largely [[Nonviolence|non-violent]] on the parts of the participants, many of whom wore tri-color armbands signifying the ANC.<ref name=":4">{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/news/21583171-how-anti-apartheid-resistance-movement-operates-defiance-south-africa|title='Defiance' in South Africa|date=16 August 1952|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=7 September 2016}}</ref> Black volunteers burned their [[Pass laws|pass books]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Herbstein|first=Denis|date=September 1994|title=The Exile Returns|url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=9410282265&site=ehost-live|journal=Africa Report|volume=39|issue=5|page=78|access-date=7 September 2016|url-access=subscription |via=EBSCOhost}}</ref> Other black volunteers would go into places that were considered "whites-only," which was then against the law. These volunteers were arrested, with the most arrests (over 2,000 people) being made in October 1952.{{Sfn|Okoth|2006|p=176}} When protesters were arrested, they would not defend themselves in court, "leading to large-scale imprisonment".<ref name=":2" /> Others who were offered fines as an alternative choice to go to prison.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6539958//|title=Cape Coloreds Choose Prison|date=4 September 1952|work=The Age|access-date=7 September 2016|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> The mass imprisonment, it was hoped, would overwhelm the government.<ref name=":5" />

The South African government labelled the protests as acts of [[anarchy]], [[communism]] and disorder.{{Sfn|Pillay|1993|p=16}} The Nationalist newspaper, the ''Oosterlig'', wrote that the protesters "find prison a pleasant abode. These people only understand the lash."<ref name=":4" /> Police often used [[Baton (law enforcement)|batons]] to force protesters to submit.<ref name=":4" /> On 9 November 1952, police fired on a group of black protesters in [[Kimberley, Northern Cape|Kimberley]] killing 14 and injuring 39.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6540068//|title=14 Africans Shot Dead in Riot|date=10 November 1952|work=The Age|access-date=7 September 2016|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Other orders to shoot demonstrators "on sight" were issued by the South African [[Minister of Justice and Correctional Services|Minister of Justice]], [[C. R. Swart|Charles Swart]].<ref name=":6">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6540145//|title=Explosive Issue Before U.N.|date=13 November 1952|work=The Age|access-date=7 September 2016|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Arrests of peaceful protestors "disgusted a section of white public opinion".<ref name=":4" /> In July 1952, there were raids of ANC and SAIC offices.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6539641//|title=Widespread Raid Across South Africa|date=30 July 1952|work=The Ottawa Journal|access-date=7 September 2016|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

As a result of the protests, the NP started "imposing stiff penalties for protesting discriminatory laws" and then they created the [[Public Safety Act, 1953|Public Safety Act]].<ref name=":1" /> The goals of the Defiance Campaign were not met, but the protests "demonstrated large-scale and growing opposition to apartheid".<ref name=":1" /> The [[United Nations]] took note and called the apartheid policy a "threat to peace".<ref name=":6" />

In the middle of April 1953, Chief [[Albert Lutuli|Albert Luthuli]], the President-General of the ANC, proclaimed that the Defiance Campaign would be called off so that the resistance groups could reorganize taking into consideration the new political climate in South Africa.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/topic/defiance-campaign-1952 |title = Defiance Campaign 1952 &#124; South African History Online}}</ref>

The Defiance Campaigns, including bus boycotts in South Africa, served as an inspiration to [[Activism|Civil Rights Activists]] in the [[United States]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nelsonmandela.org/omalley/index.php/site/q/03lv02424/04lv03370/05lv03418.htm|title=Defiance Campaign in South Africa Recalled|last=Reddy|first=E. S.|date=26 June 1987|website=O'Malley: The Heart of Hope|publisher=Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory|access-date=3 September 2016}}</ref> [[Albert Lutuli|Albert Luthuli]] was tried for [[treason]], was assaulted and deposed of his chieftaincy of his [[Zulu people|Zulu]] clan.{{Sfn|Okoth|2006|p=176}} Mandela took over the ANC after Luthuli.{{Sfn|Okoth|2006|p=180}}

[[Apartheid]] was finally ended in the early 1990s, as marked by the [[1994 South African general election]], the first South African election held using universal adult suffrage.

==Defiance Campaign in Port Elizabeth==
The [[Red Location]] is one of the oldest settled black townships of [[Port Elizabeth]], [[Nelson Mandela Bay]], [[South Africa]]. It derives its name from a cluster of corrugated iron barrack buildings, which are rusted a deep red colour.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.freewebs.com/redlocationmuseum/ |title=Red location museum |website=www.freewebs.com |access-date=29 June 2017}}</ref> The [[Red Location]] consisted of three different locations namely the Gubbs Location, Coopers Kloof and Strangers Location. These locations were overcrowded and not in good condition.<ref>V Msila. A Place to Live: Red Location and its history from 1903 to 2013. AfricanSun Media.</ref>

On 26 July 1952, Florence Matomela joined many others in a Defiance Campaign against the Apartheid pass laws at the [[New Brighton, Eastern Cape|New Brighton]] Railway Station which also included [[Govan Mbeki]], [[Raymond Mhlaba]] and [[Vuyisile Mini]] and other men. She was one of the first women arrested.

Key role players of this Defiance Campaign included:

===[[Nosipho Dastile]]===
Nosipho Dastile (1938–2009) was a well known political figure and founder of the [[United Democratic Front (South Africa)|United Democratic Front]]. She was the first president of the Uitenhage Women's Organisation and was the chairperson of the ANC Women's League in Uitenhage, after the unbanning of liberation movements in the 1990s.

===[[Lilian Diedericks]]===
Lillian Diedericks (1925–2021) was born in [[Port Elizabeth]] near the railway line in [[Red Location (township)|Red Location]].

She was an active shop steward and founding member of the [[Federation of South African Women]] in 1954. Her family was forced out of New Brighton during the 1940s. She was also one of the four women who led the Women's March on the Union buildings to oppose the pass laws in 1956.

===Nontuthuzelo Mabala===
Nontuthuzelo Mabala marched against the pass laws in 1956. She was jailed at the age of 24 for six years for the role she played in the struggle against [[Apartheid]].

===[[Florence Matomela]]===

Florence Matomela (1910–1969) was a South African anti-pass law activist, communist, civil rights campaigner, ANC veteran, teacher and mother who dedicated her life to fighting against Apartheid laws in South Africa. Matomela was the provincial organiser of the African National Congress Women's League (ANCWL) and vice-president of the Federation of South African Women (FEDSAW) in the mid 1950s.

===[[Veronica Sobukwe]]===

Veronica Sobukwe (27 July 1927 – 15 August 2018), spouse of [[Robert Sobukwe]], played an integral role in the Defiance Campaign. Her family was constantly harassed by the police.<ref name="heraldlive.co.za">B.Sands. Herald Live.Tribute to women warriors.http://www.heraldlive.co.za/the-algoa-sun/2014/01/25/tribute-to-women-warriors/ Accessed Thursday, 29 June 2017</ref>

===Honours===
The [[ANC]]'s Regional Headquarters in [[Nelson Mandela Bay]] was renamed Florence Matomela House in November 2012.<ref name="myportelizabeth.co.za">{{cite web |url=http://myportelizabeth.co.za/anc-regional-office-renamed-after-stalwart-matomela/5850 |title=ANC regional office renamed after stalwart Matomela |website=myportelizabeth.co.za |access-date=28 June 2017}}</ref> [[Angie Motshekga]], the Minister of Basic Education and President of the [[ANC Women's League]], described Florence Matomela in the Florence Mathomela Memorial Lecture as having battled the 'triple oppression' of colonial, patriarchal and class domination.<ref name="gov.za">{{cite web |title=Florence Matomela Memorial Lecture "the importance of the 1956 Women's March" by Ms Angie Motshekga, Minister of Basic Education and President of the ANC Women's League Walter Sisulu University |url=https://www.gov.za/florence-matomela-memorial-lecture-%E2%80%9C-importance-1956-women%E2%80%99s-march%E2%80%9D-ms-angie-motshekga-minister |publisher=[[Government of South Africa]] |access-date=23 December 2021 |date=8 August 2010}}</ref> The [[Red Location Museum]] in New Brighton held a year-long exhibition dedicated to these women of the liberation struggle, by paying tribute to Florence Matomela, Nontuthuzelo Mabala, Veronica Sobukwe, Lilian Diedricks and Nosipho Dastile.<ref name="heraldlive.co.za"/>

==Notable participants==
{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|
* [[Annie Silinga]]
* [[Yusuf Dadoo]]
* [[Nosipho Dastile]]
* [[Veronica Sobukwe]]
* [[Patrick Duncan (anti-apartheid activist)|Patrick Duncan]]
* [[Bettie du Toit]]
* [[Bertha Gxowa]]
* [[Ahmed Kathrada]]
* [[Albert Luthuli]]
* [[Elizabeth Mafekeng]]
* [[Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela]]
* [[Bertha Mkhize]]
* [[Florence Mkhize]]
* [[Florence Matomela]]
* [[Govan Mbeki]]
* [[Raymond Mhlaba]]
* [[Vuyisile Mini]]
* [[Walter Sisulu]]
* [[Lilian Ngoyi]]
}}

==References==

=== Citations ===
{{reflist}}

=== Sources ===
* {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=beRL3schM0kC&pg=PP10|title=The Struggle is My Life|last=Mandela|first=Nelson|publisher=Popular Prakashan Private Limited|year=1990|isbn=8171545238}}
* {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=suMvEWjK-OcC&pg=PP4|title=A History of Africa: African Nationalism and the De-Colonisation Process, 1915-1995|last=Okoth|first=Assa|publisher=East African Educational Publishers|year=2006|isbn=9966253580}}
* {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rwNIFwFyD5kC&pg=PP8|title=Voices of Liberation: Albert Lutuli|last=Pillay|first=Gerald|publisher=HSRC Publishers|year=1993|isbn=0796913560}}

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160815174740/http://overcomingapartheid.msu.edu/audio.php?id=65-252-2E Interview of Billy Nair] about the Defiance Campaign (audio)
{{Political history of South Africa}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Defiance Campaign}}
[[Category:Opposition to apartheid in South Africa]]
[[Category:Civil disobedience in South Africa]]
[[Category:Protests in South Africa]]
[[Category:1951 in South Africa]]
[[Category:1952 in South Africa]]
[[Category:Members of the African National Congress]]
[[Category:South African prisoners and detainees]]
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of South Africa]]
[[Category:1951 protests]]
[[Category:1952 protests]]