Civilization on Trial in South Africa
odd: label: General
content: Local Numbers: HSFA 1991.13.11
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Towles, Joseph A.
label: Collection Creator
content: Turnbull, Colin M.
setName: label: See more items in
content: Colin Turnbull and Joseph Towles films
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 1 Film reel (24 minutes, black-and-white sound; 846 feet, 16mm)
unitdate: label: Date
content: circa 1950
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Human Studies Film Archives
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Film reels
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Edited film shot sometime between 1946 and 1952 (prior to implementation of the Group Areas Act). Reverend Scott, a campaigner for human rights, secretly documented appalling and oppressive conditions for the majority African and colored (Indian) population of South Africa with the intent of generating international support for their plight. Opening panoptic shots of Johannesburg and "the civilization intended for whites only" are contrasted with shots of township areas and government housing. Visual documentation of the color bar and its social and economic impact includes overcrowding, lack of public services, and the proliferation of squatter habitations that accompanied mass urbanization in post-War South Africa. Film also includes: street life in Sophia Town, a tribal ceremony, a "beggar band" in Tobruk performing for pennies, the little-known intertribal bare-knuckle fights which were organized by the police "to keep Africans off the street" and for the entertainment of white spectators, and separate facilities for Europeans, Africans, and Indians. Final sequences document scenes from the British protectorates of Basutuland, Swaziland, and Bechuanaland within the Union of South Africa. Herero sites outside of Windhoek are shown with women in dress which was introduced by German missionaries at the turn of the century. In Bechuanaland, Herero are filmed in an annual procession to pay tribute to ancestors who died fighting the Germans. As an advocate for the continued independence of these peoples, Reverend Scott presented a petition to the United Nations from the Herero of Bechuanaland stating their opposition to incorporation within South Africa. Herero are shown gathering to hear news of the United Nations response to their petition.

Legacy keywords: Race discrimination ; Poverty ; Scott, Reverend Michael minister (1907-1983)