This thesis examines the emergence and development of the
African working class in Durban between 1959 and 1985. It
begins with an analysis of Durban's economy, which
significantly changed .the lives of Africans. It shows how,
during an era of economic boom, of intensive state repres•ion
and unparalleled social engineering, the state intervened in
the shaping of the African community and created the
oppressive setting of the African working class, which was to
pose the greatest challenge to the established order.
The forced removals of the underclasses to the newly
established apartheid townships during the late 1950s and
early 1960s had a profound influence on the social and
political history of this working class. Once African trade
unions had been crippled and formal oppositional politics
crushed, South African industrial relations enjoyed relative
"peace" which was disturbed by the covert forms of worker
resistance.
In the 1970s the economic position of Durban's African
working class was rather tenuous, as earnings had remained
static since the 1960s despite the booming economy. Because of
this, urban workers felt social and economic pressures from
both apartheid and capitalism and responded in a way that
shocked both employers and the government.
In January 1973 Durban was rocked by strikes, which broke
the silence of the 1960s when the South African Congress of
Trade Unions declined and the African National Congress and
Pan-African Congress were banned. The outbreak of the 1973
Durban strikes marked a new beginning in the labour history
and industrial relations of Durban and South Africa in
general.
A new blend of African independent trade unions emerged
with their distinctive style of organisation. They focused on
factory-based issues which reaped benefits for the workers in
the long-run and managed to sustain pressure from both the
state and employers. During this period, however, the African
working class paid a high price, enduring miserable
conditions, earning wages below the poverty line, experiencing
a breakdown in family structure, and living with crime and
violence, police repression and the criminalisation of much
social and economic life. By 1985, these unions had
established themselves so firmly that the state regarded them
as a serious challenge. Indeed, the making of Durban's African
working class was no easy task and its history shows
suffering, change, mobility and accomplishment. / History / D. Litt. et Phil. (History)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/17656 |
| Date | 06 1900 |
| Creators | Sambureni, Nelson Tozivaripi |
| Contributors | Grundlingh, A. M., 1948-, Lambert, J. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | 1 online resource (vii, 392 leaves) , maps |
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