Development Studies Working Paper, no. 34

There is a tendency to term a major civil uprising a "revolution" only after it has succeeded to come close to success. While the final outcome of the present strife in South Africa remains uncertain, its dimensions amount to a revolution: in terms of breadth and depth of hostility, the determination to demonstrate the express that hostility, the period of sustained violence and disruption, the suffering involved and the acceptance of that suffering as essential to change, and the uncompromising and the increasingly fundamental objectives of the movement. The conflict has, of course, been there for centuries. The movement for change has been building up for most of this century. It has never been allowed to gain effective momentum. The present situation is different: it represents a broad, serious and sustained threat to the continuation of white rule. In accordance with the simple model set out above, the white rulers are pro-Western (President Botha has made much of this), capitalist (and of this too) and receive effective backing from domestic and international corporations, and from major Western Governments, such as the United Kingdom, the United States, West Germany and Japan. There are, however, certain specifics of the South African situation, and of its relationship with the United States, which must be kept in mind. For a start, the United States is not the ex-colonial power (as in the Philippines), nor is it the historical regional power (as in Latin America) nor the dominant proximate power (as in Nicaragua). Second, race is so important an element in this conflict, that notions of class exploitation and imperialism, as analytically valid as they may be, may have a more difficult time in taking hold of the minds of black South Africans. Third, and related to race, the United States experience with the civil rights movement may be seen by some blacks as having been successful, and therefore indicative of a political system worthy of respect. Fourth, the diplomatic activities of the United States under leaders like Kennedy and Carter may have left a residue of respect for United States intentions, and a readiness to distinguish Reagan's Constructive Engagement from an entity called "the United States Government", or from "the United States" as a whole. People may also distinguish between more or less progressive corporations, and between those companies and the United States Government. Further, for decades United States entertainment and mass media have strengthened bonds of music, humour, fashions and fun: there is a long-standing mass cultural connection between black South Africans and the United States which may influence evolving attitudes. There is no comparable connection with Eastern countries. Through strict censorship and control of education, black South Africans will have been denied the material on which to build a full understanding of the East. A number of leading blacks have trained or been on extended visits to Western countries. A number of them are religious leaders, such as Boesak and Tutu, who, while angry with the West, are not pro-communist in any form. The principal liberation organization, the African National Congress (ANC), emphasises a rather open-ended and undefined socialism, contains divergent ideological threads, and continues to court Western support. Furthermore, inside the country, radicalism may be more concerned with "black" radicalism than with "class" radicalism. It is also uncertain what lessons South African blacks have learned from the twenty-five years of domestic and foreign policy experience of independent Africa, nor how they assess the Mozambican, Angolan and Zimbabwean revolutionary and post-revolutionary programe, nor do we know how all of this effects the vision black South Africans hold of post-apartheid South Africa's future and of its place in the world. The purpose of the research was to begin to try to find answers to some of these questions, and in particular to investigate attitudes of black South African towards the United States of America; more particularly to observe if changes in attitude were taking place as the current prolonged period of crisis takes its course.Digitised by Rhodes University Library on behalf of the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER