In 1948, the National Party won the South African elections and immediately adopted oppressive racist policies against the majority of black people4. Some of the racist policies adopted included the Group Areas Act (resulting in forced removals of black people from their residential areas to designed areas) and the Bantu Education Act (denying black people adequate educational opportunities), as well as many other discriminatory Acts (see, Alexander, 1885; Saul, 1986, on 1948 Apartheid policy and its impact on the lives of black
4 The term black in the chapter refers to Africans, Indians and Coloureds (commonly understood race
people). In response to these racist policies, black people formed political parties, most significantly the African National Congress (ANC) and the Pan African Congress (PAC), which were banned in the late 1960‘s under the Communist Suppression Act of 1950 (Alexander, 1985)Alexander, 1985; Ellis & Sechaba, 1992). This was in the aftermath of the Sharpville massacre, in which 60 people were killed by police. The Sharpville massacre occurred during the campaign against the ‗pass law‘, a law which forced every black person to carry a pass, indicating whether she or he was entitled to be in white-designed area (Ellis & Sechaba, 1992). Prior to the Sharpville massacre, in 1955, the ANC adopted the Freedom Charter as a guiding political document to achieve and build a democratic, non-racial and non- sexist society. Some of the clauses in the Freedom Charter included:
―The people shall govern,
All shall be equal before the law,
The doors of learning shall be opened to all, The people shall share the country‘s wealth, All shall enjoy human rights,
The land shall be shared amongst those who work on it‖ (Ellis & Sechaba, 1992, p.30).
The ideals of Freedom Charter inspired many people, but most particularly adolescent boys, to join the struggle against the apartheid regime. According to Marks (2002) these young boys were popularly known as ‗youth charterists‘ as they took the lead in popularizing the ideals of Freedom Charter in the townships and also organizing political activities that were intentionally aimed at defeating the apartheid regime. The culmination of a range of political events led to 1976 Soweto uprising, which is seen by many as the turning point in the anti- apartheid struggle. As part of the 1976 Soweto uprising boys and girls as young as ten to eleven were actively involved in school boycotts against the Bantu Education system. These young people (popularly known as the ‗young lions‘) were also involved in burning and destroying public institutions associated with apartheid capitalism, such as municipal offices, banks, railway stations etc. It is estimated that thousands of school learners were killed by the police during the 1976 Soweto uprising (Ndlovu, 1998). From 1976 onwards, violence became more visible and intense, with mass-based political protests occurring in many places around the country. High schools became the key battleground in the liberation struggle. The youth responded to Oliver Tambo‘s call to make South Africa ‗ungovernable‘, part of the ANC
policy which characterized the post 1983 era (Ramphele, 1992). The slogan ‗Freedom Now, Education Tomorrow‘ was popularized amongst school-going youth. As a result, a significant numbers of young activists dropped out of schools to join the struggle against apartheid, many leaving the country to join the ANC and the PAC in exile to train as soldiers. More generally, the active participation of township youth in struggle politics gave many young boys the opportunity to develop what Langa and Eagle (2008) call a ‗militarized masculinity‘ and Xaba (2001) calls a ‗struggle masculinity‘. Militarized/struggle masculinity refers to the boys‘ active involvement in politics and violent, protest activities that were aimed at defeating the apartheid regime and policing political activism in the townships and in some rural communities.
As part of constructing a ‗militarized masculinity‘, township boys were expected to be strong, brave, tough, fearless, aggressive and violent. The incorporation of these qualities into the self heavily influenced many adolescent boys into the direction of the formation of a militarized kind of masculine identity (Langa & Eagle, 2008). Because young and sometimes very young township boys perceived themselves as key agents of political change and defenders of their communities against repressive security forces (and were also cast in this role by others) (Marks & McKenzie, 1995; Xaba, 2001), they were compelled to occupy adult male roles, involving policing and patrolling the areas in which they were situated. Many boys were arrested, tortured and killed, primarily by state security forces, as a consequence of joining the struggle against the oppressive apartheid regime (Marks & McKenzie, 1995). The psychological consequences of state-sponsored violence on some young boys and girls have been documented in the study conducted by Straker and her colleagues in a book entitled: Faces of revolution: psychological effects of violence on township youth in South Africa (1992). Some of the key findings outlined in the text are that many young people were traumatized by the high levels of state-sponsored violence and that many left the country to train as soldiers in neighbouring countries such as Angola, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Tanzania. The act of joining a militarized structure provided many township boys the opportunity of a formalized transition from boyhood into manhood. In their narratives, South African former combatants viewed completing military training as a rite of passage required in order to achieve what Suttner (2008) calls ‗underground revolutionary masculinity‘. Underground revolutionary masculinity was based on the ability of a soldier to endure pain and
survive all the hardships associated with being part of a fighting force (for example, living in the bush without food and water over long periods of time). In keeping with other military structures, South African soldiers in exile were encouraged to repress all emotional vulnerability. Those soldiers who were unable to endure pain were labeled as lacking in masculinity and were also accused of being cowards or ‗sissy boys‘ (Langa & Eagle, 2008; Sunter, 2008). Very young boys were expected to be fearless and also to be ready to die in war (Langa & Eagle, 2008). There was considerable pride/honour associated with dying in combat and preparedness to die in the struggle symbolized bravery for many township boys. The lives of those who died in the struggle were celebrated and they were seen as heroes and martyrs of the liberation struggle. Some of the most notable male figures to be killed in the liberation struggle are Steve Biko, Chris Hani, Okgopotse Tiro, and Solomon Mahlangu, amongst others. Heroes of choice for youth during this period were Nelson Mandela, Robert Sobukwe, Walter Sisulu, and Oliver Tambo (Freeman, 1993). These were powerful male role models for young boys living in the townships. The dominant black masculinity of this time was centered on being politically active, brave, tough and violent in the political struggle against apartheid. Moreover, this influenced the formation of comrade masculinity amongst young boys in the townships. The discussion here illustrates that there appears to be an integral relationship between politics and expression of masculine identity. Young township boys were influenced by the politics of that time to assume a particular form of masculine identity.