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54-623: The founding members of the South African Students' Organisation (SASO) were black students from the University of Fort Hare , the University of Zululand , the University of the North at Turfloop , the so-called Black Section of the University of Natal (UNB), various theological seminaries and teacher training colleges , and other institutions of higher education in South Africa , which at

108-540: A sit-in by students at Turfloop in May 1972, after Turfloop expelled SASO activist Onkgopotse Tiro for having addressed the annual graduation ceremony with a fiery renunciation of apartheid and Bantu Education. Black students nationwide were galvanised by the heavy-handed response of the university and police, which effectively blockaded and then expelled the occupying students. A SASO regional formation school being held in Alice , near

162-514: A "living laboratory" of four schools at Dwesa on the Wild Coast , which have introduced computer labs and internet access to areas that until 2005 did not even have electricity. The projects at Dwesa focus research on Information and Communication for Development (ICD). Incorporation of Rhodes University's former campus in East London in 2004 gave the university an urban base and a coastal base for

216-564: A few white students. From 1953 the school became part of the Bantu education system, and with the passage of the Promotion of Bantu Self Government Act in 1959, it was nationalized and segregated along racial and tribal lines, and teaching in African languages rather than English was encouraged. Fort Hare became a black university in its own right in 1970, strictly controlled by the state government. It

270-715: A meeting with the NUSAS executive in March 1971, the SASO executive made clear that it was "not expedient" for it to cooperate with organisations led by or including whites – though the organisations did agree to remain in contact to exchange information as required. However, as Badat argues, SASO was not "anti-white": it broadly endorsed a vision of a future South Africa as a non-racial society, and some SASO activists maintained personal relationships with white activists, as did Biko with NUSAS's Rick Turner . At least for its first half-decade, SASO – like

324-416: A positive identification for those formerly known as "non-white", and therefore included Indians and Coloureds as well as so-called black Africans. This exclusivity was viewed as allowing blacks "to forge solidarity and unity and formulate their political beliefs and goals", and therefore was to enable both black self-reflection and black self-reliance in leading political change. A popular motto of both

378-692: A similar breakaway from the UCM conference in July of the same year, held in Stutterheim . There, the memo recalls, "a group of about 40 blacks ... resolved themselves into a black caucus and debated the possibility of forming a black students organisation". The meeting was attended and spearheaded by Steve Biko and Barney Pityana , who, in that order, were later to become SASO's first two presidents. After another consultative meeting organised by UNB students in December 1968, SASO

432-408: Is a public university in Alice , Eastern Cape , South Africa . It was a key institution of higher education for Africans from 1916 to 1959 when it offered a Western-style academic education to students from across sub-Saharan Africa , creating an African elite. Fort Hare alumni were part of many subsequent independence movements and governments of newly independent African countries. In 1959,

486-530: The ANC Youth League advocated for closer cooperation with SASO precisely because they believed that the ANC was wrongly foregrounding class (and the socialist revolution) over race (the so-called national revolution). By July 1976, however, the SASO president himself, Diliza Mji, had begun to link apartheid to capitalist exploitation , imperialism , and class interests, reflecting a growing ideological debate within

540-584: The Black People's Convention (BPC), an umbrella political body; and the Black Allied Workers' Union , whose formation was partly the result of a resolution of the SASO conference in 1972. SASO believes: Reflecting the terms of the founders' dissatisfaction with NUSAS and UCM, membership of SASO was restricted to blacks only – although "black", in the Black Consciousness movement, was used as

594-464: The South African Police , and were followed by a government crackdown on Black Consciousness leaders and organisations: the same evening, SASO's Durban offices were raided , as were the homes of several leaders, including Biko. Many leaders were arrested "as part of a general round up" of Black Consciousness activists. In the aftermath of the arrests which followed the 1974 pro-Frelimo rallies,

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648-850: The Tyhume River . It is in the Eastern Cape Province about 50 km west of King William's Town , in a region that for a while was known as the "independent" state of Ciskei . In 2011, the Alice campus had some 6400 students. A second campus at the Eastern Cape provincial capital of Bhisho was built in 1990 and hosts a few hundred students, while the campus in East London, acquired through incorporation in 2004, has some 4300 students. The university has five faculties (Education, Law, Management & Commerce, Science & Agriculture, Social Sciences & Humanities) all of which offer qualifications up to

702-475: The ANC's Umkhonto weSizwe , while, inside South Africa, Congress-aligned organisations began increasingly to dominate community organising (the so-called civics), the trade union movement, and, through the Congress of South African Students , the students' movement. National leaders of SASO included: University of Fort Hare The University of Fort Hare ( Afrikaans : Universiteit van Fort Hare )

756-572: The BPC and SASO, were banned by the apartheid government. As many as 70 Black Consciousness leaders were arrested on the same day. Among them were Kenny Rachidi and Drake Tshenkeng, the BPC's president and vice president respectively. Biko himself had died in custody a month earlier. In the years after Black Wednesday, many BPC and Black Consciousness activists became active in the Azanian People's Organisation (Azapo) and its subsidiary organisations. Azapo

810-552: The BPC and the Black Community Programmes. Viewing Black Consciousness as "an attitude of mind, a way of life" more than as a tool for political activism, SASO was initially ambivalent about the use of public protests and demonstrations. It associated such demonstrations with NUSAS's liberal activism and – according to a motion adopted by the General Student Conference in 1970 – viewed them as "aimed at

864-517: The BPC, was discussed at a series of conferences in 1971. The BPC was launched in July 1972 in Pietermaritzburg . At its first national congress in December 1972, held in Hammanskraal , Winnie Kgware was elected its first president. The BPC subscribed to a Black Consciousness philosophy, as articulated by Steve Biko . Biko was closely associated with the BPC, although his political activity

918-596: The Black Consciousness Movement of Azania (BCMA), established in London as Azapo's external wing before BCMA and Azapo formally merged in 1994. In the 1980s and early 1990s, however, the popularity of Congress -aligned organisations increased and Black Consciousness organisations (though not necessarily Black Consciousness ideologies) declined in influence. When Azapo was itself banned in 1988, many more Black Consciousness-aligned youths left South Africa and joined

972-497: The Black Consciousness mantle was passed to a new generation of groups, including the Azanian People's Organisation (Azapo). Many of the SASO trialists went on to hold office in Azapo – Cooper and Nefholovhodwe both served as Azapo president, as did SASO activist Mosibudi Mangena . However, other former members of SASO joined Congress -aligned organisations: revived militancy and state repression drove many students into exile to train with

1026-511: The Black Consciousness movement. The increased preoccupation of some SASO members with socialism was the result of increased exposure to the South African workers' movement , to the ANC (through the ANC underground, Radio Freedom , and other propaganda), and to socialist-leaning liberation movements in Portugal and Mozambique. SASO's constitution identified as one of the organisation's aims

1080-617: The South African government in January 1975 charged the so-called SASO Nine with violations of the Terrorism Act . Following a high-profile trial, all were found guilty of "encouraging and furthering feelings of hostility between the Black and White inhabitants of the Republic" and were sentenced to imprisonment, leaving SASO – and the BPC – effectively "leaderless". Biko's political activity at that point

1134-532: The University of Fort Hare, held an emergency meeting and drafted the so-called Alice Declaration, which called upon "all Black students [to] force the Institutions/Universities to close down by boycotting lectures". According to historian Julian Brown, the 1972 protests marked a break with SASO's earlier policy and inaugurated a newfound "embrace of public and confrontational forms of protest". Perhaps

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1188-685: The apartheid regime who attended included Nelson Mandela , Govan Mbeki and Oliver Tambo of the African National Congress , Mangosuthu Buthelezi of the Inkatha Freedom Party , Robert Sobukwe of the Pan Africanist Congress , and Desmond Tutu . Mandela, who studied Latin and physics there for almost two years in the 1940s, left the institution as a result of a conflict with a college leader. He later wrote in his autobiography: "For young black South Africans like myself, it

1242-524: The apartheid system. It also advocated for an equitable economic system based on socialism and what it called "black communalism". As described in the BPC's "Mafikeng Manifesto", co-written by Biko and debated at a symposium in Mafikeng in 1976, black communalism was a variant of the traditional African economic system, modified for a modern and industrialised economy. It entailed communal ownership, and state custodianship, of all land. On 25 September 1974,

1296-498: The black students in question also disagreed politically with white liberals in the organisation, who at the time outnumbered those advocating for a more radical stance on apartheid. At the 1968 NUSAS conference in Grahamstown , black students broke off to discuss separately the problems facing black students and the best means by which to address them. However, according to a SASO memorandum, SASO definitively began to take shape at

1350-481: The consideration and debate of topical issues. SASO also organised educational and political activities at black high schools. At its first national formation school in December 1969, SASO agreed to a proposal, lodged by Biko, that "fieldwork" or "work among the people" should be one of SASO's "primary occupations". The 1970 SASO General Student's Council established a dedicated central committee on community development , and in 1971 its approach to such initiatives

1404-491: The day of an illegal pro- FRELIMO rally in Durban organised by the BPC and SASO, leaders in the BPC and other Black Consciousness organisations were arrested across the country. In the aftermath, nine BPC and SASO leaders were tried under the Terrorism Act . A second, more serious wave of government repression followed the 1976 Soweto Uprising . On 19 October 1977, sometimes known as "Black Wednesday", 18 organisations, including

1458-524: The doctoral level. Following a period of decline in the 1990s, Derrick Swarts was appointed vice-chancellor with the task of re-establishing the university on a sound footing. The programme launched by Swarts was the UFH Strategic Plan 2000. The plan was meant to address the university's financial situation and academic quality standards simultaneously. The focus of the university was narrowed and consequently five faculties remained: Further narrowing

1512-536: The early 1970s and increasingly became a major alternative source of ideological and organisational support for resistance to the system of apartheid . With the influence of the South African Students' Organisation (SASO) growing, Black Consciousness leaders called for the formation of a new Black Consciousness political organisation to engage and mobilise broader civil society , outside the universities. The shape of this national umbrella body, which became

1566-537: The first time. Subsequent growth and development on this campus have been rapid. Initial developments of the new multi-campus university were guided by a three-year plan; currently the university is following the new "Strategic Plan 2009-2016", set to take the institution to its centennial year. Patenting nerve regeneration compound "18-MĆ" extracted from the root of the Alepidea amatymbica plant Black People%27s Convention The Black People's Convention ( BPC )

1620-543: The focus, 14 institutes were founded to deal with specific issues, such as the UNESCO Oliver Tambo Chair of Human Rights. Through their location the institutes have access to poor rural areas, and consequently emphasis is placed on the role of research in improving quality of life and economic growth (and especially sustainable job creation). Among the outreach programmes, the Telkom Centre of Excellence maintains

1674-563: The imperative to "project at all times the Black Consciousness image culturally, socially and educationally". One of the major platforms for this function – and for the development of Black Consciousness philosophy and doctrine – was SASO's official media organ, the SASO Newsletter. The newsletter was first published in August 1970, with an editorial note outlining its dual informative and educative aims, and ran until 1976. The best known feature in

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1728-560: The most prominent outcome of this change in policy was the rallies which SASO and the BPC co-organised in September 1974 in Durban and at Turfloop. The rallies aimed to demonstrate public support for the Mozambican liberation movement Frelimo , in the wake of the news that Portugal would grant Mozambique its independence the following year. They garnered extensive public attention, were broken up by

1782-476: The movement with its ideological, political, and organisational leadership. Accordingly, SASO actively encouraged the formation of other Black Consciousness groups to represent segments of civil society beyond university students, and it cooperated closely with those groups in line with its ideals of black cohesion and solidarity . Allied groups included the South African Students Movement ;

1836-497: The newsletter was a regular series by Biko, under the nom de plume Frank Talk, entitled " I Write What I Like ". Given SASO's position as a students' organisation, it paid particular attention to disrupting the "physical and intellectual isolation" and "indoctrination and intimidation" which Bantu Education imposed on black students. To this end, SASO organised "formation schools" on university campuses, aiming to provide forums in which students could apply Black Consciousness ideals to

1890-487: The organisation and the movement was coined by Pityana: "Black man you are on your own". The same strategy implied a general policy against cooperation with white or multiracial organisations and with white activists. By 1970, the SASO executive had formally withdrawn its recognition of NUSAS as the pre-eminent national students' union, arguing that "in the principles and make-up of NUSAS, the black students can never find expression for aspirations foremost in their minds". At

1944-466: The rest of the Black Consciousness movement – firmly eschewed class analysis in favour of a view of race as the central political divide. In this, as well as in its opposition to multiracialism, SASO stood apart from the African National Congress (ANC), then operating in exile in Zambia. The ANC monitored SASO with interest from the outset, but favoured a Marxist analysis of apartheid. Indeed, portions of

1998-570: The ruins of the fort are still visible today, as well as graves of some of the British soldiers who died while on duty there. During the 1830s, the Lovedale Missionary Institute was built near Fort Hare. James Stewart, one of its missionary principals, suggested in 1878 that an institution for higher education of black students needed to be created. However, he did not live to see his idea put into operation when, in 1916, Fort Hare

2052-509: The time were segregated under the apartheid -era Bantu Education Act . However, SASO has its roots in two other student organisations, which had emerged as focal points for student-led resistance to apartheid during the heightened state repression of the 1960s. The first was the National Union of South African Students (NUSAS), the main nationwide progressive students' union, with a decades-long history of political activism. The second

2106-446: The university was subsumed by the apartheid system, but it is now part of South Africa's post-apartheid public higher education system. It is the alma mater of well-known people including Nelson Mandela , Desmond Tutu , Robert Sobukwe , Oliver Tambo , and others. Originally, Fort Hare was a British fort in the wars between British settlers and the Xhosa of the 19th century. Some of

2160-434: The white press and public" and as "deficient" because lacking "a strategic and continuous attempt to change the status quo". The same motion recommended that black students should participate only in protests "directed primarily at the Black population". In the winter of 1972, however, SASO was centrally involved in infamous student protests which shut down several black campuses across the country. The protests broke out with

2214-549: Was Oxford and Cambridge, Harvard and Yale, all rolled into one." After the end of apartheid, Oliver Tambo became chancellor of the university in 1991. In 2005, the University of Fort Hare was awarded the Order of the Baobab in Gold for "Exceptional contribution to Black academic training and leadership development on the African continent." The university's main campus is located in Alice near

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2268-543: Was a key institution in higher education for black Africans from 1916 to 1959. It offered a Western-style academic education to students from across sub-Saharan Africa , creating a black African elite. Fort Hare alumni were part of many subsequent independence movements and governments of newly independent African countries. Amongst those who studied at Fort Hare who later became leaders of their countries were Kenneth Kaunda , Seretse Khama , Yusuf Lule , Julius Nyerere , Robert Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo . Leading opponents of

2322-468: Was a national coordinating body for the Black Consciousness movement of South Africa. Envisaged as a broad-based counterpart to the South African Students' Organisation , the BPC was active in organising resistance to apartheid from its establishment in 1972 until it was banned in late 1977. The BPC was an outgrowth of the Black Consciousness movement in South Africa, which gained traction in

2376-451: Was established with Alexander Kerr as its first principal. D. D. T. Jabavu was its first black staff member who lectured in Latin and African languages . In accord with its Christian principles, fees were low and heavily subsidised. Several scholarships were also available for indigent students. Fort Hare had many associations over the years before it became a university in its own right. It

2430-652: Was founded in April 1978 in Roodepoort as an offshoot of the Soweto Action Council, which had been formed in Chiawelo, Soweto , shortly after the 1977 crackdown. Like the BPC, Azapo was closed to whites and strongly opposed participation in the apartheid system – it even inherited the BPC's slogan, "One Azania, one people" – but it was more rigidly Marxist than the BPC. BPC and Black Consciousness activists in exile joined

2484-563: Was initially called the South African Native College or Fort Hare Native College and attached to the University of South Africa . It then became the University College of Fort Hare and associated with Rhodes University . With the introduction of apartheid , higher educational institutions in South Africa were strictly segregated along racial lines; blacks had previously gone to classes with Indians, coloureds and

2538-498: Was located in Durban . According to its 1971 policy manifesto: SASO is a Black Student Organisation working for the liberation of the Black man first from the psychological oppression by themselves through inferiority complex and secondly from physical oppression accruing out of living in a White racist society. SASO's establishment coincided with the earliest stirrings of the Black Consciousness Movement , which

2592-517: Was officially launched in July 1969 at its inaugural conference, held at the Turfloop campus of the University of the North, where its constitution was ratified. In subsequent years, SASO evaded serious state repression, at least initially, and its membership grew on black campuses across South Africa, from a base of fourteen branches (four in seminaries, and the largest at Turfloop) in June 1970. Its main office

2646-423: Was perhaps the most important anti-apartheid force inside South Africa for much of the 1970s, and with which it was strongly aligned. The development of SASO is often viewed as coterminous with the development of the broader movement and its ideology. Indeed, according to sociologist Saleem Badat , the movement was "largely the achievement of SASO", which contributed its key ideas and intellectuals, and which provided

2700-596: Was seriously circumscribed following his banning in 1973. His brother-in-law, Mxolisi Mvovo, became national vice president of the BPC in 1976. The BPC collaborated with other Black Consciousness organisations, such as SASO, with whom its membership overlapped significantly. Membership was not open to whites. According to its constitution, the BPC's principal aim was to foster black political unity and solidarity, towards both psychological and material liberation for blacks in South Africa. The BPC opposed apartheid through non-violent means and through non-participation in

2754-441: Was severely circumscribed by the banning order against him. State repression, moreover, worsened after the 1976 Soweto Uprising , in which Black Consciousness movements played a leading role. In the crackdown that followed, the government, on 19 October 1977, banned SASO and various other Black Consciousness organisations, making the organisation and any association with it illegal. No clear successor organisation arose, although

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2808-477: Was systematised under the so-called Action Training model (by 1972 refined as the Community Action and Development model). Community outreach was an activity familiar to former UCM and NUSAS members, and within SASO was partly motivated by concern about black people who lived in poverty. But it was also uniquely aligned to the Black Consciousness ideal of black self-affirmation and self-reliance. In addition, it

2862-471: Was the University Christian Movement (UCM), an ecumenical students' association which, partly because of the growing influence of black theology , attracted a membership of politically inclined black Christians. Both NUSAS and the UCM were multiracial, but their membership and leadership were dominated by white students, a major point of concern for some black members. In the case of NUSAS,

2916-451: Was viewed as a means of educating, mobilising, and winning the trust of black communities. Specific projects pursued were wide-ranging but included "physical projects" (where students repaired schools or built houses during school holidays), as well as literacy campaigns, skills seminars, and volunteering at clinics. In later years, SASO outreach activities were coordinated with those of other Black Consciousness organisations, particularly

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