To what extent was the 1974 Bantu Education dept. decision the most significant cause for the Soweto
uprising?
Intro:
- Soweto 1976, 575 died in Soweto & aftermath, most violent episode of state repression since
Sharpeville, global attention
- 1974 Transvaal Bantu Education Department decision = spark
- Long term issues with Bantu education = root cause
- Mobilisation of school children, caused by BCM (contributory cause)
P1: The decision to expand Afrikaans teaching in African Schools
- 1974, Transvaal Bantu Education Department decided to expand Afrikaans in African schools
o Afrikans seen as ‘language of oppressor’ (Desmond Tutu)
o Africans now had to master 2 languages (Afrikans/English) as well as 1 st African language
- Decision affected school children, who started & led uprising
o 16th June 1976- 2,000 marching students met by 50 police at Orlando West School
o August 1976, Soweto Students’ Representative Council formed
- Actions during Soweto uprising suggest 1974 decision = cause
o Turfloop students tried to burn Afrikaans dept on their campus
However…
- Can be seen as spark, root cause = long-term problems with education under apartheid
o Significant, many grievances, accumulated over long period
- Additionally, resentment = insufficient – cause = mobilization of school children (result of BCM)
P2: Long Term problems with Bantu education
- Bantu education greatly expanded
o 1953 Bantu Education Act, 1959 Extension of University Education Act
o High School students increased:
Soweto 12,600 1972 34,000 1976
1950-75 African children in school increased from 1mil to over 3.5mil
o Effects:
Overcrowding caused resentment
By late 1960s, public-to-teacher ratio = 58:1
Increased number of high school students = increased scale of rebellion
(contributed to Soweto as large number of students mobilized quickly)
- Poor quality of education
o Few qualified teacher - about 90% of teachers had no matriculation certificate
o Unequal: white schools received disproportionate amount of gov funds
o Nature of education: aimed at training for manual labour/menial jobs
although did expand as need for skilled workers increased, still intended to inculcate
idea that black people should be subservient to whites
o separate: homelands, enforced apartheid (wider resentment to apartheid system)
- root cause because…
o tensions had grown since 1953 (over 20 years)
1972 Abraham Onkgopotse Tiro speech attacking Turfloop uni for inequalities &
discrimination
o Many grievances, linked to grievances about overall apartheid system
o students actions suggest 1974 decision wasn’t only issue
18th June 1976, official buildings/shops/liquor stores in Alexandra township attacked
boycotted white-owned shops, liquor stores, threatened vengeance vs ‘sell-outs and
traitors of the Black Struggle’
