Visually-rich campaigning
It is impossible to imagine the global anti-apartheid movement without images like those that appear below. Firing the movement and defining what was at stake, they were essential to building the ‘people power‘ and creating the shift in the ‘climate of opinion’ that was needed to create the ‘political climate’ where change became possible.
This raises an issue: was imagery more than just an important and useful ‘tool’ for campaigning?
This site argues that the ‘image politics’ of an issue like apartheid matters for whether the issue is won or lost. Obviously, it is one part of the picture, never enough on its own to bring about change – however in this way it is just like other forms of politics that are also not enough on their own. Prevailing in a ‘battle of images’ with the apartheid government and its supporters was important for overthrowing apartheid.
See also:
Forms of cultural power in the anti-apartheid movement: some examples
Creating a crisis of legitimacy
Creating a ‘battle of images’ which it is difficult for opponents to win
From portraying President Botha as a murderer, to highlighting the repressive actions of the apartheid military and police to dramatic imagery of the uprising against apartheid, the anti-apartheid movement was able to generate images that the South African government could not really answer with its own images of smiling black people or even the alleged threat of communism in the cold war era.
Apartheid became equated in the global imagination with oppression, violence, chaos and injustice.
Commemorating iconic events and defining moments
June 16 is remembered as the day in 1976 when police opened fire on a non-violent march of thousands of school students protesting at being taught in Afrikaans, the language of the white minority, which led to the Soweto uprising.
“The People Shall Govern” is the first item in the Freedom Charter, adopted by the 1955 Congress of the People, a dramatic exercise in grassroots democracy where people from across the country came together to set out their vision for the kind of country they wanted.
Projecting images of ‘people power’ in action
The United Democratic Front was developed as a “‘united front’ of ‘churches, civic associations, trade unions, student organisations, and sports bodies’ to fight oppression” inside South Africa at a time when the African National Congress remained banned and as resistance to apartheid grew during the 1980s.
The student movement was at the centre of the global anti-apartheid movement – see the film Have You Heard From Johanessburg?
Associating corporations and their brands with apartheid
Shell became a key target of the divestment campaign: Royal Dutch Shell – at the time the world’s largest corporation – provided supplies and fuel to the apartheid military. A “Stop Apartheid: Boycott Shell” campaign brochure explained: Royal Dutch Shell supplies fuel to the South African military and police and to the apartheid economy. South Africa does not have its own oil supplies. Without companies like Royal Dutch Shell, apartheid could not survive. In addition, Royal Dutch/Shell co-owns the Rietspruit coal mine where striking South African miners have been forced to work at gunpoint…
Personalising the ‘villain’ and the ‘hero’
Here, all of the details and complexities of the situation were condensed into a simple statement:
- Botha = apartheid,
- Mandela = the people of South Africa
Building iconic power
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Iconic power does not ‘just happen’ because a visually-powerful image exists.
Imagery of Nelson Mandela, for example, was actively built, through telling his story, through displaying his image at campaign events and through publicity such as the images that appear here.
Making the issues visible
The violence and injustices of apartheid became visible on TV screens around the world, which is why the apartheid government blocked media coverage under its States of Emergency.
Campaigners resorted to a variety of creative means to give visibility to what was happening in South Africa.
Adapting existing icons
The case against apartheid was popularised by relating it to other cultural images and also making it part of popular culture.
Another example was the Nelson Mandela concert held at Wembley Football Stadium in 1988.
Dramatising the issues
In this example of symbolic action, Duke University students built a mock jail and shantytown on campus.
The photo description reads:
Students protesting apartheid build a mock jail on the Bryan Center walkway. Among those “imprisoned” were notable faculty and students, including the ASDU president. The demonstration was meant to voice students’ support of Duke’s divestment of all its holdings in South Africa. The protest hit home: on May 3, 1986, the Board of Trustees voted to withdraw all its South African investments.