Black Consciousness and Labour Resistance

Resistance develops beyond the older organisations

Apartheid enforced racial segregation and white minority rule in South Africa. By the mid-1960s, state repression had severely weakened both political opposition and black trade union organisation. The ANC and PAC had been banned, and many opposition leaders were imprisoned or in exile. Many activists in the South African Congress of Trade Unions, known as SACTU, also belonged to the ANC. When the government targeted political activists, union organisation suffered too; by 1965, SACTU’s activity had largely petered out.

This helps explain the importance of the resistance that developed from the late 1960s. New initiatives created opportunities to organise through black political leadership, women’s networks and the workplace, rather than depending entirely on the weakened older organisations.

Black Consciousness: changing how people saw themselves

Steve Biko, a medical student at the University of Natal, became a leading figure in the Black Consciousness Movement. Its central argument was that apartheid oppressed people psychologically as well as through laws and force. Constantly being treated as inferior could undermine people’s confidence in their own worth and ability to challenge the system.

Black Consciousness therefore encouraged psychological liberation: rejecting this imposed sense of inferiority and taking pride in black identity, culture and history. Biko argued that people needed to believe in their own dignity and power, rather than accept the role that white supremacy assigned to them. This was not a substitute for political change. It was intended to give people the confidence to organise and struggle for that change themselves.

These ideas drew on several influences, including Robert Sobukwe’s emphasis on African leadership, American Black Power and Black Theology. Black Theology challenged the idea that oppression or supposed black inferiority was ordained by God. These influences helped Biko and other activists connect personal dignity with resistance to racial domination.

For Biko, ‘black’ was a political identity, not simply a description of skin colour. It could include Africans and people classified by apartheid as Indian or ‘Coloured’ who identified with the struggle against oppression. Solidarity across these categories challenged the divisions that apartheid maintained. The movement sought pride and unity, not revenge against white people.

Why black students formed SASO

Black Consciousness stressed that black people should speak for themselves and lead their own liberation. Biko argued that even sympathetic white liberals could reproduce unequal relationships by deciding how black people should organise. Independent organisation would give black activists experience of making decisions and leading, rather than depending on white guidance.

This concern was especially important in student politics. The National Union of South African Students (NUSAS) opposed apartheid but was dominated by white students. Black students increasingly questioned its ability to confront racism within universities and society.

At a NUSAS conference hosted by Rhodes University in 1967, black and white students were not allowed to share accommodation or eating facilities. Biko attended the conference and saw this as evidence of the limits of integration within the existing system: students could discuss opposition to apartheid while still being subjected to segregation.

The University Christian Movement, established in 1967, also brought students together and exposed them to Black Theology. However, Biko and his associates objected to the prominence of white leaders in an organisation whose membership was largely black. During a meeting in 1968, black students resolved to create an independent black student organisation. A subsequent conference at Marianhill in Natal led to the formation of the South African Student Organisation (SASO).

SASO held its inaugural conference at the University of the North in July 1969, where Biko was elected its first president. Formation in 1968 and the inaugural conference in 1969 were therefore different stages in its development.

Not all black students supported the break with NUSAS. Some feared that dividing student organisations would weaken opposition and disregard the contribution of white liberals. SASO initially adopted a cautious approach, but increasingly asserted Black Consciousness and the right of black students to act independently. Black-led organisation was a means of building equality and confidence, not an acceptance of apartheid’s claim that racial separation was desirable.

From student ideas to community organisation

SASO helped turn Black Consciousness into an organised movement. It linked students across universities, encouraged pride in black culture and challenged the apartheid education system. Its 1971 declaration of student rights included the right to disagree with university instructors. Its 1972 Black Education Manifesto rejected racist education and questioned the idea that universities were politically neutral.

Its activities also reached beyond university campuses. School projects aimed to develop a new generation of youth leaders, while community projects spread ideas of self-reliance. The wider movement’s Black Community Programmes included medical clinics, adult literacy classes, support for entrepreneurs and classes discussing Black Consciousness. Mamphela Ramphele was an important participant in community development work.

These activities connected ideas with practical experience. Running a clinic or a literacy programme addressed an immediate need while demonstrating that black communities could organise, make decisions and help themselves. Self-reliance meant developing this capacity rather than waiting for others to provide leadership.

In July 1972, SASO leaders and representatives of other black organisations established the Black People’s Convention (BPC), with Winnie Kgware as president. It provided a wider organisational framework for adult participation, extending Black Consciousness beyond students.

Repression limited this development. Biko and other SASO leaders received banning orders in 1973, restricting their public activity. SASO itself was banned in October 1977. Nevertheless, its contribution was broader than the survival of a single organisation: it helped revive confidence, spread black-led political organisation and develop new activists.

Rebuilding worker organisation

Black Consciousness leaders also recognised the need to rebuild worker organisation. They appointed Drake Koka to drive plans to establish unions, although state repression disrupted these efforts. This shows that their ambitions extended beyond political discussion to practical organisation among workers.

Other initiatives developed alongside these efforts. In 1971, University of Natal lecturer Dave Hemson and students from NUSAS established the General Factory Workers Benefit Fund and began organising Durban workers. The university’s Wages Commission also investigated workers’ conditions. However, these activities must not be confused with having organised the strike wave that followed.

Why Durban workers stopped work in 1973

Low wages and rising living costs created powerful reasons for workers to act. When prices rose but wages stayed the same, real wages fell: the same pay bought less food and other necessities. Workers increasingly struggled to make ends meet.

On 9 January 1973, about 2,000 workers at Coronation Brick and Tile went on strike. They demanded an increase from R8.97 to R20 a week. Initially, workers resisted choosing representatives because they feared that identifiable leaders would be victimised. They later elected a committee and accepted a smaller increase, bringing the minimum wage to R11.50 a week.

The action spread across Durban’s workplaces. Textile workers joined during January, followed by municipal workers in February. When municipal employees stopped working, rubbish accumulated and essential services were disrupted. A strike could therefore exert pressure not only by interrupting one factory’s production, but also by affecting the wider city and its businesses.

The wave began through workers’ own action, rather than an established union directing it. Although government officials blamed agitators, neither Black Consciousness organisations nor the other groups accused were shown to have organised the strikes.

Immediate gains and a lasting union revival

Many employers responded with wage concessions, demonstrating that collective action could win improvements even after years of repression. Success was uneven, however. At some workplaces, workers faced dismissal, and increases did not necessarily meet their original demands.

The wider significance was a revival of trade union organisation. A spontaneous strike wave could achieve immediate gains, but unions offered a means of sustaining organisation and representing workers beyond a single dispute. The Trade Union Advisory Co-ordinating Committee formed later in 1973 and gained members following the strikes. The Metal and Allied Workers Union also launched in 1973, followed by chemical and transport workers’ unions in 1974.

The formation of FOSATU in 1979 and COSATU in 1985 marked the subsequent growth of much larger union federations. Labour resistance became an increasingly important part of the struggle against apartheid, although the Durban strikes themselves did not bring the system to an end.

Women build a united front

Women’s groups developed another route into organised resistance. In 1973, women in Natal formed a federation after Fatima Meer returned from the United States. Monthly meetings developed into an organisation providing resources to its member groups.

In 1975, Natal women made contact with women in the Transvaal. A delegation travelled to Soweto, where they agreed to establish a national federation. The Black Women’s Federation was formed in December 1975, with Fatima Meer as its first president.

Its programme covered education, housing, labour, rural development and detentions. These concerns connected everyday living conditions with political resistance. Women’s organisation was therefore not simply a supporting activity: it created its own networks and brought a broad range of grievances into a united campaign.

Its ability to operate was restricted by repression. Meer was banned in 1976, and a planned protest meeting against her banning was prohibited. The federation itself was banned on 19 May 1977. Its development demonstrated the potential of national coordination, while its suppression limited what it could achieve openly.

Black Consciousness and SASO

• Steve Biko: black pride and psychological liberation would build confidence for political resistance.
• Leadership: black people should organise and speak for themselves; ‘black’ included oppressed Africans, Indians and people classified as ‘Coloured’ who identified with the struggle.
• SASO formed in 1968: dissatisfaction with white-dominated NUSAS and the limits of integration. July 1969: inaugural conference; Biko elected first president.
• Development: challenged racist education, trained youth leaders and spread self-reliance through community work, including clinics and literacy programmes.
• July 1972: Black People’s Convention widened adult participation. Leadership bannings from 1973 restricted activity; SASO banned in October 1977.

Durban strikes, 1973

• Cause: low pay and rising living costs reduced real wages.
• 9 January: about 2,000 Coronation Brick and Tile workers struck; action spread to textile and municipal workers.
• Origins: workers initiated the wave themselves—not established unions or a proven outside organising body.
• Results: wage concessions, but also dismissals and incomplete gains.
• Significance: renewed union growth; MAWU formed in 1973, followed by further unions and later federations.

Women’s organisation

• 1973: a Natal federation developed through women’s meetings.
• December 1975: national Black Women’s Federation established; Fatima Meer became president.
• Aims: education, housing, labour, rural development and opposition to detentions.
• Limits: Meer banned in 1976; federation banned 19 May 1977.

Overall: resistance broadened through independent leadership, community networks and workplace action. Stronger organisation and immediate gains did not mean apartheid had been defeated.