A Survey of Race Relations in South Africa, 1969¶
Muriel Horrell (1970). A Survey of Race Relations in South Africa, 1969. Annual Survey of Race Relations (SAIRR). South African Institute of Race Relations, Johannesburg.
| Type | report |
| Scope | Wider apartheid literature |
| Method | primary document |
| Period studied | 1968–1969 |
| Regions | South Africa, South-West Africa, Rhodesia, Portuguese territories, Botswana and Lesotho |
| Themes | politics ideology elections, resistance social movements, sanctions divestment, macro fiscal finance debt, bantustans removals influx, labour markets wages |
| Citation key | horrell1970 |
Argument¶
This is a contemporary annual chronicle by the SAIRR research officer. It records developments in 1969 from Hansard, the press and official statistics, and advances no analytical thesis. The extract covers the National Party split and the launch of the Herstigte Nasionale Party, the Coloured Persons' Representative Council elections, the security state (defence spending, BOSS, detentions and political trials), guerrilla activity and UN pressure, and the start of the economic and employment chapter. It is most useful as a dated record of official statements, spending figures and the political climate on the eve of the 1970 election.
Evidence and method¶
Hansard debates, ministerial replies, government notices and acts, Reserve Bank and Department of Statistics figures, The Military Balance, and newspaper reports (Rand Daily Mail, Star, Sunday Times, Die Burger and others). Court proceedings and inquests are cited through press accounts.
Place in the debates¶
- Official rationale of separate development (labour supply vs political separation) (see Homelands, separate development, decentralisation and removals). Records the government's own position: Africans were in white areas only for their labour, and apartheid is presented as 'differentiation' of 'multi-national' groups. No analytical stance of its own.
- Cost and viability of separate development (see Homelands, separate development, decentralisation and removals). Reports the United Party's estimate that full development of the Reserves would cost about six times current spending, and the government's reluctance to give a total cost.
- Sanctions and international isolation (see Sanctions, disinvestment and the anti-apartheid movement). Documents UN General Assembly votes urging economic disengagement from South Africa, without assessing their effect.
- Securitisation of the apartheid state. Reports the rapid growth of the defence vote, the creation of BOSS and indefinite detention laws, and records the Bar, press and judicial criticism of them.
Findings¶
-
Minister of Bantu Administration restated that Africans were in the white areas as labour only. (p. 2)
Africans were present in the white areas only for the labour they provided.
-
The government had no settled long-term policy for the Coloured people, whom it said could not have a homeland. (p. 2)
had evolved no ultimate policy for the Coloured people.
-
The United Party estimated the cost of making the Reserves viable at about six times then-current spending. (p. 4)
he estimated that this cost would be some R600..000.000 a year over at least ten years: about six times more than was being spent.
-
Turnout in the Coloured Persons' Representative Council elections was low, and urban Coloured voters boycotted in large numbers. (p. 5)
The total percentage poll was 48.7 per cent.
-
The 1969-70 defence budget was R271.6 million, an increase on the previous year. (p. 8)
R271,600,000 was allocated for defence, R 17,469,000 more than in the previous year.
-
The defence vote had grown sharply since 1959. (p. 8)
The total defence vote has risen steadily and rapidly since 1959. when it was R40.000,000.
-
Defence spending was put at 2.5 per cent of national product. (p. 8)
that the expenditure in 1969-70 would represent 2.5 per cent of the total national product.
-
The Terrorism Act allowed detention without trial for indefinite periods. (p. 12)
Section 6 of the Terrorism Act provides for detention for indefinite periods.
-
The UN General Assembly appealed to the World Bank to stop transactions with South Africa (vote 82 to 7, 25 abstentions). (p. 19)
adopted an Afro-Asian resolution appealing to the World Bank to stop all transactions with South Africa and Portugal
-
A November 1969 UN resolution called for the cutting of transport links and for restraints on financial and economic interests co-operating with the South African government. (p. 19)
called on member-states to cut off all air and sea communications with the Republic, and to take steps to prohibit financial and economic interests under their jurisdiction
-
The economy was in revival in 1968-69 and the Reserve Bank reported an acute labour shortage. (p. 21)
There was little Evidence of inflation; but the labour shortage became more acute than at any time since 1961.
-
GDP growth in the early-to-mid 1960s exceeded the official target, and the 1968-73 target was again set at 5.5 per cent. (p. 21)
Over the four years 1963-7 the average realized growth rate was in fact 6.4 per cent per annum.
Evidence ledger¶
Sources used¶
| Source | Kind | Period | How used |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hansard (House of Assembly) debates, 1969 (no confidence debate, Votes, questions and replies) | parliamentary debates | 1968-1969 | Supplies ministerial statements on policy, security statistics, detentions and deaths in detention that the Survey reports. |
| Hansard 1 col. 92 (Minister of the Interior on Coloured voter eligibility, 4 February) | parliamentary debates | 1969 | Provides the numbers of Coloured men and women eligible to register for the Coloured Persons' Representative Council elections. |
| Minister of Justice replies, Assembly 27 May 1969, Hansard 16 col. 6681 (security law convictions 1968) | parliamentary debates | 1968 | Gives convictions under security laws in 1968, by race. |
| Estimates of Expenditure from Revenue Account, R.P. 2/69 (1969-70 budget) | official statistical series | 1969-70 | Source for the defence vote and the secret services allocation in the Prime Minister's vote. |
| The Military Balance (Institute for Strategic Studies) | secondary literature compilation | 1969 | Provides figures on Defence Force strength and equipment by service. |
| Defence White Paper tabled in Parliament, 24 April 1969 | commission or official report | 1969 | Source for decisions on naval craft, local arms manufacture and equipment orders. |
| Public Service Amendment Act No. 86 of 1969; Security Services Special Account Act No. 81 of 1969; General Law Amendment Act No. 101 of 1969; Electoral Laws Amendment Act No. 99 of 1969 | legislation gazette | 1969 | Statutory texts quoted and summarised to describe the Bureau for State Security, Sections 10 and 29 and voter disqualification. |
| Proclamation R231 of 5 September; Government Notice R 3669 of 31 October; Government Notice 3296 of 17 September | legislation gazette | 1969 | Establish the Coloured Affairs administrative changes, delegated powers and Potgieter Commission terms of reference. |
| Coloured Persons' Representative Council election returns, 24 September 1969 (as reported) | election returns | 1969 | Table of seats contested, seats won and votes by party, with turnout percentages, showing Labour Party majority and urban boycott. |
| Port Elizabeth church survey of Coloured attitudes (reported in Star, 27 September) | author survey or fieldwork | 1969 | Survey results of just under 200 respondents used to describe Coloured attitudes to apartheid and parties. |
| Newspapers: Star, Rand Daily Mail, Sunday Times, Sunday Express, Cape Times, Daily Dispatch, Eastern Province Herald, Die Beeld, Die Burger, Veg, South African Observer | newspapers periodicals | 1968-1969 | Principal source for political developments, trials, deaths in detention, guerrilla activity and exile movements. |
| Court proceedings and inquest reports (Pietermaritzburg, Victoria West, Graaff Reinet, Bakwena, Bakubung trials; Lencoe, Kgoathe inquests), via press | newspapers periodicals | 1968-1969 | Account of political trials and deaths in detention compiled from press reports of proceedings. |
| Rhodesian Minister of Defence and Justice statements on guerrillas and death sentences | commission or official report | 1965-1968 | Provides figures on guerrillas killed and Africans sentenced to death. |
| UN General Assembly votes and resolutions; Universal Postal Union congress votes (via press) | international trade or finance data | 1968-1969 | Vote tallies on resolutions on South Africa reported through newspapers. |
| South African Reserve Bank annual economic report, September 1969 | official statistical series | 1968-1969 | Source for economic revival, labour shortage and consumer price movements. |
| Department of Statistics consumer price index, nine principal urban areas (base October 1958) | official statistical series | June-August 1969 | Reports index changes and the effect of the sales duty. |
Inference¶
Quantification: Descriptive tables.
Annual descriptive compilation: chronological narrative synthesised from Hansard, statutes, official statistics and press reports, with a few tables of official figures. There is no analytical identification or causal inference.
Key claims¶
| Claim | Basis | Strength |
|---|---|---|
| Coloured Persons' Representative Council elections saw a 48.7% poll, with large urban boycotts, and the Labour Party won a clear majority of elected seats. (p. 7) | Election result tables and the Minister's registration figures from Hansard and press. | Systematic data |
| The Government packed the Council with defeated Federal Party members as nominees, undermining the elected result. (p. 7) | Government announcement of nominations and constituency vote counts reported in press. | Partial data |
| Defence expenditure rose rapidly from R40 million in 1959 to R271.6 million in 1969-70, or 2.5 per cent of national product. (p. 8) | Budget Estimates R.P. 2/69 and the Minister of Defence in Assembly. | Systematic data |
| The 1969 General Law Amendment Act and the creation of the Bureau for State Security extended secrecy and limited courts' and the press's ability to scrutinise security matters. (p. 35) | Statutory text of the Acts and parliamentary debates, plus reported criticism from legal and press bodies. | Partial data |
| Security-law detentions and convictions affected many Africans, with the numbers detained under the Terrorism Act withheld, and several detainees died in custody. (p. 12) | Ministerial answers in Assembly and press and inquest reports. | Partial data |
| The economy revived in 1968-69 with acute labour shortages and moderate consumer price inflation. (p. 21) | Reserve Bank report and Department of Statistics consumer price index. | Systematic data |
| Port Elizabeth Coloured people felt growing bitterness toward whites and hopelessness under apartheid. (p. 8) | Church-run survey of just under 200 respondents reported in the Star. | Illustrative or anecdotal |
The author's caveats¶
Notes that the final number of Coloured voter registrations was not stated, that the numbers detained under the Terrorism Act were withheld by the Minister, and that it is not publicly known how many mid-1969 detainees remain in custody. Also notes the Port Elizabeth survey covered only about 200 people.
Gaps in the evidence¶
The excerpted portions rely largely on press reports and ministerial replies, and lack independent verification of detentions, deaths and interrogation methods. Full police and prison records and detainee testimony, partly accessible later through the TRC and archives, would test the claims better. The economic section would need the underlying statistical releases and labour data rather than summaries of them.
Replicability: Data described but not public.