Political executions in South Africa by the apartheid government 1961 - 1989 | South African History Online South African History Online Home » Politics & Society » Poqo » Political executions in South Africa by the apartheid government 1961 - 1989 Poqo Liberation history Timeline 1960-1969 Archives A poster mobiliszing support to save Marcus Motaung, Jerry Mosololi and Simon Mogoerane from execution. Political executions in South Africa by the apartheid government 1961 - 1989 On 9 June 1983, three members of the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC), uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), were executed at the gallows in Pretoria Central Prison. Marcus Motaung , Jerry Mosololi and Simon Mogoerane were charged with treason, with alternative charges of terrorism, murder and attempted murder, among others. Despite an international campaign to save their lives, the apartheid government went ahead with the execution. Arguably, two of the pillars that sustained the apartheid government’s rule for 46 years were racially divisive legislation, and sheer brute force.

The period from the 1960s to the 1980s was punctuated by the enactment of security laws that enabled the government to arrest, detain and imprison those who fought against its racist laws. Several anti-apartheid political activists found themselves serving long prison sentences in various gaols across the country. Over and above this, the security apparatus of the government also engaged in the extra-judicial killing of anti-apartheid political activists. Incidents involving abduction, murder and death in detention – often with no recourse to a court of law – became increasingly common, particularly during periods of heightened political tension. While illegal executions were common, the focus of this feature is on those who were sentenced to death and executed after they were brought to trial. Between 1961 and 1989, about 134 political prisoners were executed by the apartheid government at Pretoria Central Prison. Two decades in particular – the 1960s and the 1980s – witnessed many political executions. While Pretoria Central prison was the main site for executions, it was not the only facility in the country to enact these murderous acts.

The Aftermath of Sharpeville One of the turning points in the history of South Africa was the Sharpeville Massacre on 21 March 1960 , when the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) organised and led a protest against the pass laws. Police fired on the crowd of unarmed protestors, killing 69 people and injuring 180. As tension mounted, the government declared a state of emergency on 30 March 1960 and banned the ANC, PAC and the South African Communist Party (SACP). As a result, thousands of activists were detained and imprisoned, while many others fled into exile. The clampdown precipitated the launch of the armed struggle by the now banned liberation movements. The execution of Poqo activists, 1961-1989 In 1961 the PAC launched its armed wing, Poqo , and engaged in an armed rebellion against whites and perceived government representatives. Between 1962 and 1963 Poqo activists carried out attacks against both black and white targets, particularly in the Cape and Transkei. The period between January and November 1962, in particular, saw an increase in PAC attacks.

In response, the government arrested several PAC and Poqo activists – by June 1963, 3,246 members were arrested across the country and 124 accused of murder. While several were sentenced to lengthy terms on Robben Island , others were put to death. On 1 October 1963 four members of Poqo – Richard Matsapahae, Josia Mocumi, Thomas Molatblegi and Petrus Mtshole – were sentenced to death for the murder on 18 March 1963 of a Black Special Branch detective. On 16 March 1962, Poqo activists attacked and killed Michael Livele Moyi, a policeman in Langa, and injured five others. Jim Mountain Ngantweni and Zibongile Serious Dodo were arrested in connection with Moyi’s death, and further charges were laid against Nontasi Albert Tshweni and Donker Ntsabo, who were already serving sentences for other political offences in the Eastern Cape. All four men were hanged on 31 October 1967.

Veyisile Sharps Qoba was later arrested and sentenced to death, and executed on 7 March 1968. After the Paarl Rebellion, 400 people were arrested. Subsequently, six trials involving 75 people took place. Of these, 21 were accused of sabotage and given lengthy sentences. Lennox Madikane, Fezile Feilx Jaxa and Mxolisi Damane were sentenced to death for sabotage and executed on 1 November 1963. Gladstone Nqulwana, already serving a 15-year sentence for sabotage for Poqo activities in the Eastern Cape, was sentenced to death on 15 June 1967 for his role in the murder of Mthobeli Nathaniel Magwaca, a municipal policeman from Langa, on 26 September 1962. Nqulwana was executed on 23 November 1967. Poqo activities were not limited to the Cape, they extended to the Transkei, where chiefs who were seen as collaborators with the apartheid government were targeted. Activists relayed messages about operations from Langa to the Transkei.

While some were successful in delivering these messages, others were apprehended by the police. On 14 October 1962, Poqo members killed one of Chief Kaizer Matanzima’s advisers, and that same month attempted to assassinate Matanzima. Two weeks later, on 29 October, Poqo activists attacked and killed a Thembu chief, Gwebindala Gqoboza. Subsequently, six members were apprehended and sentenced to death and hanged on 9 May 1963. James Mtutu Apleni, a Langa-based Poqo member who played a key role in organising attacks against Matanzima in Transkei, was arrested and sentenced to death. He was executed on 8 November 1963. In February 1963, Poqo activists attacked and killed Norman Grobbler, his wife, two daughters – Edna and Dawn – and Derek Thompson. Following the incident, the police harassed the activists’ family members. Scores of activists were arrested and 23 were sentenced to death – of these, 15 were hanged.

By 1963, Forward, a monthly publication, reported on 80 political trials of 1,105 people, 40 of whom were sentenced to death, six to life in prison. In sum, the 1960s witnessed the imprisonment and executions of a number of PAC-linked activists. The moves devastated Poqo and the organisation was unable to revive the PAC’s armed struggle, and in its place the Azanian People’s Liberation Army (APLA) was launched in 1968. Plagued by internal power struggles, the exiled APLA remained largely ineffective until the 1980s and 1990s. The Bethal Trial of 1979, where 18 members of the PAC were charged with treason, resulted in the death of four members who died in detention, although none were sentenced to hang. In the 1980s, Frank Rivers, a member of the PAC who was arrested in 1978 for the murder of Kranskop farmer Jacobus van Rooyen, was sentenced to death in Pietersburg (now Polokwane) in March 1982.

He was granted leave to appeal, but his family did not have money to finance the appeal and he was hanged at Pretoria Central prison in 1984. Execution of a member of the African Resistance Movement (ARM) The banning of the liberation movements pushed the Liberal Party of South Africa (LPSA) to consider other forms of resistance. After the declaration of the state of emergency on 30 March 1960, several members of the LPSA were detained and held at the Johannesburg Fort. Ernest Wentzel, John Lang and Monty Berman played a leading role in establishing the National Committee of Liberation (NCL), which sought to use force in fighting the apartheid government. In 1964 the NCL was renamed the African Resistance Movement (ARM). Frederick John Harris , a member of the LPSA and later ARM, planted a bomb at the Johannesburg Station which exploded on 24 July, 1964, killing one person and injuring others. Harris was arrested and charged with murder and two counts of sabotage. He was sentenced to death and executed in Pretoria on 1 April 1965.

Harris became the only white person to be executed for acts of sabotage against the apartheid government. The execution of ANC and MK activists, 1961-1989 With the banning of the liberation organisations, the ANC moved to form uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), an underground armed wing, to carry the struggle forward. On 16 December 1961 MK announced its existence with a series of explosions in various parts of the country. Following a sabotage campaign, the government arrested ANC suspects and meted out harsh prison sentences. On 12 January 1964, Sipho Mange was shot dead – allegedly by MK operatives in Port Elizabeth . As a result, a number of MK operatives – among them Vuyisile Mini , Wilson Khayinga and Zinakile Mkhaba, Jacob Sikundla, Thompson Daweti, Charles January, Nolali Mpentse, Samuel Jonas and Daniel Ndongeni – were all arrested. Accused under the Terrorism Act of 17 counts of sabotage in the Port Elizabeth area, they were also charged with six counts under the Suppression of Communism Act.

On 16 March 1964 Mini, Khayinga and Mkhaba were sentenced to death. Their appeal against their conviction was dismissed in September and they were executed on 6 November 1964. Sikhundla was sentenced to 22 years in prison. Ndongeni, Mpentse and Jonas were tried separately on charges of murdering Mange. On 23 February 1965 they were sentenced to death, and they were executed on 23 February 1965. These were the first MK cadres to be hanged for political offences. MK was severely crippled by the heavy-handed response of the state. Several leading members, including the high command, were jailed before the Rivonia Trial . Other political trials also resulted in the imprisonment of several ANC members and MK operatives, while others went into exile to undergo military training. Thus, throughout the 1970s, political activity remained largely underground and mostly ineffective. The South African political landscape was dominated in the 1970s by the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) and anti-apartheid student political activity.

After the Soweto Uprising on 16 June 1976, hundreds of young people left the country to join the liberation movements in exile, where they received military training. Despite heightened political activity, there were no political executions between 1970 and 1978. However, from 1979 into the 1980s, the situation changed as young people who had left the country in 1976 came to be deployed after receiving military training. Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu , who had joined MK and received military training outside the country, returned to the country in June 1977. Mahlangu and his comrade, Monty Motloung , were confronted by police in central Johannesburg, and two people were killed and two injured in the shoot-out that ensued. Mahlangu and Motloung were arrested, tortured and assaulted, with Motloung suffering brain damage. Mahlangu was charged with two counts of murder, two of attempted murder and several charges of sabotage under the Terrorism Act.

Despite Mahlangu’s lawyers proving that it was Motloung who wielded the gun, Mahlangu was charged under the apartheid-era legal principle of “common purpose”, which ruled that he was equally liable for the deaths and injuries. The doctrine of Common Purpose was a legal instrument instituted by the apartheid government which renedered accomplices liable for criminal or political offences by association. Thus, all parties committing a crime together were to face the same consequences, regardless of whether they carried out the same acts or knew of each other’s intent. Mahlangu was found guilty and sentenced to death, but he appealed against his harsh sentence. The ANC launched a vigorous international campaign to mobilise governments to pressure South Africa to halt the execution of Mahlangu. Pleas for clemency by the United Nations, international organisations and influential figures fell on deaf ears. The Bloemfontein Appeal Court turned down Mahlangu’s appeal and he was executed on 6 April 1979. The trial inaugurated the increasing use of the “common purpose” clause in securing the death penalty against political and community activists in the 1980s.

Button aimed at mobilizing local and international support for stopping the execution of Solomon Mahlangu. Source: African Activist Archive "Several people were sentenced to death in the 1980s, and while some were acquitted, a number were executed. As stated above, in June 1983 Marcus Motaung, Jerry Mosololi and Simon Mogoerane (also known as the Moroka Three) – all members of MK – were executed. They were accused of engineering attacks on a police station in Orlando which resulted in the death of death of three policemen, the wounding of two and the destruction of police records. An international campaign to save the Moroka Three from execution was ignored by the apartheid government. On 20 December 1985, South African security forces raided Lesotho, killing nine people. In retaliation, Andrew Zondo and several MK cadres placed a bomb at a shopping centre in Amanzimtoti which killed two children and injured 40 other people. Zondo was arrested and charged with five counts of murder. He was subsequently sentenced to death and refused leave to appeal, and was executed on 9 September 1986 .

The last person to be hanged for a political offence was Jeffrey Boesman Mangena, who was executed on 29 September 1989. Mangena, a member of the ANC, was accused of murdering a school teacher who was a suspected of being an informer. On 28 September the UN General Assembly voted 148-0 – with two abstentions by the United States and Britain – to appeal to the South African government to commute his sentence. The increase in executions from the late 1970s and through the 1980s was as a result of the intensified presence of MK inside the country. More guerrillas were infiltrated into South Africa and new cells established – evidenced by the number of attacks on government installations and an escalation in the number of casualties. Death sentences commuted into prison sentences Save the life of James Mange, a button by ANC, Zambia, 1979/1980.

Source: African Activist Archive Apart from the executions carried out in the 1980s, several people who were sentenced to death during this period had their sentences commuted to lengthy prison terms, due not to magnanimity but to international pressures focusing on the oppressive policies of the apartheid government. In 1978 James Mange, together with 12 of his comrades, were arrested and charged with treason. On trial at the Pietermaritzburg Supreme Court, Mange was the only accused sentenced to death. The rest of the Pietermaritzburg Twelve, as they came to be known, received lengthy prison sentences. An international campaign was launched by the ANC to save Mange’s life. International bodies such as the United Nations, the Organisation of African Unity (now AU), the Non-Aligned Movement, and non-governmental organisations in South Africa all brought pressure to bear on the apartheid government. After spending 12 months on death row, on 11 September 1980 the Bloemfontein Appeal Court commuted Mange's death sentence to 20 years in prison.

He was sent to Robben Island, where he served his sentence until his release as negotiations for a transition to democratic rule gathered pace. In April 1980 nine members of MK appeared in court in the Silverton and Soekmakaar trial , accused of treason, terrorist activity, two counts of murder and robbery. All were charged under the “common purpose” clause to ensure that the prosecution obtained a conviction for each of them. The police targeted Johnson Lubisi, Petrus Mashigo, and Naphtali Manana for the death sentence as they were fingered by the prosecution as those behind the attack on Soekmekaar police station on 4 January 1980. On 27 November 1980, all three men were sentenced to death. Six of the other accused received lengthy sentence ranging between 10 to 20 years in prison. The ANC called on the international community to intervene, and on 2 June 1982 the state president commuted the sentences of the trio to life in prison.

After an attack on the Booysens police station on 4 April 1980, three men were arrested: Anthony Tsotsobe, David Moise and Johannes Shabangu After their arrest they spent several months in indefinite detention. They were later taken to court where they were released but rearrested a few minutes later. The men were brought to court without legal representation and were asked to plead to charges of terrorism and treason. They were tortured and forced to sign confessions. The court rejected evidence that they had been tortured and found Tsotsobe, Moise and Shabangu guilty of high treason under the Terrorism Act. On 19 August 1981 they were sentenced to death by the Supreme Court. They lodged an appeal against their sentence, which was heard in September 1982, but the court ruled against them. Their sentences were noted by the UN, which called on the South African government to spare their lives. The ANC also launched a campaign to save its cadres from execution.

The drive, known as the Save the ANC Six campaign, combined those convicted in two separate trials – that of Tsotsobe, Moise and Shabangu; and the case of Simon Mogoerane, Jerry Mosololi and Marcus Motaung. As stated above the last three men were all executed. History of Apartheid in South Africa, South African Apartheid Laws Madiba Nelson Mandela, first State President of the new South Africa from 1994 till 1999 Source: African National Congress - History of Apartheid in South Africa After the Anglo-Boer wars,... On the 31st of May 1910 the two British colonies Natal and the Cape, and the two "Voortrekker" or "Afrikaner" republics Transvaal and Orange Free State, were united into the “Union of South Africa” with one centralized self-government under British supremacy. Apart from the Cape where the coloured people and certain qualifying black people were allowed to remain on the voters roll, the black population were again denied their rights to vote and to participate in government.

Famous photograph by Sam Nzima of the Soweto Uprising showing a student carrying the body of 12 year old Hector Pieterson, one of the first casualties History of Apartheid in South Africa The "Boer" leaders Louis Botha, Jan Smuts and J.B.M. Hertzog were to play a dominant role in the country's politics for the next half century. As leader of the South African party and first prime minister of the Union of South Africa, General Louis Botha soon took the first repressive measures. He wanted to entrench white supremacy, by introducing the Masters and Servants act, the reservation of skilled work for whites, pass laws, the Native Poll Tax and the 1913 Land Act which reserved 90% of the country for white ownership. Widespread protest by the black people from all over the country, laid the foundation for a unified national organization to represent the interests of the black people of all ethnic groups in the union. On the 8th of January 1912 the South African Native National Congress (SANNC) was founded, known since 1923 as the African National Congress (ANC).

They were no militants and all they wanted was equal rights, believing that they would be able to convince the white people of their just course. Strengthening the joint protest against discrimination on the basis of colour, they did not succeed however in making any difference to the life’s of the black people in South Africa. Signboard on a Durban beach History of Apartheid in South Africa << Top of Page Period up to the 2nd world war,... leading up to the second world war, was marked by widespread dissatisfaction among the black people in South Africa. The bitterness that was taking root, showed on the protest campaigns, strikes and labour union activities that were taking place. At its conference in 1923 the African National Congress declared that it believed that it was the intention of the government to permanently enslave all black South Africans. When J.B.M. Hertzog became prime minister in 1824, "Afrikaner" nationalism gained a lot of ground and things became even bleaker. He believed in complete segregation on all levels, territorial, economic, political and educational. The bills that were introduced to achieve this are known as the “hertzog” bills. They caused much misery for the black people.

An all African Convention held in Bloemfontein in 1935, denounced the Hertzog bills and requested full and equal rights for all South Africans. A funeral ceremony and demonstrations rally in 1985 History of Apartheid in South Africa In the early 30’s the National Party of J.B.M. Hertzog and the more moderate South African Party of Jan Smuts were forced into a coalition government, which resulted in the fusion of the two parties, to form the United Party. This led to right-winger D.F. Malan to break away and form a new National Party as a political home for the more extreme "Afrikaner" nationalists. The coalition government fell at the start of the second world war with Jan Smuts winning the power battle and form a government that took South Africa into war. No matter how hard they tried during the 1920's and 1930's, the black people in South Africa remained spectators in the field of politics. They were knocking on a bolted door which no one would open.

It was soon realized by them that different methods would have to be devised to get the attention of those in power, marking the start of what was to be nearly 50 years of head-to-head conflict between the African National Congress representing the black people and the National Party government. Woman and child in one of the many squatter camps During the second world war, South Africa experienced phenomenal economic growth. The continuous industrial growth led to more urbanisation, causing living conditions in the cities to deteriorate even more. In 1944 the ANC Youth League was formed with Lembede as its president and Nelson Mandela as its secretary. The protest against apartheid would take on new dimensions in the form of mass actions such as national strikes, boycotts and defiance campaigns to name but a few. When the second world war was over, Jan Smuts’s government came to a fall and new elections were held in 1948. Campaigning on the basis of its policy of apartheid, the National Party narrowly defeated Smuts's United party. They formed a coalition government with the Afrikaner Party (AP), with D.F. Malan as prime minister. He immediately began implementing his government’s official ideology of racial segregation.

Successive NP administrations formalised and extended the existing system of segregation and denial of rights into the legal system of racial segregation as we know it today and which lasted until the 1990’s. Signboard in English and Afrikaans (Dutch) History of Apartheid in South Africa << Top of Page The Homeland Policy,... An important pillar stone of the apartheid system was its "Homeland" policy, whereby parts of the country were allocated to the different black ethnic groups as a kind of reserve, called "Homeland". Each "Homeland" was to be an independent state with self-government and its own Head of State, under the hegemony of the South African government. The black people that were designated as belonging to such a “Homeland”, would have their South African citizenship replaced with "Homeland" citizenship. This way most of the black people in South Africa would have no more legal claims to participate in the South African government. The 50’s saw the ANC's new strategy of mass resistance in the form of strikes, defiance campaigns and protest marches.

The defiance campaign of 1952 under the banner of non-violent resistance to the pass laws and the 1954 campaign against the deliberately inferior Bantu Education system are only but a few examples. On the 26th of June 1955 the ANC’s Freedom Charter, based on the principles of human rights and non-racialism, was signed at the Congress of the People in Soweto. Mid 1970s photograph of police checking passbooks in Johannesburg History of Apartheid in South Africa << Top of Page Period around Sharpville and the Rivonia Trials,... The 60's was a decade of overwhelming repression. Matters came to a head at Sharpeville in March 1960, when 69 anti-pass demonstrators were killed by police. A state of emergency was imposed, detention without trial was introduced and the black political organizations were banned. This led to the ANC abandoning their commitment to non-violent resistance and turn to armed struggle. Top leaders, including members of the newly formed military wing "Umkhonto we Sizwe" (Spear of the Nation), were arrested in 1963.

In the "Rivonia trial" eight ANC leaders, including Nelson Mandela were convicted of sabotage and sentenced to life imprisonment. Although initially the black people were left in relative political disarray, the 70’s saw a dramatic resurgence of resistance activity when the revived black trade unions started a wave of strikes in 1973, with a militancy that involved better and more effective organization. June 1976 marked the beginning of a sustained revolt against racial segregation, when the school pupils of Soweto rose up against apartheid education, followed by youth uprisings all over the country. In 1977, news of the brutal death in detention of Steve Biko, leader of the Black Consciousness Movement, reverberated around the world, ending whatever patience the outside world might have had with the South African government. Prisoners chipping stones in the courtyard of Robben Island prison copyright © south-africa-tours-and-travel.com << Top of Page The Decade of Violence,... The 80's will be known as the decade of violence in the struggle for freedom. The P.W.

Botha government embarked on a campaign to eliminate the opposition, turning the country into a police state with police, soldiers and armed vehicles patrolling the black townships and squatter camps. The ANC and PAC retaliated by exploding bombs in restaurants, shopping centres and government buildings, killing and maiming many civilians in the process. Black people who did not participate in the resistance actions, were intimidated and victimized in violent ways by their own people. In the end the black people were living in a lawless society, constantly in fear of their lives. The country was in great turmoil and the anti apartheid struggle had succeeded in capturing the attention of the world. As pressures from outside as well as inside the country were building up, economic sanctions were beginning to seriously hurt the economy. Realizing the inevitability of change, President P.W. Botha introduced a series of minor reforms in the direction of racial equality. But he stopped far short of full reform and the black people as well as the international community felt that the changes were only cosmetic. Quotation of Steve Biko, leader of the Black Consciousness Movement, who died in a prison cell on 12 September 1977 << Top of Page The end of Apartheid,...

With international pressure continuing to grow and the country on the verge of becoming ungovernable, the South African government was left with no other option then to look for a negotiated settlement, recognizing the demands of the blacks and ending the racial segregation system. In August 1989 Botha resigned as President because of ill health and F.W. de Klerk was sworn in as acting State President. This was to be the turning point towards the end of racial segregation in South Africa. Number 5 - B section - Robben Island prison, is the 2,4 x 2,4 meter (8 x 8 ft) cell in which Nelson Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years in prison copyright © south-africa-tours-and-travel.com - History of Apartheid in South Africa In February 1990 de Klerk announced the dismantling of the racial segregation system, the un-banning of all liberation movements and the release of political prisoners, in particular Nelson Mandela. After more then a year of preliminary talks, the real negotiations for a changeover of power to a majority government began on the 20th of December 1991 at the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA).

All significant political role players were given the opportunity to take part in the negotiations. Another view of Nelson Mandela’s prison cell on Robben Island copyright © South-Africa-tours-and-travel.com - History of Apartheid in South Africa During 1993 agreement was reached on a new constitution and the forming of a Government of National Unity, in which all parties polling more then 5% in the elections, would be represented in the cabinet. After 5 years the Government of National Unity would become a straight majority rule government. Although there was considerable political violence by some extremist elements during the negotiation period, particularly in the wake of the killing of Chris Hani, chief of ANC military wing "Umkhonto we Sizwe", the first free elections in South Africa on the 26th of April 1994 went off peacefully, amidst a feeling of goodwill throughout the country. Thabo Mbeki, who succeeded Nelson Mandela as State President of South Africa in June 1999 Source: Antonio Milena/ABr. 27.Oct.2003. - History of Apartheid in South Africa The African National Congress (ANC) won the elections, polling 62,6% of the vote.

Nelson Mandela was chosen to head the Government of National Unity as executive State President with F.W. de Klerk and Thabo Mbeki as deputy presidents. In South Africa's second democratic elections on the 2nd of June 1999, the ANC increased its majority marginally. Nelson Mandela retired and Thabo Mbeki followed him up as State President. F W de Klerk, State President of South Africa from 1989 till 1994, who ended the apartheid system. From 1994 till 1996 he was deputy State President of South Africa under Nelson Mandela History of Apartheid in South Africa Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma, current president of the Republic of South Africa, who succeeded Thabo Mbeki in May 2009 History of Apartheid in South Africa South Africa's political parties Tweet on Twitter South Africa has a vibrant multiparty political system, with 13 parties represented in the National Assembly of Parliament. The African National Congress (ANC) is the majority party, with 249 of the 400 National Assembly seats.

The party controls eight of the country’s nine provinces, with the exception of the Western Cape, where the Democratic Alliance has been in power since 2009 elections. In 2014, the DA secured 59.38% of the provincial vote. The ANC controls seven of the eight metropolitan municipalities. Nonetheless, South Africa’s opposition parties remain robust and vocal. South Africa’s Parliament is made up of two houses: the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces. The National Assembly is the more influential, passing legislation and overseeing executive performance. Its members are elected for a term of five years. All South African citizens over the age of 18 eligible to vote, if they register to do so. So far, South Africa has had fully inclusive democratic elections every five years since 1994. Before the end of apartheid, only white South Africans were allowed to vote for the national government. For a full list of results from South Africa’s 2014 elections, visit the Independent Electoral Commission at PARTIES IN PARLIAMENT Of the 29 parties that contested the 2014 elections, only 13 received sufficient votes to gain representation in Parliament.

The African National Congress (ANC) 249 seats in the National Assembly Alliance partners: and The African National Congress (ANC) is the governing party of South Africa, supported by its historial tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the South African Communist Party (SACP). Founded in 1912 as the South African Native National Congress, it aimed to bring Africans together to defend their rights and fight for freedom. In 1923 its name was changed to the African National Congress. Following the 1960 Sharpeville massacre, the party was banned by the Nationalist government. From 1961 organised acts of sabotage began, marking the emergence of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the ANC. The ANC was to be an underground and exiled organisation for the next 30 years. In February 1990, the government unbanned the ANC and released Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners. The ANC was again able to openly recruit members and establish regional structures. In the historic 1994 elections the ANC won 62% of the vote. Mandela became South Africa’s first democratically elected president.

In the 1999 elections the party increased its majority to a point short of two-thirds of the total vote. A two- thirds majority theoretically allows a party to change the country’s Constitution. Thabo Mbeki succeeded Mandela as president of the country. ANC key objective is the creation of a united, non-racial, non-sexist and democratic society. The Freedom Charter remains the party’s basic policy document. Adopted in June 1955 by the ANC and its allies, the charter lists principles on which a democratic South Africa should be built. In the 2004 elections the party, which declared itself to be a social democratic party, retained its two-thirds majority (69.7%). After Mbeki resigned in 2008, a group of former ministers – led by Mosiuoa Lekota – split away and formed the Congress of the People . In the 2009 elections, the ANC’s majority fell to 64.9%, and Jacob Zuma became the country’s president. In the 2014 elections, the ANC’s margin once again dropped to 62.15%. Zuma remains both the head of the ANC and the country’s president.

The ANC is, with its tripartite alliance partners, committed to the values of the National Democratic Revolution. This, the ANC says, “strives to achieve the liberation of Africans in particular and black people in general from political and economic bondage. It means uplifting the quality of life of all South Africans, especially the poor.” Democratic Alliance (DA) Website: South Africa’s official opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, formerly known as the Democratic Party (DP), espouses liberal democracy and free market principles. The party’s forerunner was the Progressive Federal Party (PFP), whose veteran politician Helen Suzman was its only representative in the white Parliament for many years. Suzman upheld liberal policies in the apartheid-era legislature and spoke out against apartheid laws. In the 1980s the party increased its Parliamentary seats to seven. Among the new MPs was Tony Leon, who became DP leader in 1996, introducing a more aggressive approach to opposition politics. In 1999, the party became South Africa’s official opposition party – a position it has held since then. In 2000 the DP joined forces with the New National Party and the Federal Alliance to form the Democratic Alliance (DA).

But the NNP withdrew from the pact in late 2001, and was disbanded in 2004. More recently, the party integrated the smaller Independent Democrats. Leon resigned as party head in 2007, to be replaced by Helen Zille, who is also the premier of the Western Cape. Its leader in parliament is Mmusi Maimane, who leads a parliamentary caucus of 109 members (89 in the National Assembly and 20 in the National Council of Provinces). The DA increased its share of the vote from 1.7% in 1994 to about 10% in 1999 (as the former DP), 12.4% in 2004, 16.6% in 2009, and to 22.23% in 2014. The governing party in the Western Cape, its improved performance in the 2014 elections mean it is also the official opposition in seven of South Africa’s eight other provinces.

(The EFF is the official opposition in Limpopo.) The DA vision for South Africa is of “an open opportunity society in which every person is free, secure and equal, where everyone has the opportunity to improve the quality of his life and pursue her dreams, and in which every language and culture has equal respect and recognition”. Economic Freedom Fighters Website: effighters.org.za Contesting its first election in 2014, Economic Freedom Fighters is the third most popular party in South Africa, garnering 6.35% of the vote. Formed just eight months before the election, the party received more than 1-million votes in the national ballot, earning 25 seats in Parliament. The EFF is also the official opposition in North West and Limpopo provinces. The EFF was formed by Julius Malema after he was expelled by the ANC as leader of the Youth League in 2013. Malema, who declared himself leader of the party, carries the title, commander in chief. The EFF describes itself as “a radical and militant economic emancipation movement” that is “pursuing the struggle for economic emancipation”.

Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) Website: The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), led by Mangosuthu Buthelezi, draws its support largely from Zulu-speaking South Africans, with the majority of its votes coming from voters in the rural areas of KwaZulu-Natal. In 1994, the IFP held 41 seats in the province but this dropped to a mere nine in 2014. Support for the party from migrant workers’ in the metropolitan areas of Gauteng has shifted to the EFF. Buthelezi has led the IFP since he founded it as the Inkatha National Cultural Liberation Movement in 1975. His political career dates back to the 1940s, when he joined the ANC Youth League while studying at Fort Hare University. In 1953 he took up a position as chief of the Buthelezi clan, and in 1970 was appointed head of the KwaZulu Territorial Authority in terms of the apartheid-era Bantu Administration Act. He became the homeland’s chief minister in 1976.

Inkatha was transformed into a political party in July 1990, championing federalism as the best political option for South Africa. The IFP’s focus is on social justice and its manifesto seeks the resolution to a number of South African issues – the AIDS crisis, unemployment, crime, poverty and corruption – and to prevent the consolidation of a one-party state. The IFP also believes in integrating traditional leadership into the system of governance by recognising traditional communities as models of societal organisation. Buthelezi heads KwaZulu-Natal’s House of Traditional Leaders, which advises the government on issues relating to traditional leaders. KwaZulu-Natal Provincial House of Traditional Leaders: National Freedom Party (NFP) Website: The National Freedom Party was established in 2011 by Zanele ka Magwaza-Msibi, a former chair of the Inkatha Freedom Party. Contesting elections for the first time in 2014, the NFP secured six seats in the National Assembly with 1.57% of the vote. It holds six seats in the KwaZulu-Natal legislature.

Magwaza-Msibi was appointed as South Africa’s deputy minister of science and technology in Zuma’s cabinet shake-up after the 2014 elections. The NFP says it aims to emphasise service delivery to realise its vision of substantive economic emancipation. One of its primary aims is to govern KwaZulu-Natal and increase representation in all other provincial legislatures. United Democratic Movement (UDM) Website: The United Democratic Movement (UDM) was formed in 1997 by Bantu Holomisa, who was expelled from the ANC after accusing a top party official of corruption. Holomisa, the former military strongman in the former homeland of the Transkei, teamed up with Roelf Meyer, a former Nationalist Party Cabinet minister, to form the new party. Meyer later left politics to pursue other interests. The party supports social democracy and envisages “the coming together of all in South Africa”, to build one nation that ensures a quality life for every citizen. Ahead of the 2014 election, a faction of the Congress of the People led by Mbhazima Shilowa joined the UDM.

While national support for the UDM remained small (only 1% of the vote), the party – shored up by disenchanted Cope supporters – strengthened its position in the Eastern Cape, overtaking Cope to became the third largest party in the province. Freedom Front Plus/Vryheidsfront Plus (FF+) Four seats in the National Assembly Website: The Freedom Front was formed in 1993 by Constand Viljoen, the former chief of the South African Defence Force. Viljoen came out of retirement to lead a group of Afrikaners who wanted to form a political party. As head of the Afrikaner Volksfront, Viljoen was instrumental in convincing conservative Afrikaners to participate in the new dispensation, through which, he argued, the issue of self determination should be taken up. The Freedom Front Plus, which saw the Conservative Party and the Afrikaner Eenheids Beweging join forces with the FF ahead of the 2004 elections, aims to help Afrikaners to “protect their culture, education and values”, especially by tackling affirmative action, land reform as well as crime.

Headed by Pieter Mulder, the party retained its four seats in the National Assembly in the 2014 elections. Congress of the People (Cope) Three seats in the National Assembly Website: The Congress of the People (Cope) first contested elections in April 2009, winning 30 seats (7.42% of the vote). However, the infighting and bad decisions that followed saw supporters move to other opposition parties in the 2014 elections. Cope’s portion of the vote dropped to 0.67%, leaving the party with just three seats in the National Assembly. Cope was formed at its first convention in Johannesburg in November 2008 by breakaway ANC members dissatisfied with that organisation’s decision to “recall” then-President Thabo Mbeki a few months earlier and replace him with Kgalema Motlanthe. Its prominent founding members included Mosiuoa Lekota, the former minister of defence who resigned from the Cabinet after Mbeki stepped down, as well as former Gauteng Premier Mbhazima Shilowa.

The party’s name echoes the 1955 Congress of the People, which saw the Freedom Charter adopted by the ANC and other parties. The choice of name was subject to a legal challenge by the ANC, which was later dismissed by the Pretoria High Court. Cope supports a participatory democracy and believes in the supremacy of the Constitution. Its founding principles include social cohesion as well as freedom and equality before the law. Its slogan is, “Reliable, accountable and incorruptile”. Lekota and Shilowa’s locking of horns over leadership of the party also saw them land in court, but Lekota was re-elected as the party’s leader in January 2014. Former Congress of South African Trade Unions (Costau) president Willie Madisha was elected deputy president of Cope. African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) Three seats in the National Assembly Website: The African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) was formed in December 1993 with the aim of representing South African Christians in Parliament. It won two National Assembly seats in 1994 and six in 1999. It currently holds three seats.

The ACDP was the only party in the National Assembly that voted against the adoption of the Constitution in 1994, citing moral and Biblical objections to some of the document’s clauses – particularly the rights of gays and lesbians. According to its manifesto, the ACDP stands for “Christian principles, freedom of religion, a free market economy, family values, community empowerment and human rights in a federal system”. Its leaders is Kenneth Meshoe. African Independent Congress Website: The African Independent Congress was founded in December 2005 in protest against the ANC government’s decision to include the Matatiele locality into the Eastern Cape rather than KwaZulu-Natal. The AIC explains on its website that they regard the ANC as arrogant for “ignoring the poor people of Matatiele”. It says that it “does not want to govern” but rather believes in a “more inclusive type of governance model” where ordinary citizens voices are considered in the political-decision making process. In the 2009 elections, it won a seat in the Eastern Cape legislature. It reatained this seat in 2014 – as well as three seats in the National Assembly.

Agang SA Two seats in the National Assembly Formed at the beginning of 2013 by Mamphele Ramphele, Agang is the new kid on the block of South Africa’s political scene. Agang, which is the Nguni word for “to build”, encourages reforms towards direct governance, striving to “build a stronger democracy in which citizens will be at the centre of public life”. In January 2014, Ramphele accepted an invitation from the DA to stand as the official opposition’s presidential candidate in the 2014 general election. A few days later, however, Ramphele rejected the idea of joining the DA and the proposed merger fell through. Matters did not improve after its shambolic start, and the party fared poorly in the 2014 elections, winning just 52 350 votes (0.28% of the vote, granting it two seats in the National Assembly). A few months later, amid reports of continuing internal conflict, Ramphele resigned, announcing her withdrawal from politics in July 2014.

Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) Website: The Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) was formed in 1959 as a breakaway from the ANC. Influenced by the Africanist ideals of Kwame Nkrumah, it promotes African nationalism and the return of the land to the indigenous people. The PAC was outlawed with the ANC in 1960 after the Sharpeville massacre. Its leaders were exiled or detained for long periods. These included Robert Sobukwe, its founder and leader, who was incarcerated in Robben Island until 1969 and then placed under house arrest until his death in 1978. Political infighting and numerous changes in leadership have contributed to a steady erosion of support since 1994, with voters favouring the ANC and the EFF. In the 2014 election, the PAC retained its single seat in parliament. African People’s Convention (APC) One seat in the National Assembly Website: The African People’s Convention Azanian People’s Convention was created out of the 2007 defection of two prominent PAC members of parliament.

It was the only party created by the now-abolished practice known as “floor-crossing” to contest the 2009 elections. The party says it represents the “voice of the voiceless” with its Africanist socialist democratic principles, aimed at ensuring that “freedom and democracy have material meaning to all the citizens of the country”. PARTIES NOT IN PARLIAMENT Website: The Minority Front, created by the maverick Amichand Rajbansi and now led by his widow, Shameen Thakur-Rajbansi, says it represents the interests of all minorities. The party, however, finds the majority of its support among the Indian community, especially in Durban. The Minority Front has held a seat in parliament since 1999, but lost this in the most recent election. It holds a single seat in the KwaZulu-Natal provincial legislature. United Christian Democratic Party (UCDP) Website: The United Christian Democratic Party (UCDP) was formed by Lucas Mangope, head of the apartheid-era “homeland” of Bophuthatswana. Mangope was among the first homeland leaders to accept so-called independence for his scattered country for the Setswana-speaking people.

The UCDP was the only party allowed to operate in the territories under his control. The UCDP was the official opposition to the ANC in the North West province in 1999 and 2004, but it has been usurped by the EFF, which now holds five seats in the province where the Marikana massacre took place in 2013. Azanian People’s Organisation (Azapo) Website: The Azanian People’s Organisation preaches the philosophy of black emancipation and black consciousness, a philosophy popularised by Steve Biko, who was killed in police cells in 1977. Azapo lost its single seat representation in the National Assembly when it managed to gain only 0.11% of the national vote in the 2014 election. SAinfo reporter Reviewed: July 2014 Would you like to use this article in your publication or on your website?

See: Using SAinfo material TAGS Blast from apartheid past for island tourists | IOL Blast from apartheid past for island tourists South Africa / 2 September 2006, 11:39am Helen Bamford The hig-tech ferry service to Robben Island, one of Cape Town's main tourist attractions, was stopped on Friday and replaced by old, slow apartheid-era vessels previously used to transport political prisoners to the island. A proper replacement service will only be ready next year. The Robben Island Museum, which falls under the department of arts and culture, had been outsourcing the running of the ferry to the Autshumato ferry company, but declined to renew its contract when it expired this week. Autshumato is a 100 percent black-owned empowerment company, formed by ex-political prisoners. Ironically, one of the 50-year-old ferries which has been brought into service to take tourists to the famous prison site, the Susan Kruger, is named after the wife of former police minister Jimmy "it leaves me cold" Kruger, one of apartheid's most notorious politicians. Previously it provided the prison's main ferry service for staff and inmates.

Autshumato Ferries, which traded as Robben Island Ferries for nine years, took their last trip to the famous island on Thursday. It was an emotional day for staff and management who have also had to sell their two high-tech twin-hull boats, the Makana and Autshumato, both of which will be sent to the Caribbean within the next fortnight. Managing director Jama Matakata said what hurt the most was that the decision was taken by people with whom he had been behind bars during the struggle. The Robben Island Museum has commissioned the building of its own ferry by a South African company, apparently at a cost of R26-million, but it will be ready only next year. Matakata said they had appealed to Arts and Culture Minister Pallo Jordan but he had declined to get involved, saying it was an operational matter. "We even went as far as the president's office, but nothing was done." Jordan, through his spokesperson Sandile Memela, told Weekend Argus he had not been approached on the matter. "However, he might be willing to hear what the parties are squabbling about, offer advice and perhaps help seek solutions," Memela said.

The Autshumato ferry company created employment for more than 100 personnel, including former political prisoners, during its contract. It was also responsible for training former cleaner Joyce Mtingeni as a fully fledged skipper, one of the few African woman skippers in the country. Their boats have travelled in excess of 544 000 kilometres without incident during their contract period while transporting heads of state and dignitaries, millions of tourists as well as under-privileged school children. Jeff Bagg, the chief financial officer, described the termination as a travesty. "We've generated a lot of income for them - now we just hope they will take over some of our staff otherwise they will be retrenched." Matakata said they had not had a single letter of recognition from the Robben Island Museum management. "Not one word of thanks or a note to say 'well done'." Bagg said they were curious as to why the Robben Island Museum had commissioned a larger boat when the World Heritage Council had raised concerns that the island was already being over-utilised.

Shoni Khangala, a Robben Island Museum spokesperson, said the museum wanted to provide its visitors with a new experience including the amount of time they could spend on the island. He said that the outsourced operation had not offered much flexibility in this regard and the "insourced" option had been approved and funded by the department of arts and culture. Khangala added that the new ferry would have a capacity of 300, as opposed to the two decommissioned ferries which carried 150 each. The new ferry would have three decks as opposed to two and six toilets as opposed to two. He said the new boat would be launched in February, but practice runs in the water could start as early as December. Khangala did not respond to a question as to why a BEE company was not being supported by the Robben Island Museum authorities or whether it would be taking on staff from Autshumato Ferries. On Friday, on the first day of the new operation, there were delays with the outbound 1pm tourist group still waiting for their ferry to dock at 1.10pm.

A German tourist, Nicola Arnold, who had just returned from Robben Island, said the boat trip had been very bumpy. "Not good for people who get sea sick." American Anita Jones said they had been warned the trip would be slower. But she said the guide had told them the old ferries would give them a sense of what the prisoners had endured being packed together for the trip to the prison island. "I guess that gives an interesting perspective." When Weekend Argus phoned to enquire about trips, an information spokesperson said that passengers would be ferried on "historic" boats and that they would have to book early because there were fewer trips and at different times every day. Kruger gained worldwide notoriety in 1977 when he was the minister of police. He uttered the famous words "it leaves me cold" after black consciousness leader Steve Biko died in police detention. South Africa's Constitution Hill Tweet on Twitter Constitution Hill, overlooking the city of Johannesburg, is more than just the site of South Africa’s Constitutional Court – the highest court in the country on constitutional matters.

The multi-million rand Constitution Hill development was one of South Africa’s most ambitious public building projects following the country’s first democratic elections in 1994, and gave rise to some of the new South Africa’s most admired architecture. A multi-purpose, multi-faceted heritage precinct in the heart of the city, Constitution Hill was built on the 100-acre site of a century-old prison complex where the leaders of every major South African liberation group – Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi among them – were once detained. Nowhere is the story of South Africa’s turbulent past and its extraordinary transition to democracy told as it is at Constitution Hill, witness to a century of South African history. Interactive experiences Through guided tours and exhibitions that have been designed as interactive experiences, visitors can learn about the injustices of South Africa’s past while observing the process by which the country’s freedom was won and is now protected. Tours take in the visitor decks of the Constitutional Court, where visitors can experience a real court case, as well as the court’s extraordinary collection of South African artworks, as well as three prison museums: Number Four, the Women’s Gaol and the Old Fort.

The Old Fort, built in 1893, is one of Johannesburg’s oldest buildings and was used as a fortress by Paul Kruger during the Anglo Boer War. Nelson Mandela was the only black prisoner to be held in this “whites only” prison. A journey to the section of the Old Fort complex reserved for black men, Number Four, deepens one’s understanding of how the apartheid system made criminals of “non-whites”. Number Four was once home to prisoners such as Mahatma Ghandi, Robert Sobukwe and the students of the 1976 Soweto uprising. The grace of the Victorian-style building housing the Women’s Gaol – where the likes of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Albertina Sisulu, Fatima Meer and many other political activists were held – belies the pain and suffering that occurred within its walls. ‘The Robben Island of Johannesburg’ The complex housing these prisons was the place where more representatives of South Africa’s diverse communities were jailed for fighting for freedom than anywhere else in the country.

For decades, thousands of prisoners streamed through the complex’s “delousing” chambers, were made to do the humiliating “Tauza” dance, were beaten and abused in the notorious Number Four prison for black men, were held for months in dirty, overcrowded conditions in the Awaiting Trial Block, were stripped of their underclothes and their dignity in the Women’s Gaol. The complex saw it all: from rebellious British soldiers who fought with the Boers at the turn of the century to striking mineworkers, Defiance Campaigners, Treason Trialists, and youths caught up in the Soweto Uprisings. Both the famous and the infamous were incarcerated here: war rebels, political activists, notorious gangsters and criminals. Activists were usually held as awaiting trial prisoners and then sent off to Robben Island or Pretoria to serve jail terms. Most of those imprisoned at the complex, however, were ordinary people arrested in their droves every day under the apartheid government’s Pass Laws restricting the movement of black people. Brewing beer – an illegal activity if you were black – also landed many women in jail. Still others were arrested for having sex across the colour bar or for homosexual sex.

And black men lived in dread of Number Four, with its chilling Ekhulukhuthu (the deep hole) isolation cells. ‘Gandhi: prisoner of conscience’ Besides the regular temporary exhibitions at Constitution Hill, two permanent exhibitions focus on the lives of two of the great 20th century fighters for the rights of the oppressed, both of whom spent time within the Old Fort. The exhibition “Gandhi: prisoner of conscience” focuses on the years Mahatma Gandhi spent in Johannesburg, from 1902 until 1914, when he left South Africa at the age of 46. It was during this time that Gandhi formulated and refined his Satyagraha or passive resistance philosophy, and was transformed from a shy lawyer into an extraordinary leader of international stature. The exhibition details the experiences that shaped his development by means of photographs, quotes, artefacts and audio material. Gandhi’s transformation is symbolised in the changes in his attire – from a besuited lawyer to rough prison garb to a simple cotton tunic on his departure for India in 1914.

Gandhi said of his experiences in South Africa: “Truly speaking, it was after I went to South Africa that I became what I am now. My love for South Africa and my concern for her problems are no less than for India.” Mandela is quoted on the walls of the exhibition as saying: “The spirit of Gandhi may well be a key to human survival in the 21st century.” Nelson Mandela’s prison cell Housed in the cell where Nelson Mandela was held prisoner, the other permanent exhibition documents the time that Mandela spent at Robben Island as well as at the Old Fort. Mandela spent two weeks in the Awaiting Trial Block, now demolished, in December 1956, before being transferred to Pretoria for the remainder of the lengthy Treason Trial. And in August 1962, he spent a few weeks in the Old Fort hospital. He wasn’t ill, but he was kept there because of his status, and possibly because it was believed that he could more easily escape from Number Four, where the other black male prisoners were kept.

Here, in his meticulously reconstructed cell, the various pictures and objects on display include a stack of wooden boxes that form but a small sample of the 76 boxes used to hold the 70 000-plus pieces of correspondence between Mandela and the prison authorities over the 27-and-a-half years of his imprisonment. He frequently wrote letters on behalf of his fellow inmates protesting against regulations disallowing books for study or complaining about the quality of the food. One letter of complaint runs to 25 pages. Some of the letters were written in Afrikaans, the mother tongue of the prison bosses. Two videos run constantly as part of the exhibition. The first one, filmed in April 1977, some 13 years into Mandela’s life sentence on Robben Island, records an official visit in which the prison authorities invited the foreign press to visit the island. The second, from December 2003, shows Mandela arriving at the newly built Constitutional Court, built below the Old Fort, and being welcomed by the then chief justice of the court, Arthur Chaskalson. For full visitor information, as well as information about special programmes, exhibitions and venue hire, visit .

SAinfo reporter How Soccer Defeated Apartheid | Foreign Policy How Soccer Defeated Apartheid As South Africa prepares to hosts the World Cup, it is also coming face to face with its own history. By Nicholas Griffin Nicholas Griffin, a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, is writing a book on sports and foreign policy. June 7, 2010 Imagine an alternate reality of the United States in the 1960s, where the collective experience of the political elite had been formed in all-black baseball leagues. The country is led by President Jackie Robinson, Vice President Satchel Paige, and Secretary of State Willie Mays. Sounds crazy? Replace baseball with soccer, and you’ve got South Africa, a country that has given new meaning to "political football." Much attention has been paid to President Nelson Mandela’s role in South Africa’s 1995 Rugby World Cup triumph, captured in the film Invictus . But Sean Jacobs, a Cape Town native, historian, and author, describes that tournament as "a blip" in South Africa’s history of racial conflict.

"The real story," he says, "is soccer." And the real story begins several miles from the site of Cape Town’s swanky new stadium — on Robben Island, which will be clearly visible to billions of TV viewers as they tune in to this month’s World Cup. The island prison colony was home to thousands of South Africa’s political prisoners during the apartheid era. Of the men who played in the prison’s soccer league, an astonishing number would go on to become important figures in shaping post-apartheid South Africa. Their ranks include current President Jacob Zuma, opposition leader and former Defense Minister "Terror" Lekota, Minister of Human Settlements "Tokyo" Sexwale, and Kgalema Motlanthe, who completed former President Thabo Mbeki’s second term. Mandela never participated; he watched the early games from an isolation block until the authorities built a wall to obstruct his view. Zuma had the distinction of doubling as a referee. Leave it to a future president to play one weekend and arbitrate the next.

More Than Just a Game , written by Chuck Korr and Marvin Close, revealed that Robben Island’s inmates had two favorite books from the shelves of the prison library: Karl Marx’s Das Kapital, and Denis Howell’s Soccer Refereeing. After years of steadfast petitioning, prison authorities finally agreed in 1967 to let the inmates establish their own soccer league, the Makana Football Association. The prisoners spent their weekdays breaking rocks in the quarry, but two hours of every Saturday were reserved for soccer matches. Sunday evening was for talking about the game, Monday to Wednesday for dealing with breaches of rules, and Thursday and Friday for choosing squads and strategizing. The thought process among the players, according to Jacobs, was: "If we can run a league in these extreme conditions, then maybe we can run a country." The Afrikaner officials of the apartheid regime never embraced soccer. They loved rugby and cricket and funded those sports generously, but saw soccer as a game for Africans. At first, they ignored the sport — then they began to ban some matches. In April 1963, at the Natalspruit Sports Ground in Johannesburg, authorities locked the gates and left a note saying the day’s games had been canceled.

Fifteen thousand supporters scaled the gates, carrying an extra pair of goal posts to replace a set that had been removed. The matches went ahead. The government would later try a new tack, organizing an annual match between black and white players. The plan, however, backfired: It merely emphasized the inequitable and racist nature of the country’s political system. The matches did, however, succeed in undermining the apartheid regime in crucial ways. In 1976, the government allowed a mixed-race team to play against a visiting Argentine squad in Johannesburg. Black and white South Africans lined up together on the pitch, though the stands were still segregated. The home team won 5-0, including a hat trick for a then unknown black player named Jomo Sono. When he scored against Argentina, his teammates, black and white, did what teammates have always done: hugged and shook hands. This feel-good victory was overshadowed only a few weeks later, however, when approximately 500 black South Africans were killed in the Soweto uprising — including Ariel Kgongoane, a prominent player for the Kaizer Chiefs. Apartheid’s opponents quickly seized on the potential of using soccer to rally support and raise funds.

The African National Congress (ANC), then a banned underground movement, quickly realized that wherever there was soccer, there was a crowd. Political meetings suffered a blanket ban from 1976 onward, but it was far harder to prevent several members of a political party from sitting together in the stands, amid thousands. Zuma, for instance, would emerge from hiding to attend the matches of the Zulu Royals and confer with other politicians. And it’s no coincidence that when Zuma returned from exile in Zambia in 1993, his first residence was at the home of the owner of the Orlando Pirates, one of the largest soccer teams in South Africa. By the 1980s, activists commonly organized themselves into soccer squads to confound the regime. They could travel easily across international borders, and matches represented a valuable source of money for underground anti-apartheid organizations. Peter Alegi, a historian and author of African Soccerscapes , told me that as early as 1944, the revenue from soccer matches was being handed over to the ANC.

Patson Banda, a former player for the Orlando Pirates, remembers one game that was played across the border in Zimbabwe in front of more than 100,000 paying fans. Again, the ANC received the proceeds collected at the gate. Soccer kept countering apartheid — white teams knew that to test themselves they had to play against the black teams, and unofficial games became more and more common. The truth became obvious: The white league was second class. Few were surprised at its collapse in 1977. Sono, when he returned from his lucrative stint alongside Pelé in the New York Cosmos, made a very political statement in 1982 apartheid South Africa — he bought the white soccer powerhouse, Highlands Park. By the late 1980s, soccer matches were at center stage of the country’s rapidly evolving politics. ANC flags, which were still banned, were seen openly in soccer stadiums, a sign of the regime’s weakening grip on power. In 1991, South Africa’s current soccer federation was founded.

During its inaugural meeting, it made the astonishing assertion that its formation was "only natural … as the sport of soccer had long led the way into breaking the tight grip of racial oppression." It was an audacious statement, even dangerous, as the fall of apartheid was still a more than two years away. While the national squad arrived with a bang on the international scene, winning the Africa Cup of Nations in 1996 and qualifying for two World Cups, 2010 finds them with a much weaker squad. Their best players have followed the money to Europe and back at home, the national soccer federation has only been able to organize friendly matches against second-tier countries in the run-up to their day in the sun. The general feeling, according to Mninawa Ntloko, the sports editor of South Africa’s Business Day, is that while blacks supported the rugby victory in 1995, the favor has not yet been returned. Despite South Africa’s progress, much work remains to be done before soccer is truly a sport that bridges the country’s pernicious racial divide. The national team, Bafana Bafana, or "the Boys" in Zulu, has only one white player.

While the Cape Town stadium was built in a white part of town, its heart is still four miles offshore, on Robben Island. The World Cup stands will likely be a portrait of racial diversity, as fans come from far and wide to watch the games, but most matches in South Africa’s local leagues are still black-only affairs. However, with the World Cup, some think the tide might finally be turning. "I’m beginning to see it now. Just in this last month," says Ntloko. "You see white children in Bafana Bafana shirts." As the 2010 World Cup kicks off, there has been a great deal of speculation about whether the tournament will make South Africa rich. In monetary terms, the answer is resoundingly no. The hosts build the infrastructure, but it is FIFA, soccer’s international governing body, that reaps the profits from television and sponsorship rights. Still, the tournament will be invaluable for other, less tangible, reasons. It will provide South Africans with an opportunity to reflect on how far their country has come from the days of apartheid, and the work that remains to be done. Even with apartheid dead and gone, the story of soccer still lies at the heart of South African politics. Share +

Question: What South African island was used as a gaol for political prisoners while the country was under the policy of apartheid?
Answer: Robben Island