Printable Version - The Sounds of Resistance: The Role of Music in South Africa's Anti-Apartheid Movement - Student Pulse 2019/05/28, 2158 Print Page Vershbow, M. E. (2010). "The Sounds of Resistance: The Role of Music in South Africa's Anti-Apartheid Movement." Inquiries Journal/Student Pulse, 2(06). Retrieved from http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/a? id=265 The Sounds of Resistance: The Role of Music in South Africa's Anti-Apartheid Movement By Michela E. Vershbow 2010, Vol. 2 No. 06 Music and Resistance in South Africa “A song is something that we communicate to those people who otherwise would not understand where we are coming from. You could give them a long political speech – they would still not understand. But I tell you: when you finish that song, people will be like ‘Damn, I know where you nigga’s are comin’ from. Death unto Apartheid!” – Sifiso Ntuli The history of South Africa under white British rule is marked by the existence of one of the most brutal systems of racial segregation that the world has ever known. A system by the name of Apartheid, literally meaning “separateness” in the Afrikaans language, made Africans of color aliens in their homeland. The laws of Apartheid forced millions to live in impoverished townships where they were denied the most basic human rights. Apartheid, under which the white minority held power over the entire population, was met with strong internal and external resistance, prompting global boycotts of sales and trade with South Africa. The most powerful form of resistance, however, was the refusal of South African blacks to remain prisoners in their own land. In the 46 years that the system of Apartheid was in place, the resistance movements evolved from loosely organized unions of non-violent protestors to powerful and armed coalitions such as the African National Congress (ANC). Throughout every stage of the struggle, the “liberation music” both fueled and united the movement. Song was a communal act of expression that shed light on the injustices of apartheid, therefore playing a major role in the eventual reform of the South African government. This paper explores the connections between music and politics as exemplified by the case of South Africa. While avoiding oversimplifications of a supposed “music revolution,” it examines the resistance to Apartheid through the lens of its music. As historian Grant Olwage notes, “There has yet been little investigation of how music was used by political movements, either within the country or in exile. In addition, little detailed research has been conducted on freedom songs, the ubiquitous but largely informal and un-professionalised genre that was probably the dominant musical medium of popular political expression” (Olwage 2004). http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/print?id=265# PaGe 1 of 11 Printable Version - The Sounds of Resistance: The Role of Music in South Africa's Anti-Apartheid Movement - Student Pulse 2019/05/28, 2158 Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika - Cry Freedom [1987] By attempting to understand the role that music played in the struggle against, and eventual dismantling of the Apartheid government, we can begin to understand the power that music can hold in a political context. 300 Years of Oppression: The Foundations of Apartheid The liberation music of the Apartheid-era was in response to a history of oppression that dates back to long before the implementation of Apartheid. The segregation of racial groups in South Africa began with the first European settlers in 1652, when a Dutch company began using the Cape of Good Hope as a base for ships travelling trade route between Europe and Asia. The Khoi people, who practiced extensive pastoral farming (animal husbandry), were driven from their land in a series of frontier wars, replaced with European settlers’ commercial farms, and used as slave labor. The British arrived 150 years later, forcing the Dutch to migrate beyond the coast and further into African lands. During the course of the 300 year Dutch and British rule in South Africa, new racial groups developed out of the intermingling of Europeans and Africans, which would later be categorized as ‘White’, ‘Black’, ‘Coloured’ and ‘Indian’. The discovery of diamonds in 1867 and gold 1886 in Southern Africa came the beginning of the economic and political structure that would greatly increase the division between white and black, British and Boer, and rich and poor. The music that would follow in the next 100 years largely reflected this widening gap, and to communicate across it. Throughout the early 1900’s the British, who had gained complete rule over South Africa after the South African Wars (1879 – 1915), enacted a series of laws that were designed to perpetuate white rule by segregating racial groups. By requiring documentation to prove authorization to be or live in “white” South Africa, the introduction of Pass Laws effectively regulated the presence of blacks in urban areas. The passing of 1913 Native Land Act restricted African land ownership to 7% of the country’s total land area, most of which was of poor quality and could not meet the needs of the African population. Under the Native Urban Areas Act of 1923, Africans were allowed to reside in the cities and townships http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/print?id=265# PaGe 2 of 11 Printable Version - The Sounds of Resistance: The Role of Music in South Africa's Anti-Apartheid Movement - Student Pulse 2019/05/28, 2158 only to “minister the needs of the white population”, and were returned to rural areas or imprisoned if they remained without work. In a report by the South African Native Affairs Commission in 1905, it was decided that “no native shall vote in the election of any member or candidate for whom a European has a right to vote” (SANAC, 1905: 35-6, 97). The central legislative, judicial, and administrative bodies were shared amongst the capitals of “white” South Africa, ensuring that only white South Africans would be involved in the government. These policies institutionalized racial segregation, and laid the foundation for Apartheid as well as for the resistance movements. The efforts to organize a resistance were consistently met with crushing, government-sanctioned attacks on non-violent protesters, inciting the sparks of a conflict whose intensity would increase in the following years. As Clark and Worger describe, after three hundred years of white settlement South Africa was “divided on nearly every conceivable level.” (Clark and Worger 31) The numerous racial groups we separated by race, language, wealth, politics, residence, jobs – in practically every aspect of daily life. Few could reap the rich benefits of life in South Africa under such a system, creating a instability and discontent amongst the different groups. The answer to this situation, reached by the ruling white leaders, was to “further entrench the existing divisions under an ironclad system of racial separation that would be known as Apartheid” (Clark and Worger 31). The General Election of 1948 and the Implementation of Apartheid “Apartheid was schizophrenic. If you look at apartheid as a character, he was a very schizophrenic character, one minute smiling and by the very same token, by the very same minute, murdering.” - Sifiso Ntuli, “Amandla! A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony” The system of Apartheid rested on a long history of racial discrimination; though many of its policies were merely elaborations on previously established frameworks, the sheer brutality of its implementation and “overarching impact” (Clark and Worger 35) on the country signaled a monumental shift. The Afrikaner (white South Africans of Dutch, German, or French descent) Nationalist Party (NP) that was voted into power by white South Africans in 1948 were known for their “‘frontier mentality” derived from years of brutal discrimination towards Africans and economic deprivation experienced by Afrikaners since the 19th century.” Without engaging in the debate over the reasons for the implementation of Apartheid, seemingly backwards in comparison to gaining of human rights elsewhere in the world, I will examine the influential figures and policies of Apartheid, and the role of music in the progressively powerful responses of the undying resistance movements. Vuyisile Mini and Hendrik Verwoerd: The Father of Protest Songs and the Architect of Apartheid Hendrik Verwoerd was prime minister of South Africa from 1958 until his assassination in 1966. Often called the “Architect of Apartheid” for his role in the implementation of Apartheid during his tenure as Minister of Native Affairs, Verwoerd was the subject of a protest song composed by legendary composer Vuyisile Mini. The song, titled “Ndodemnyama we Verwoerd” (“Watch Out, Verwoerd”) became one of the most popular songs in South Africa. Mini’s soulful compositions and booming bass voice led him to emerge as one of the most powerful organizers of the resistance. In the words of poet Jeremy Cronin “Song had become an organizer, and he was the embodiment of this reality” (Hirsch 2002). The singing of Ndodemnyama was a statement of protest and a tribute to the strength of freedom fighters. “That song sounds like a fun song,” said musician Hugh Masekela, “but it’s http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/print?id=265# PaGe 3 of 11 Printable Version - The Sounds of Resistance: The Role of Music in South Africa's Anti-Apartheid Movement - Student Pulse 2019/05/28, 2158 really like ‘Watch out Verwoerd, here comes the black man, your days are over” (Hirsch 2002). Known as “the organizer of the unorganized,” Mini was actively involved with the ANC and was one of the first to be recruited into its military inception in 1961. He was arrested in 1963 for “political crimes,” including sabotage and complicity in the death of an alleged police informer; when he refused to give evidence against his comrades, he was sentenced to death.