BORN out of SORROW Essays on Pietermaritzburg and the Kwazulu-Natal Midlands Under Apartheid, 1948−1994 Volume One Compiled An
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BORN OUT OF SORROW Essays on Pietermaritzburg and the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands under Apartheid, 1948−1994 Volume One Compiled and edited by Christopher Merrett Occasional Publications of the Natal Society Foundation PIETERMARITZBURG 2021 Born out of Sorrow: Essays on Pietermaritzburg and the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands under Apartheid, 1948–1994. Volume One © Christopher Merrett Published in 2021 in Pietermaritzburg by the Trustees of the Natal Society Foundation under its imprint ‘Occasional Publications of the Natal Society Foundation’. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without reference to the publishers, the Trustees of the Natal Society Foundation, Pietermaritzburg. Natal Society Foundation website: http://www.natalia.org.za/ ISBN 978-0-6398040-1-9 Proofreader: Catherine Munro Cartographer: Marise Bauer Indexer: Christopher Merrett Design and layout: Jo Marwick Body text: Times New Roman 11pt Front and footnotes: Times New Roman 9pt Front cover: M Design Printed by CPW Printers, Pietermaritzburg CONTENTS List of illustrations List of maps and figures Abbreviations Preface Part One Chapter 1 From segregation to apartheid: Pietermaritzburg’s urban geography from 1948 1 Chapter 2 A small civil war: political conflict in the Pietermaritzburg region in the 1980s and early 1990s 39 Chapter 3 Emergency of the State: detention without trial in Pietermaritzburg and the Natal Midlands, 1986–1990 77 Chapter 4 Struggle in the workplace: trade unions and liberation in Pietermaritzburg and the Natal Midlands: part one From the 1890s to the 1980s 113 Chapter 5 Struggle in the workplace: trade unions and liberation in Pietermaritzburg and the Natal Midlands: part two Sarmcol and beyond 147 Chapter 6 Theatre of repression: political trials in Pietermaritzburg in the 1970s and 1980s 177 Part Two Chapter 7 Inkosi Mhlabunzima Joseph Maphumulo by Jill E. Kelly 211 Chapter 8 Women of conscience: the Natal Midlands Black Sash by Mary Kleinenberg 229 Part Three Chapter 9 PACSA: Christian witness and the apartheid state by Joan Kerchhoff 255 Chapter 10 Kupugani: intimations of food security by John Aitchison 267 Chapter 11 AFRA: from apartheid to liberation by John Aitchison 271 Bibliography 281 Index 294 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Four protests that signified an end to apartheid in Pietermaritzburg: Defiance Campaign march, Longmarket Street, 21 September 1989 30 Anti-Labour Relations Amendment Act protest, upper Church Street, 14 October 1989 30 Women’s protest, Cathedral of the Holy Nativity, 21 October 1989 31 Pietermaritzburg Combined Residents and Ratepayers Association protest, City Hall, 30 October 1989 31 Seven Day War: Edendale women’s peace march, 29 March 1990 56 Seven Day War: graves of victims at Azalea Cemetery, March 1990 56 Seven Day War: damage to property, March 1990 57 Inkatha-UDF conflict: victim at PACSA offices, late 1980s 57 Skhumbuzo Ngwenya Mbatha: grave of the long-serving, multiple detainee 99 Azaria Ndebele: Sobantu memorial to Robben Island prisoner and DESCOM worker detained in 1986 99 Release of Peter Kerchhoff and A.S. Chetty on 16 September 1986 after 96 days of detention 100 SACTU logo 125 FOSATU logo 125 A group of the 62 workers fired for refusing to work overtime walk away from Conac Engineering’s Mkondeni plant, 14 October 1975 126 Metal and Allied Workers Union highlighted in FOSATU News 126 Lockout at Rosedale Textiles, 2 August 1985 157 The Great Sarmcol Strike! 157 Advertisement for Sarmcol Workers Co-operative play, ‘The Long March’, 1986 158 Metal and Allied Workers Union poster, November 1986 158 Treason Trial, 1979: supporters of the accused outside the court 190 Treason Trial, 1979: supporters of the accused at the end of the trial 190 Treason Trial, 1982: tight security at the start of the trial 191 Treason Trial, 1982: effects of teargas used in court at the trial’s conclusion 191 Treason Trial, 1984: Sthembiso Edgar Mahlobo in retirement, 2019 192 Terrorism Trial, 1984: supporters at the conclusion of the trial of Thembinkosi Ngcobo of Imbali 192 Inkosi Mhlabunzima Maphumulo 219 Inkosi Mhlabunzima Maphumulo House (Department of Transport). Burger Street: unveiling of plaque, July 2018 219 Maphumulo’s car after assassination attempt, 10 June 1990 220 Site of Chief Maphumulo’s assassination, 95 Havelock Road, 25 February 1991 220 Bunty Biggs 239 Marie Dyer 239 Pat Merrett 240 Busi Nyide and Advice Office client 240 PACSA office, Gay Spiller and Peter Kerchhoff, Buchanan Street, 1982 260 Water quality research by Gilbert Lukau, Sweetwaters, 1982 260 PACSA workshop with Mark Butler, Peter Kerchhoff and Monika Wittenberg, 1980s 261 PACSA protest against the Internal Security Amendment Bill, 1986 261 Neil and Creina Alcock 267 Cosmas Desmond 271 Archbishop Denis Hurley visited the Weenen road camp erected by evicted farm tenants, 19 June 1989 272 Cremen, Roosboom and Charlestown 275 AFRA logo 277 LIST OF MAPS AND FIGURES Maps 1–3 Proposals for the implementation of the Group Areas Act in Pietermaritzburg 15–16 Map 4 Pietermaritzburg’s civil war: the regional context 45 Map 5 Pietermaritzburg’s civil war: the local context 46 Figure 1 Population of Pietermaritzburg by apartheid classification for selected years, 1950–1985 4 Figure 2 New detentions per month, Natal Midlands, June 1986 to June 1989 101 Figure 3 Estimated detainee population, Natal Midlands, June 1986 to June 1989 101 Figure 4 Detentions, Natal Midlands and South Africa, 1986 to 1989 102 ABBREVIATIONS ACTWUSA Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union of South Africa AFRA Association for Rural Advancement ALC African Liaison Committee ANC African National Congress AO advice office APC Alan Paton Centre (Pietermaritzburg) APDUSA African Peoples Democratic Union of South Africa AZAPO Azanian Peoples Organisation AZASM Azanian Students Movement AZAYO Azanian Youth Organisation BAWU Black Allied Workers Union BC Black Consciousness BOSS Bureau for State Security BTR British Tyre and Rubber CAB Complaints Adjudication Board CAE Centre for Adult Education CCAWUSA Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union of South Africa CED Corporation for Economic Development CI Christian Institute CLAC Coloured Local Affairs Committee COIN counter-insurgency CONTRALESA Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa COSATU Congress of South African Trade Unions CPA Criminal Procedure Act CPSA Communist Party of South Africa CUSA Council of Unions of South Africa DAB Drakensberg Administration Board DACOM Detainees Aid Committee DBAB Drakensberg Bantu Administration Board DC Dependants Conference DDD debility, dependency and dread DESCOM Detainees Support Committee DJWC Durban Joint Wards Committee DSC Durban Supreme Court ECC End Conscription Campaign EEC European Economic Community ELHA Edendale Lot-Holders Association FAWU Food and Allied Workers Union FEDSEM Federal Theological Seminary FOSATU Federation of South African Trade Unions GAA Group Areas Act GADB Group Areas Development Board GFWBF General Factory Workers Benefit Fund GWU General Workers Union HRC Human Rights Committee HRWU Howick Rubber Workers Union ICA Industrial Conciliation Act ICJ International Commission of Jurists ICU Industrial and Commercial Workers Union I-EJC Indo-European Joint Committee IFP Inkatha Freedom Party IIE Institute for Industrial Education ILAC Indian Local Affairs Committee ISA Internal Security Act JMC joint management centre KZG KwaZulu government KZLA KwaZulu Legislative Assembly KZP KwaZulu Police LHC Local Health Commission MASA Medical Association of South Africa MAWU Metal and Allied Workers Union MDM Mass Democratic Movement MISA Maritzburg Indian Sports Association MK Umkhonto we Sizwe MRA Mpumalanga Regional Authority NACTU National Council of Trade Unions NAD Native Affairs Department NAMDA National Medical and Dental Association NAR Natal Archives Repository NASCO Natal Students Congress NEHAWU National Education Health and Allied Workers Union NEUSA National Education Union of South Africa NFATU Natal Federation of African Trade Unions NGO non-governmental organisation NIA Natal Indian Association NIC Natal Indian Congress NIJC Natal Indian Judicial Committee NIO Natal Indian Organisation NMBS Natal Midlands Black Sash NOW Natal Organisation of Women NP National Party NSC Natal Supreme Court NULW National Union of Leather Workers NUMSA National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa NUSAS National Union of South African Students NUTW National Union of Textile Workers PAC Pan Africanist Congress PACSA Pietermaritzburg Agency for Christian Social Awareness PAR Pietermaritzburg Archives Repository PCDRA Pentrich and Camp Drift Residents Association PCRRA Pietermaritzburg Combined Residents and Ratepayers Association PDL poverty datum line PFP Progressive Federal Party PMBCC Pietermaritzburg Council of Churches POTWA Post and Telecommunications Workers Association PRA Population Registration Act PSA Public Safety Act PWAWU Paper, Wood and Allied Workers Union RCWU Rubber and Cable Workers Union RSC regional services council SAAWU South African Allied Workers Union SABS South African Boilermakers Society SACHED South African Committee for Higher Education SACP South African Communist Party SACTU South African Congress of Trade Unions SACTWU South African Clothing and Textile Workers Union SADF South African Defence Force SAP South African Police SAPA South African Press Association SATLC South African Trades and Labour Council SATU South African Typographical Union SAWCO Sarmcol Workers