the 1985 schools boycott and - DISA

BEYOND THE
BARRICADES:
,THE 1985 SCHOOLS BOYCOTT AND
THE VICISSITUDES OF THE
ATHLONE STUDENTS ACTION
COMMITTEE (ASAC).
Mukesh Vassen
A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree orBA Honours in History
February 1995
Department ofHistory
University ofCape Town
......... _ .. """"............ _ ............. p'"

Dedicated to Che Vassen .
DEDICATION
WE MU ST PRESERVE THE BEST OF WH AT WE HAVE F OR OUR
CH I LD REN - THEY ARE THE FLOWERS OF OUR STRUGGLE.
(Ca b r a l )
I n t h e hope t hat all children wi l l one day reap t he rewards o f
a bitter. Ions and hard s t r u s s l e. but never for set how it came
to be so . For i t is t he multiplicity o f strus gles l i ke t hat o f
1985. that wi l l someday transform education f rom an e ducati o n
for domsstication into a pedagogy o f l i beration !

AECC
ANC
ASAC
AZAPO
AZASM
Be
BCM
BISCO
CAL
CCSAS
COSATU
CTCC
CTPA
DBAC
DEC
DET
D£TO
HoD
HoR
IRF
I SCC
JSRC
NECC
NEUH
ABBREVIATIONS
Athlone Education Cr isis Committ ee
African Nat i ona l ConQress
Athlone Students Acti on Commi t tee
Azanian Peopl e 's Or ganis ation
Azanian Student Movement
Black Consciousness
Black Consci ousnes s Mov ement
Bonteheuwel Inter-Schoole Co-or dinatinQ Commi t tee
Cape Action League
Congr e s s of South Afric an Student s
ConQr e s s o f South Afric an Tr ade Unions
Conc erned Teachers" Co-ordinating Committee
Cape Te achers ' Prof e s siona l As s ociat i on
Disorderly Bi l l s Ac t ion Commi t t e e
Department of Educat ion and Culture
Department of Education a nd Tra i n i ng
Democrat i c Te a che r s Union
House of Delegates
House of Repre s enta t ive s
I nter Regional Forum
I nter -Schoo l s Co-ordinating Committ e e
Joint Students Re pr e s entati ve Counc i l
National Eduoa t i on Crisis Commit t ee
Non-European Uni t y Moveme nt
,,,

NF
NUH
PAC
PTA
PTSA
SAGOS
SADF
SAP
SASH
SASC
SCYA
SPCC
SRC
TASA
TLSA
TSA
TYO
DDF
WECSAC
WECSCO
,",CTU
,",SCO
Na t i ona l Forum
New Un i t y Moveme nt
Par e n t s Ac t i o n Commit tee
Parent-Te acher Associat i on
Parent-Teacher-Studen t As sociation
South Af r ican Council o f Spor t
Sout h Afric a n De fence Forc e
South Af r i can Polic e
South Afr i c an Stude nts Movement
Sou t h Af r ican Students Or a anie8tlon
St udente o f Young Azania
Sowe to Pa rente Cri s t a Comm i t t e e
Stude nt Repre s e nt a t i v e Counci l
Teachers' As s oc i ati on of South Afr i ca
Te acher s ' LeaQUe of South Af r i c a
Thor nh i l l Residents As s oc i ati on
Thornhill Youth Oraan leation
Un ited Democr atic Fr o n t
We s ter n Cape Student Action Commi t t ee
We s t ern Cape Student s Cons r ess
We s t ern Ca pe Tea c h e r s Un i on
Weatern Cape St udents Counci l
i v

However . e e any activ illt knows , the mere e x s eeence o f hardships.
alone . d o not i n t hemselves c r ea t e revolts. Ins t e a d, t h ese
hardshipe hel p t o p r ov i de a base i n which a c t i v ism t a ke s r oot and
becomes mOr e conduci ve t o t he f orcee o f opposit ion _ This tenet i s
not mis lled by Gramsci , who h imself a r gued t h a t
"ec onomi c c rise" themsel ves ( d o not] produce
f undame ntal h i s t o r i cal e vents , they Can "imply c rea t e a
t erra in more f avour a ble to t he dis lleminstion o f cer tai n
mod e e o f t houll:ht .. _ The epec ific question o f e conomic
har dllhip o r we l l - b e i n ll: a e a c ause o f new hillto r ic
rea l i t i e s i e a pa r t iel allpect. ···
Howeve r . i f s uch obje c t i v e economi c f a ctore dotl'l!'" ferment i n
v i rulent oppo"it i o n . t he e t e t e cannot r ule int e r minably by
r e l yin ll: o n f o r ce a l one and t hus a t a c e r t a i n s t a ge t h e ruling
bloc ma y a llow ce r tain c oncellllion" o r COllme t i c r e f o r ms i n a n
attempt t o r e a " lIert i t s dominance o r hegemony ov e r c ivil eoc iet y .
However, i f t h i ll f a U e a nd o ppos i t i o n c ontinues, the s t a t e o f ten
e mba r ks on a t win policy wh i c h e mbod i e s both reform. but aleo
increaee d r epression . This i s precille ly wha t t r anspir e d i n South
Af r ica durina t he 19BO·s.
The long int e r national poe t - Wo r l d War Two boom wh i c h wall
begi n n i ng t o draw t o a o lose by t he early 19 70 ' 11 wa ll exac e r b a t e d
by the OPEC o i l crisi e o f 197 3 . u s he r i n g i n a peri od o f worl d­
....i de economic contr a cti o n . Aa t he Sou t h Af r i c an economy. wes
i n t e r mi r,..t;ly l i n ke d .!ond subordine ted t o wor l d mar ke tll, t h i e
cont r acti on wall one o f the f ac t orll which par tially r e sulted i n a
crillill o f cap i t a l a ccumulation a nd sta 8nati on by t he mid- 19 70' s_
Concomita ntl y, t he llpect acu lar eco nomic 8 r owt h rate t hat South
Afric a h ad e xperienced in the PDs t-Sharpeville e r a o f the 1960 ' s
had come to a grindinll: halt. Bundy poi nts out t hat be twe e n 19 62
and 1972 South Af rica-s gros ll dome llt i c p roduc t Il:r e w at ove r 6% a
yea r . Wi t h ....hite South Af r icans e n j o y i ng one o f t he h i gheet
leva l e o f c o ns ume r i s m a nd living s t andar de int e rnat i onal ly , ' I n
par t , t h i s was a r esult o f the pos t -Sha rpsvill e peri od, whe n
OPPDllition h ad bee n oblit e r a t e d or driven into exile a nd a n y f crm

unlike CAL. NUH r e mai ned hoetl1e t o the Be tradltlon and It
condelll!led AZAPO ae a r e ac t i ona r y t endenc y f or l te ··ov e r r i d l n l
e Plpha ll1e on blac k c ommuna l1 11m lnlltead o f c a e e e ae eue e . .••
,. .. -
11 .1 I •• ••

A PERXODXSATXON OF THE 1985
BOYCOTT XN THE ATHLONE AREA

BY WAY op C'X')NC!'C.IISIQN : TETJ. NO r.TES_
crATH NO BABY VI,:., mTBS
That the 1985 schools boycott in the Weste r n Cape wa s a
signif icant historic s xperience is undeniable. The scale,
dur ation and intensi ty of the boycott wa s unsurpassed i n the
region . Additiona l l y , the l es eons of pr e v i ous boycotts were
con sc i ous l y extr apol ated. However , given t he r ea l i t y of r e gion s '
low-comparative level of pol itical development and r e s i s tanc e
prior to 1985, the boycott experience was a lso mediated by
•
f act ors in the We s t ern Cape . The o r ganic c r i s ta that s o many h ave
alluded t o wa s certain l y r eal, but its e f f ects were pall i ate d by
t he regions' d i f ferent i ated de ve l opme nt s . I t would as s uch be
ludic rous t o suggest t h a t a reasonable compar i son c an be made
wi t h r eg i ons s uch a s t he Eastern Cape o r Transvaal . As s uc h , a
c auti ous approach must be adopted so as not t o adopt an
axaggerated and triumphalist interpretation of the boycott in the
Wes ter n Cape .
With regards t o the accusati on that the student leader ship, ( ASAC
i n particular ) had evinced a l e ve l of immediacy , I would argue
that such an accusation is lar gely unsubstanti ated . I t would seem
as i f cer tai n academics , wh i l e s ympat het ic to t he cause of
boycot t i ng s tude nts, have tri ed to mainta in t he i r i mpartia l i t y .
While this i s good and is i ndeed the cor r ec t a pproach, a number
of problems have als o a rieen . Many academics have t r ied s o h a r d
to demonstrate t he ir i mpartialityv that they have taken the
concept of ob j ect i v i t y t o the verge o f a lunat i c fri nge
explana t ion. Co nsequently, t he y have adopted e parti cul a r ly hareh
158

A: Orol Interylewe
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Int e r view 1: Dullah Omar . Chairpers on Thornhill Res i dent s
Assoc iation. 1965.
I nt e r y i ew 2 : Student l eader of t he SRC at Belgravia Hi gh.
Ipt e r view 3 : St udent leader o f SRC at Rylande High.
I nt er v:!e w 4 : StUdent l eade r of cor e group of etudente at St.
Columba e.
I nterview 5: St udent leader of SRC at Spaa Bona High.
T"' t.e rvlew 6: Student leader of SRC at Alexander Sinton High.
I nteryl ew 7 : Student leader of SRC at Oaklande: Hi gh.
Interview B:
Int e rylew 9:
SRC member at an Athlone School.
Teacher a t Groenvlei Hi gh and WECTU member .
Int e rvi ew 10 : Teacher at Rylande Hi gh . a nd member of Rylands
Hi gh PTSA.
Inte rvl ew 11: Parent f r om the At h l one a rea.
164

B : MJecel lnnCOllO priMrv Sou rce e
a) I n "At h l o ne
Cent r e Archivee.
Stud-ente' box
uwe
in P l.a 111 Cg l l ect ion . Heyibuye
i ) School and area r eports d r awn u p f or NECC Conference ( April
19 8 6 ) r e port i ng on conditions at At h l o ne schools since the
return to schoo le and how t h e SPCC r e solutione were impl emented .
ASAC Report
Al e x a nd e r Sinton Report
At hlone High School Re port
Be l gr avia High Repor t
Bridgetown Senior Secondary School Report Back
Garlandale High School
Groenvlei SRC.
Ne d Doman
Oa kland s High School Report
Spes Bona
St. Columbus .
i i) Handate s on Wr i t i ng Final Exams
iii) ASAC Wo r k s ho p Age nd a ( b e f o r e J u ne 1986 )
iv ) ASAC or AECC p r opos al againa t a Federation o f PTSA' e
v ) hand wr i t t e n r e port wh i oh be.ilins ·' ! SCC .....
Ideological problems . •. "
v i ) letter o f e up por t to Rylands Interim PTSA ( nd)
vii) Hinutee o f ASAC meeting
filled with
viii) Dr aft o f l ett er wh i c h begins " Dear Comrade We,
have for the pas t 3 months e x per i e n c e d serious p r oblems
principale a t our e c h oo l e"
165
ASAC
wi t h

Un i t e d Democratic Front - "St a t e o f Emergency" (Ca pe Town, 19 8 5 )
Unite d Democrat ic Front (Obser vator y 8< Claremont ) - Up Front No 2
(Cape Town October 1985 )
Un i t e d Democ ratic Front (Obse rva tor y
i 986 - Threehold o f a New Era" in
19 8 6 )
8< Cla remont) - " Education
Up Front {Cape Town , March
United Democratic Front - "Uee Your Spending Power To Put An End
To Thh - Suppor t Con eume r Boycott" ( Ca p e Town. 1985 )
Unit ed Democ r a t ic
1985)
Unit e d De moc r atic
( Ca p e Town ,
We s tern Cape Stude n t
Con t inues" ( Cape
Front - "Open
Front ( Bo-Kaap
August 1985 )
Ac t i on COlllllli tte e
Town, August 1985 )
We e t ern Cape Student Ac t ion COllllllittee
(Cape Town , Auguet 19 85 )
Western Csp e Student s - "St a teme n t
Educ"'tion" (C",pe Town , 198 5 )
p a per
Our SchooI e " (Cape Town , October
Area Commi t t e e ) - "Mae e Me eti ng"
by We s ter n Cape
origi nal printed
" Th e Schools Boycott
"St u de n t Mass Ral l y "
Students on
on oomputer
We s t ern Cape Students Cou ncil - "Par ent s . Students, Te a che r s
Sta ya wa y from Scho o l s Tu e s d ay" ( Cape Town, Sept embe r 1985 )
We stern Cap e Teachere Union - " Det e n t i one "'nd Po l i c e Brutal ity"
(Cape Town , 198 5 )
We s t ern Cape Teachers Un i on - " 2 000 Teachere Unite " ( Ca p e Town ,
No 1 , Nov e mber 1985 )
We e t ern Cape
Town , No
Teachers Union
2, Decembe r 19 85 )
" Education For Libe r ation" {Cape
We s t ern Cape Teacher s Union - " Pr omo t i o ne : Mo t i v e s Expoe e d "
( Cape Town , No 4 , March 1986)
We s t ern Cape Teache rs Union "Dr a f t Conetitution for the
West ern Cape Te achers · Union"
We s t ern Cap e Teache rs Union - "A Vic tory For Unity " (Cape Town ,
No 3 , January 1986)
We s t ern Ca p e Te a c hers Union Poo ·t Be A Scab (Cape Town , 1986 )
171