The wave of popular demonstrations and protests against apartheid which began in September 1984, continued through December and showed no sign of abating in the first month of 1985.
In December 1984 the prime targets of attack continued to be township administration buildings and the homes of township councillors and police officers.
On 25 December demonstrators set fire to local government offices and the home of a police officer in Boipatong in the Vaal Triangle. In Bophelong, in the same area, a group of youths called on students to continue the school boycott until all arrested students had been released and the local councillors had resigned. In Mamelodi, near Pretoria, two people were shot by police when a crowd gathered outside the home of the deputy 'mayor'. Further incidents were reported in Katlehong on the East Rand and Soweto. Over the New Year period several people were injured, at least two killed and many arrested by police in unrest in townships in the Eastern Cape, Vaal Triangle and the East Rand. Many state-owned buildings became the targets of arson attacks.
The boycott of schools continued in many areas until the official school holidays began in December 1984. During the holiday period there were conflicting calls by student organisations on whether or not to continue the boycott in 1985. But they all considered that their demands and the cause of the class boycotts had not been satisfactorily attended to by the authorities.
When the holidays ended in the second week of January pupils continued to stay away from classes in the Eastern Cape, while in the Vaal Triangle and the East Rand the return was only partial.
Within a week school attendance declined in the Vaal area. On 14 January virtually all schools in Sharpeville were empty. Students and parents in New Brighton, Port Elizabeth, said the boycott would continue in that area until 11 COSAS members detained in October were released.
The government continued in the new year to attempt to defuse the education struggle and isolate it from other struggles. A government report into the unrest in the Vaal triangle from 3 September 1984, alleged that the four months of 'rioting' were not caused by dissatisfaction with education. It blamed the boycott on outside influences and claimed that 'schools and pupils were being used for non-educational ulterior motives'. The report was rejected by the UDF and AZAPO as an attempt to create the impression that pupils and students had no legitimate grievances.
The government said that it planned in 1985 to introduce student representative councils and involve the community in education through school committees and parent-teacher associations.
