Capitalism and apartheid: The deadly connection

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Anti-apartheid youth say more than anger needed to build new society SOCIALIST ACTION DECEMBER 1985 13 When liberals attempt to analyze South African apartheid, their diagnosis inevitably revolves around morality. The crux of the problem, they say, is that the white South African oppressors exhibit a deficiency in moral fortitude.

Their remedy is simple: Expose these poor deprived sinners to a progressive climate of ideas, and repentance will be forthcoming. In the meantime the rest of the world is counseled to exercise patience.

There is no mention of capitalism in this profound analysis-except to bestow on it the highest praise. See how much the Black worker has benefited, they say. After all, don't many Black workers migrate to South Africa from adjoining countries in order to reap the benefits of advanced capitalism?

The development of apartheid in South Africa, however, cannot be understood in isolation from the development of capi -talism.

Capitalism, in its early mercantile form, was responsible for the first white settle -ment in what is now South Africa. In 1652 a Dutch settlement was established at the Cape by the East India Company to supply Dutch trading ships returning from the East.

The present Afrikaner segment of the population is largely descended from these settlers. Their language, Afrikaans, is de -rived from Dutch. In search of richer grazing and farm lands, they gradually migrated into the heartland of the country, murdering or enslaving the indigenous pop -ulation as suited their convenience.

But Britain too was concerned with protecting its trade with the East and in 1795 seized the Cape from the Dutch and established a second white ethnic com -munity. True love has not always inspired the relations between these two groups. For example, the British, as an advanced capi -talist country, found it advantageous to abolish slavery and did so in 1834—much to the consternation of the Dutch farmers.

Growth of industrial capitalism The discovery of diamonds (1867) and gold (1886) paved the way for a thorough transformation of the South African econo -my from a pastoral society to an advanced capitalist outpost.

In the first place, the mining industry initiated the exploitation of the Black work -er through the institution of wage labor, which is the basic worker-owner relation of capitalism. The emergence of large num -bers of workers with money to buy food, in turn, nudged the farming industry into the capitalist network by offering a motive to produce a surplus to sell to this new work -ing class.

Consequently large-scale capitalist agri -culture evolved between 1870 and 1920. Finally, industrialization swept the country between 1910 and 1940, thanks largely to the profits supplied by the mines.

The pace of industrialization increased after the Second World War, spurred by huge investments by foreign and multinational corporations. More Black workers were brought into the heart of the white South African economy.

Today Black workers account for over 70 percent of the workforce and they are solidly entrenched in the most important industries. In mining, for example, where approximately 600,000 are employed, 90 percent are Black. In construction 80 per -cent, in auto 71 percent, and in metal manufacturing 75 percent are Black.

"Integration" into the workforce "Apartheid" is an Afrikaans word that means "separation" and is the rallying point of the white minority government. But this unremitting cry for apartheid is simply a hypocritical, two-faced lie, for no member of the government nor any white business -man wants unqualified apartheid.

During the hours of 9 to 5 these people are, in fact, the staunchest supporters of integration—i.e. integration of Black work -ers into the economy as a means of securing one of the highest profit rates in the world. They even welcome the Black worker into the intimacy of their homes-not, of course, as honored guests-but as domestic servants. Genuine "separation" is pursued only after work hours.

The South African capitalist class has historically nurtured and fueled the development of apartheid because of the abundant profits it has reaped.

In 1913, for example, the Natives Land Act was passed, which prohibited most Black people from owning land outside a rigidly prescribed area comprising 7.3 percent of the total land in the country. Although the area was extended to 13 percent in 1936, exceptions were eliminated and the number of Black renters on white farm land was reduced.

The following are excerpts from the editorial of the latest issue of Arise Yukani, the newspaper of Action Youth, the youth organization of the National Forum Committee.

The National Forum Committee is a mass coalition that was formed in 1983. It includes a number of important mass organizations in South Africa, such as the Azanian People's Organization (AZAPO), the Council of Unions of South Africa (CUSA), and the Cape Action League.

The stepped-up repression resulting from the state of emergency has not dampened the combative spirit of the townships.

The capitalists in South Africa and abroad are very uneasy about the situation in South Africa. They know that the 1985 revolts have radicalized the progressive forces of our nation. They know that a radical and united liberation movement threatens their profits.

The imperialists would like to defuse the situation as quickly as possible. They want a return to "order" and "normalcy," which for us means more oppression, exploit -ation, poverty, ignorance, and famine.

On the one hand, Reagan, Thatcher, and Kohl support the methods of Botha and Gatsha Butelazi [leader of Inkatha, the conservative Zulu organization], which are camouflaged behind pleas of reforms.

On the other hand, the liberals like [Edward] Kennedy, support the liberals inside and outside the parliament, both The law was tightened in 1954 and 1964, imposing an increased restriction on the number of Black renters. One million of them were removed from white rural land between 1963 and 1973.

Capitalists approve pass laws Pass laws, which were a means of allocating the appropriate proportion of Black labor to industry and agriculture, were introduced as early as 1760. The laws have been gradually strengthened through the years. In 1952 they became applicable nationally and for the first time included all Black women as well as men.

In general no Black person may remain in a white area more than 72 hours unless granted special permission-which is given only if he or she is needed to perform a job.

This law was further tightened in 1968: If he has a job, a worker can leave what the white minority government calls euphe -mistically a "homeland" or "Bantustan," Black and white, whom they see as the saviours of the nation.

But even though their strategies may differ, their goals are the same. All of them speak about dialogue, negotiations, con -structive engagement, national convention, etc., in order to save capitalism. For our He must spend most of the year living in a barracks within commuting distance of the work place, seldom visiting his family.

The "homelands" are territories within the country, totaling only 13 percent of the land, that have been reserved for Blacks-over 80 percent of the entire population. Under the government's stra -tegy, all Black people, even though they were born and lived in a township adjacent to a white city, would be assigned citi -zenship to a "homeland" organized on tribal and ethnic grounds.

The white government has offered "inde -pendence" to all of these "homelands" so that, as one government minister joyfully exclaimed in 1978, "There will not be one Black man with South African citizenship."

President P.W. Botha has recently floated the idea of a kind of "dual citizenship" in South Africa, in which Blacks would still be refused the right to vote. Meanwhile, the Black workers would continue to carry the South African economy on their backs, as they are employed increasingly in the key sectors of the economy.

Blacks consigned to poverty Apartheid laws have produced unmi -tigated destitution for the vast majority of the Black population. Forty-six percent live in the "homelands" today where, because of overpopulation, soil erosion has made sub -sistence virtually impossible for most of the inhabitants.

In the Transkei, for example, 83 percent of the men leave the "homeland" for work within the white-owned economy. The death rate among young children is hor -rifying-over 20 times that of white children.

About 29 percent of the Black population lives in townships, i.e. segregated com -munities adjacent to white metropolitan centers or other work areas. The township of Soweto, which has a population of 1.25 million, suffers a severe housing shortage. Only one-fifth of the houses have elec -tricity, 85 percent lack bathrooms, and two-thirds lack running water..

Moreover, over 30 percent of the children under 12 are undernourished. These sta -tistics are not surprising when coupled with the fact that 80 percent of the African workers in South African and Britishcontrolled firms are paid below the poverty line.

This is the first part of a two-part series on capitalism and apartheid in South Africa.

part, we continue to reject all negotiations and national conventions.

We believe that more than anger and spontaneous mobilizations will be nec -essary to pave the way for a new society. What is needed is for the rank-and-file organizations to come together, democra -tically elect a common leadership, and put forward a clear program in opposition both to apartheid and capitalism.

Forward toward the Workers Republic of Azania!