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Objecting to Apartheid View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by South East Academic Libraries System (SEALS) OBJECTING TO APARTHEID: THE HISTORY OF THE END CONSCRIPTION CAMPAIGN By DAVID JONES Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS In the subject HISTORY At the UNIVERSITY OF FORT HARE SUPERVISOR: PROFESSOR GARY MINKLEY JANUARY 2013 I, David Jones, student number 200603420, hereby declare that I am fully aware of the University of Fort Hare’s policy on plagiarism and I have taken every precaution to comply with the regulations. Signature…………………………………………………………… Abstract This dissertation explores the history of the End Conscription Campaign (ECC) and evaluates its contribution to the struggle against apartheid. The ECC mobilised white opposition to apartheid by focussing on the role of the military in perpetuating white rule. By identifying conscription as the price paid by white South Africans for their continued political dominance, the ECC discovered a point of resistance within apartheid discourse around which white opposition could converge. The ECC challenged the discursive constructs of apartheid on many levels, going beyond mere criticism to the active modeling of alternatives. It played an important role in countering the intense propaganda to which all white South Africans were subject to ensure their loyalty, and in revealing the true nature of the conflict in the country. It articulated the dis-ease experienced by many who were alienated by the dominant culture of conformity, sexism, racism and homophobia. By educating, challenging and empowering white citizens to question the role of the military and, increasingly, to resist conscription it weakened the apartheid state thus adding an important component to the many pressures brought to bear on it which, in their combination, resulted in its demise. 1 Contents Introduction 3 Chapter 1: Background. 1.1 The role of the military in establishing European hegemony in South Africa. 9 1.2 The consolidation of military rule under apartheid and the introduction of conscription. 14 Chapter 2: Early resistance to conscription. 2.1 The first Conscientious Objectors. 31 2.2 Laying the foundations: The early days of the ECC 45 Chapter 3: The End Conscription Campaign: 1985-1987. 3.1.The official launch of the ECC and the occupation of the townships. 61 3.2 The Peace Festival and the Troops Out campaign. 73 3.3 . Forces Favourites and Working For A Just Peace. 82 Chapter 4: The ECC goes underground. 4.1 The State of Emergency 94 4.2: A new wave of objectors. 110 4:3 The banning of the ECC. 119 Chapter 5: The End of Conscription. 127 Conclusion: The role of the ECC in the demise of apartheid. 138 2 INTRODUCTION “What kind of society wishes to lock up, alongside the most dangerous criminals, people whose only crime is that they do not wish to kill or injure?”1 It is important that the story of organisations like the End Conscription Campaign be recorded. The narrative of the struggle against apartheid has become a site of contestation. As the downfall of apartheid is still a relatively recent event, the history is still in the process of formation. There is much contestation over the relative contributions of different groups within the struggle. This is an important debate as it informs and shapes the politics of the present. A new official narrative is emerging which accentuates the role of particular groupings, portraying them as the heroes and the leaders of the struggle. A new elite have laid exclusive claim to the heritage of the struggle and are using this narrative to justify their hold on power through the creation of highly centralised political structures in which positions of power are reserved for loyal cadres and independent thinking and questioning are seen as a threat. A complementary tradition of grassroots democracy, of open debate and transparency, of “people’s power”, of accountability of leadership to the people fostered in the struggle is being lost.2 It is important to contest this narrative. We need to remember that the downfall of apartheid was brought about by a myriad combination of factors and forces. Current academic interpretations emphasize that no one group or organisation, no matter how significant its contribution, was solely responsible.3 There was no military victory or other decisive event which brought the collapse of the system, rather a sapping of will to pay the ever increasing cost to maintain it. The struggle against apartheid involved a groundswell, popular uprising in 1 De Gruchy,S. “Churches Attitude To Objectors Plan.” Letter to Cape Times. 17/01/1983. 2 See Seekings, J. The UDF: A History of the United Democratic Front in South Africa: 1983-1991. David Phillips: Claremont. 200. Cobbet, W & Cohen, H (ed). Popular Struggles in South Africa. Africa World Press: London 1988. Frederikse, J. A Different Kind of War. Ravan; Johannesburg. 1987. Amongst others on the democratic nature of the UDF and it’s allies. 3 see Marx, A.W. Lessons of Struggle. Oxford University Press: Cape Town. 1992; Lodge, T. Black politics in South Africa since 1945. Ravan: Johannesburg. 1990; Cobbet & Cohen (1998) and Frederikse (1987) among others on the complexity of struggle politics. 3 which the initiative came not from centralised political structures, orchestrating a grand revolt, but from ordinary South Africans who were reacting to the oppressive nature of a brutally discriminatory system which sought to control every aspect of their lives.4 Leaders and structures emerged organically as communities organised themselves around issues that affected them. Organisations that emerged were highly democratic and accountable to their members. There was no grand plan or centralised control of the process. As Walter Benjamin warned in a different context, but applicable here: “All rulers are the heirs of those who have conquered before them.” He feared that what he referred to as a historicist view constructed a version of history as a triumphal parade of progress. “Whoever has emerged victorious” he reminds us “participates to this day in the triumphal procession in which the present rulers step over those who are lying prostrate. According to traditional practice the spoils are carried along in the procession.” 5 He was warning of just such a tendency, which has been repeated so often in the past, for the victors to construct a version of history which ends up justifying a new tyranny. To counter this tendency it is important that other histories of the struggle are told – that the stories of other groups, which are marginalised by the new hegemonic discourse, are recorded. This aim of this dissertation is thus two-fold. Firstly it aims to investigate “the story” of the End Conscription Campaign, which has largely been seen as a white anti-apartheid liberal organisation. The objective is to provide a detailed historical account and periodisation of the organisation to fill in the gaps and challenge the distortions of a new emerging “official” discourse. Secondly within this framework, and by using the activities and strategies of the organisation as evidence for its suppositions, the question of the role played by the ECC in the struggle 4 see Saul,J.S. The Crisis in South Africa. Zed Books: London. 1986. Marx (1992); and Frederikse (1987) among others on the spontaneous, organic nature of the struggle. 5 Benjamin, W. Theses on the Philosophy of History. In Illuminations. Schocken Books: New York 1969. 265. 4 against apartheid, in particular its challenge to the suppositions and constructions of apartheid discourse(s), will be addressed. The central argument I wish to make is that the End Conscription Campaign challenged the apartheid state in a unique way by not only challenging- but by actively modelling alternatives to- the hegemonic ideas and discourses that entrenched the hold of the apartheid state, and on many different levels. It thus added to the pressure brought to bear on the apartheid regime and played an important role in the demise of the apartheid state. Much of my primary material is drawn from the ECC archive held at the Historical papers at Wits University, from material held in private collections by former members and from the Internet. For secondary material I have relied extensively on newspaper reports on the organisation. These were accessed through the SABINET Media website. Academic and non academic articles on the organisation were accessed either from the archive, through the Fort Hare Library website, from the Internet and from private individuals. I have relied on personal contact with former members to supply much of my material, as well as comments and reflections on the organisation. I have renewed friendships and acquaintances from my own days as member within the organisation. I have also used Facebook to set up a site to contact members of the organisation. I used this site both to gather material and to encourage debate about the organisation. I appealed to former members to write about their memories of the organisation, either stories and anecdotal accounts of events that they remember or thoughts and musings on the relevance and effectiveness of the organisation. I also used the site to facilitate debate around some of the ideas and themes I have developed. This helped to clarify my own thoughts and ideas and introduced some fresh insights and ideas . I also attended the 25th Anniversary of the organisation held in October 2009, at Spier wine estate in Stellenbosch. The workshops and discussions at the event provided much useful information. The personal contact with former members of the organisation was invaluable 5 and aided in building up a network of informants, with whom I remained in contact through the Facebook site.
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