Prior to and since the declaration of a State of Emergency the boycott of schools has remained at a high level. Special emergency regulations have had little effect. Student leaders have been detained and the major organisation behind the boycotts, the Congress of South African Students (COSAS), has been banned. Thousands of pupils have been arrested for refusing to attend classes and in several areas schools have been closed, including all Coloured schools in the Western Cape.
The boycotts that have been taking place this year, especially since the declaration of a State of Emergency, have been qualitatively different from earlier boycotts. In 1976 and 1980 the boycotts were aimed at improving the material conditions in schools; the current boycotts are merged with the general tide of resistance against apartheid being manifested in black townships.
When the present wave of boycotts began at the end of 1983 most of the issues raised were specific to the situation in the schools where they occurred or else connected with other general educational issues. In 1984 broader community issues began to be raised. These began to take on particular prominence after the current uprisings began in September 1984. Educational issues, however, continue to be articulated but in the context of a conviction that limited demands will not be achieved without more fundamental changes.
Pupils continue to demand full recognition of democratically elected Student Representative Councils, the abolition of age limit restrictions, improved school facilities, the end of the quota system, more qualified teachers, the ending of sexual harassment and the abolition of corporal punishment. Other demands have been the release of detained pupils; free, compulsory and equal education; the complete withdrawal of state forces from the townships and the lifting of the State of Emergency.
When African schools closed for the mid-year holidays on 14 June more than 80,000 pupils were out of classes with many schools in the Eastern Cape and East Rand reporting nil attendance. The schools re-opened on 8 July but more than 60,000 pupils did not return in the Eastern Cape alone. The boycott also spread to Soweto.
By the end of July the boycott had spread to the townships of Cape Town and Pretoria. In mid-August it was announced that all secondary schools in the Border region (Eastern Cape) were deserted.
The boycott spread to the Ciskei bantustan in August and continued through September. The demands of pupils were similar to those elsewhere: the introduction of freely elected SRCs, solidarity with detainees, and other demands related to the general political situation.
In August regulations were issued forbidding pupils in certain areas from being outside their classrooms during school hours. The first area where this ruling applied was Graaff-Reinet but later in many of the areas where the emergency regulations were in force. In the Transkei bantustan the movement of students is strictly controlled by emergency regulations that have been in effect in the area since 1980.
In some areas army and police units attempted to break school boycotts by patrolling the streets with loudhailers to warn pupils to be off the streets and attend classes. In Grahamstown and Graaff-Reinet the police and army obtained lists of absentees from principals and then drove to their homes to collect the boycotters and ferry them to school in army and police vehicles.
Police and troops have carried out a number of raids on schools, either to force pupils to attend classes or to force them out when the schools have been closed. In the Transvaal and Cape, meetings held on school premises have been broken up by smashing through gates and fences to gain access. Soldiers have whipped pupils who have been outside their classrooms. Pupils have been fired at with rubber bullets and teargas to drive them from buildings and grounds. Hundreds have been arrested in mass round-ups, usually to break boycotts or stop meetings declared illegal.
Another step taken by the regime to break boycotts has been the closing down of affected schools to prevent them being used for meetings.
Classes at all 10 secondary schools in Mamelodi, Pretoria, were suspended on 3 September leaving 12,000 pupils out of class. The action was said to have been taken because pupils at the affected schools had ignored a call to return to classes.
Following the uprisings in the Western Cape at the end of August the Coloured Minister of Education and Culture closed a total of 464 Coloured schools and colleges in the Western Cape from 7 September, affecting almost 500,000 pupils and students. This unprecedented measure followed a six-week long boycott by many schools and colleges in the area in protest against the State of Emergency. The minister said that the authorities could 'unfortunately no longer ensure the physical safety of the pupils and students'. He said that it was becoming obvious that certain schools were no longer serving an educational function.
The closure was condemned by parent, student, teacher, church, civic and sporting organisations, all of which demanded that the schools be reopened immediately. The organisations declared that they did not recognise the right of the Coloured Minister to close the schools and criticised him for failing to make any statement condemning the invasion of school properties by police and soldiers, and the whipping, detention and shooting of pupils. They replied to the Minister that the only threat to the safety of pupils was from the forces of the state.
On 17 September teachers, parents and pupils decided to defy the closure by 're-opening' the schools themselves. Principals were asked to be present to open the schools. Thousands of pupils barricaded the streets and marched on their schools. Police and soldiers took up positions outside many schools and patrolled township streets. At one school police were besieged by a crowd of pupils, teachers and parents and had to be freed by reinforcements who fired rubber bullets and teargas. Hundreds of pupils and teachers were arrested.
In an attempt to contain the growing boycott of schools the regime banned COSAS on 28 August. Within a few days of the banning a leading Azanian Students Organisation official said that pupils were grouping themselves to form a new organisation.
The banning of COSAS had long been expected because of the level of state repression against the organisation. According to the DPSC more than 510 COSAS members had been detained during the State of Emergency by the end of August. Members of COSAS have had to face harassment and detention ever since the organisation was formed in 1979. The detentions, however, failed to stem the boycotts and the banning was seen both as the final attempt to stop its activities and an admission by the regime that its previous actions had failed.
The banning has drawn wide condemnation but many expect that the action will have little effect because pupil demands have not been met. The last administrative secretary, Jabu Khumalo, said that 'the banning was only the official announcement. It was effectively banned some months ago'. The Divisional Commissioner of Police in Soweto said that despite the banning COSAS remained active and was responsible for the intensification of the boycott following its banning. He also admitted that the emergency regulations were not working and that the situation in the schools had not improved.
Protests and boycotts have also continued at universities and colleges around the country, especially since the declaration of the State of Emergency. Meetings held to discuss the boycotts and emergency have regularly been broken up by the police.
Boycotts and protests have also taken place at bantustan universities. About 2,000 students of the University of Bophuthatswana boycotted classes on 30 August in protest against a visit to Mmabatho by President P.W. Botha. The students demanded that the President speak to the real leaders of South Africa and declared their rejection of the 'independence' of the bantustan.
Hostels at the University of Venda were closed indefinitely at the end of July and at the University of Transkei on 21 August. The action in Venda was taken after protests by students about a lecturer and certain facilities on the campus and in the Transkei because students failed to heed an ultimatum to end a boycott.
White universities too have been actively involved in protest actions against police repression, the State of Emergency and the closure of schools.
Students at Rhodes University and the University of the Witwatersrand were baton-charged by police after protesting against the State of Emergency and the banning of COSAS. On both occasions the police alleged that they had charged because stones had been thrown at them. This was denied by students. Many students were injured and a number arrested. At the University of the Witwatersrand students boycotted lectures for a week after the incident.
On 28 August, 3,500 students from the University of Cape Town attempted to march from the university to the State President's residence. The marchers dispersed after being confronted by the police, but only after they had read out a statement in support of Nelson Mandela. Later in the day 1,000 demonstrating students were dispersed by police baton-charges. The police were stoned by the students in retaliation.
