From quiescence to ‘people's power’: Township politics in Kagiso, 1985–1986

Abstract

Many of South Africa's townships erupted in revolt during the mid‐1980s. At least two forms of transition to revolt and confrontation can be identified. Different factors shaped the respective processes and outcomes of political mobilisation and protest. Existing case‐studies tend to focus on the first form: the initial transition to confrontation in each region, in which local factors were of primary importance. This article focuses on the second form: the ‘belated’ transition, in which mass protest occurred in one township some time after violent conflict had become endemic in the surrounding region. The case‐study of Kagiso township on the West Rand shows how supra‐local factors, in particular regional and national organisation, played an important role in these belated transitions. In Kagiso, as in many other townships, consumer boycotts served as the medium for national influence on local politics. But external factors only led to mass mobilisation in conjunction with other, local factors.