The Economic and Political Context of the Growth of the Progressive Federal Party in South Africa, 1959-1978¶
Brian Hackland (1980). The Economic and Political Context of the Growth of the Progressive Federal Party in South Africa, 1959-1978. Journal of Southern African Studies, Vol. 7, No. 1 (Special Issue on Contemporary Politics). Taylor & Francis.
| Type | journal article |
| Scope | Wider apartheid literature |
| Method | mixed |
| Period studied | 1948–1978 |
| Regions | South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique |
| Themes | politics ideology elections, business and state, mining migrant labour, inequality poverty unemployment, unions strikes, macro fiscal finance debt, resistance social movements |
| Citation key | hackland1980 |
Argument¶
Hackland takes a Marxist-structuralist approach to the relationship between white parliamentary parties and fractions of capital. He argues that the Progressive (Federal) Party grew in the 1970s because the crisis of that decade (Soweto, strikes, rising unemployment, capital flight, threats to foreign mine labour supplies) made monopoly capital doubt that the National Party could provide long-term stability. Monopoly capital, led by Anglo American, therefore backed the PFP as an alternative vehicle, not a replacement for the NP. The PFP's Slabbert Report reflects this: it adopts new ideological forms, including a separation of state and capital and an emphasis on distribution, to defuse class conflict. The argument rests on party history, statistics and interviews with party and business figures.
Evidence and method¶
Interviews (Eglin, Godsell, Oppenheimer, Waddell, Swart, Slabbert, Mennell), party minutes and internal documents, the SAIRR Survey of Race Relations for various years, the Slabbert Report, Financial Times and Financial Mail, and secondary work (Williams, Davies/Kaplan/O'Meara, Bozzoli, Innes, Dickman, Robertson, Strangwayes-Booth). Statistics on GDP, unemployment, strikes, mine labour origins, capital flows and election results.
Place in the debates¶
- Relationship of the state and parliamentary parties to fractions of capital (class-theoretic analysis of the South African state) (see The state and capital: instrumentalism, autonomy and fractions of capital). Argues that parties express alliances of capitalists. The NP supplied the conditions for accumulation and monopoly capital's rise, but monopoly capital hedged by backing the PFP when the NP's ability to manage the crisis came into doubt.
- Liberal vs revisionist on apartheid and capitalism (see Liberal vs revisionist: was apartheid functional or dysfunctional for capitalist growth?). Revisionist. Apartheid under the NP raised exploitation of black workers and profits, benefiting both Afrikaner and English capital, rather than being opposed to capitalist interests.
- Cheap labour thesis and the role of foreign migrant labour (see Cheap labour thesis and the function of the reserves). Treats foreign mine workers as a cheap labour supply that also keeps up the reserve army of labour in South Africa. Their decline in the 1970s is a political threat, though cushioned by high unemployment.
Findings¶
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The 1960s boom was marked by rapid growth and diversification of mining capital into industry. (p. 5)
From 1961 to 1969 GDP grew at an average of 6.5 per cent per annum.
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Anglo American's industrial portfolio grew nearly fivefold during the 1960s. (p. 5)
In 1960 Anglo American's industrial portfolio was valued at ?30 million. By 1969, its industrial interests were worth ?143 million.
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The Progressive Party's electoral fortunes in the 1960s were poor and it survived on Oppenheimer's backing. (p. 5)
In 1966, their share of the poll dropped to 41,065, only 3.5 per cent of the total. Again, Houghton was the only seat won.
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Unemployment grew steadily as manufacturing became more capital-intensive. (p. 8)
Unemployment climbed steadily from 580,000 in 1962 and 750,000 in 1966 to 1,000,000 in 1970. By 1974 it had jumped to 1,500,000
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Strikes peaked in 1973 after being low in the 1960s. (p. 8)
Strikes built up to a peak in 1973, when 70,000 workers were involved.
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The share of foreign workers on the mines fell sharply after 1974. (p. 9)
In 1970, 68.1 per cent of mine workers came from outside South Africa. By 1973, it had risen to 75.5 per cent, and 78 per cent in 1974.
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High unemployment cushioned the mines against the loss of foreign labour, but the longer-term outlook was a concern. (p. 10)
Since the gold mines were forced to turn to internal supplies of labour at a time when unemployment had reached such huge numbers, the problem was not acute
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Large firms profited during the crisis while the costs were passed to workers, and the crisis sped up concentration of capital. (p. 10)
profits, especially for larger enterprises, tended to rise during the crisis, the ill effects being passed on to the working class.
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Oppenheimer described Nationalist policy as preventing proper use of black labour, a danger to growth and stability. (p. 11)
Nationalist policies have made it impossible to make proper use of black labour.
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Monopoly capital backed the PFP as a fallback to the NP, not a replacement. (p. 11)
not instead of the National Party (which remained the most powerful representative of organized capital in South Africa) but as an alternative, should the Government prove incapable
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Business support was reflected in sharply higher party funds between 1966 and 1977. (p. 7)
the Progressive Federal Party was able to raise R700,000 and fight sixty seats.
Evidence ledger¶
Sources used¶
| Source | Kind | Period | How used |
|---|---|---|---|
| Progressive Party, National Executive Committee Minutes (17 April 1966; 6 February 1966) | union or movement records | 1966 | Documents the party's 1966 electoral position and the very limited funds (R50,000 to fight 27 seats). |
| Letter, C. W. Eglin to H. F. Oppenheimer, 2.11.63 | other | 1963 | Cited as evidence that Harry Oppenheimer was the Progressive Party's sole major financial backer. |
| Progressive Party, Outline history of the Progressive Party (undated internal document, c. 1972) | union or movement records | c.1972 | Supplies the number of seats contested in 1966 and party finances. |
| Interviews with C. W. Eglin (19 October 1978) | interviews oral history | 1978 | Establishes the party's 1966 strategy shift, finances in the 1977 election and consultation with Homeland leaders. |
| Interviews with R. M. Godsell (4 October 1978), H. F. Oppenheimer (30 October 1978), G. H. Waddell (4 October 1978), I. Mennell (3 October 1978), F. van Zyl Slabbert (17 October 1978), R. A. F. Swart (25 October 1978) | interviews oral history | October 1978 | Evidence on Anglo American pressure for merger, big-business funding, capital's perception of Nationalist policy, Slabbert's ideology and PFP-Inkatha ties. |
| SAIRR, A Survey of Race Relations in South Africa (1971, 1973, 1974, 1977, 1978 editions) | official statistical series | 1971-1978 | Source for election results, party finances, unemployment, strike numbers, mine labour origins, capital flows and PFP-Inkatha contacts. |
| Financial Times, 21 June 1978 and 10 January 1979 | newspapers periodicals | 1978-1979 | Source for net capital outflows in 1977-78 and the fall in foreign exchange reserves. |
| Financial Mail, 22 April 1977 (cited in Williams) | newspapers periodicals | 1976-1977 | Evidence that large-company profits rose during the crisis. |
| Anglo American Corporation of SA Ltd., Annual Report, 1975 | company records or reports | 1975 | Illustrates the growth and interpenetration of monopoly capital. |
| M. Williams, South Africa: the crisis of world capitalism and the apartheid economy (1977) - data on unemployment, capital stock, GNP, manufacturing output | secondary literature compilation | 1962-1977 | Supplies unemployment series, capital intensity, GNP decline and manufacturing slump. |
| A. Dickman, 'Investment - the implications for economic growth and living standards', Optima 1977 - GDP growth and balance of payments data | secondary literature compilation | 1946-1976 | Provides GDP growth rates by period and the 1975 devaluation/balance of payments data. |
| D. Innes, 'Imperialism and the accumulation of capital in South Africa', unpublished mimeo, 1976 | secondary literature compilation | 1960-1969 | Source for the value of Anglo American's industrial portfolio (R30m in 1960 to R143m in 1969). |
| Strangwayes-Booth, A Cricket in the Thorn Tree (1976) - election returns | election returns | 1961-1970 | Source for the vote shares and seats won by the Progressive Party in the 1961, 1966 and 1970 general elections. |
| Progressive Federal Party, Report and recommendations of the Constitutional Committee (Slabbert Report), 26 October 1978 | other | 1978 | Primary text analysed to show the party's policy shift to address capital's long-term needs. |
| B. de Villiers, The rebirth of a white political opposition in South Africa (1975) | other | 1975 | Source for the composition of the merged Progressive Reform Party in 1975. |
| M. G. Buthelezi speeches and Inkatha 'Statement of Belief'; Black Review 1972 (SASO statement) | other | 1972-1978 | Used to show black political organisations' relations with and attitudes toward the PFP. |
New data¶
A set of interviews conducted by the author in October 1978 with PFP and Anglo American figures (Eglin, Godsell, Oppenheimer, Waddell, Mennell, Slabbert, Swart), cited from transcripts; no systematic dataset was built.
Inference¶
Quantification: Illustrative figures.
Interpretive political-economy case study in a Marxist (monopoly capital) framework, combining time-series figures drawn from secondary compilations and SAIRR surveys with elite interviews and party documents to infer class interests behind party politics.
Key claims¶
| Claim | Basis | Strength |
|---|---|---|
| The 1960s boom and the rapid growth of monopoly and conglomerate capital preceded the PFP's electoral rise, while the Progressive Party stagnated electorally in the 1960s. (p. 4) | GDP series from Dickman; Innes on Anglo American's industrial portfolio; election returns via Strangwayes-Booth and Robertson. | Partial data |
| The 1970s crisis (unemployment, strikes, Soweto, capital flight, balance of payments problems) undermined confidence in repression and drove a search for alternatives. (p. 7) | Williams and SAIRR surveys for unemployment, strikes and capital flows; Financial Times for capital outflows. | Partial data |
| Reliance on foreign mine labour fell sharply in the mid-1970s, threatening the gold mines' labour supply. (p. 8) | Annual SAIRR Survey figures on the proportion of mine workers from outside South Africa, 1970-78. | Systematic data |
| Monopoly capital, led by Anglo American, increasingly backed the PFP as an insurance alternative to the National Party. (p. 10) | Interview with H. F. Oppenheimer, Godsell and Waddell; Eglin letter; party finance comparisons from interviews and minutes. | Illustrative or anecdotal |
| The PFP's financial position improved dramatically between 1966/1970 and 1977, indicating growing business support. (p. 6) | Party NEC minutes (1966), Eglin and Godsell interviews. | Partial data |
| The Slabbert Report reformulated party policy to address capital's long-term stability needs and to propagate an ideology of state neutrality that would defuse class conflict. (p. 13) | Textual analysis of the Slabbert Report and the Slabbert interview. | Illustrative or anecdotal |
| Large-company profits rose and centralization of capital accelerated during the crisis, with costs shifted to workers. (p. 9) | Financial Mail via Williams; Innes; Anglo American Annual Report 1975. | Partial data |
The author's caveats¶
The author notes that the strict confidentiality of all donations makes it difficult to identify donors, so funding estimates are 'probably' or 'it seems likely'. He also states that the study is only a preliminary understanding.
Gaps in the evidence¶
The central claim of a link between monopoly capital interests and PFP support rests on a handful of elite interviews and inferred donations, with no systematic donor records, company-level data or voter analysis. Evidence on party accounts, Anglo American/Chamber of Mines internal papers, and survey data on white voter and business attitudes would test it better; some of these exist in archives now. The timing and sectoral breadth of 'monopoly capital' support is asserted rather than measured.
Replicability: Data poorly documented.