1957 Alexandra Bus Boycott
Encyclopedia
The 1957 Alexandra Bus Boycott was a protest undertaken against the Public Utility Transport Corporation (PUTCO
) by the people of Alexandra
in Johannesburg
.
It is generally recognised as being one of the few successful political campaigns of the Apartheid era, by noted writers and activists including Anthony Sampson
and Chief Albert Luthuli
Ruth First
, former wife of South African Communist Party
leader Joe Slovo
, said of the Boycott, “not since the days of the Defiance Campaign
had Africans held so strategic a position.”
was launched on 7 January 1957; but it was later joined by boycotters in from Sophiatown and Newclare in Western Areas of Johannesburg
. In Pretoria
(Thswane) it covered the Lady Selborne district, as well as other areas, including Attridgeville, Mamelodi and Ga-Rankua. After two weeks the boycott was joined by the commuters of Moroka-Jabavu in the South Western Areas who came out in sympathy. Many of the latter had moved from Moroka-Jabavu to Alexandra
and had had the experiences of its earlier bus boycotts and other struggles.
The bus boycott lasted from January 1957 to June 1957. At its height, 70,000 township residents refused to ride the local buses to and from work. For many people this daily journey to downtown Johannesburg was a twenty mile round trip.
The boycott was named Azikwelwa (We will not ride). Alexandra Township had seen two previous bus boycotts. In August 1943 a nine day boycott succeeded in reducing the fare from 5d to 4d. A second strike began in November 1944 after prices were again raised.
The 1957 protest was mobilised after PUTCO
again proposed raising its fares from 4d to 5d. With the government refusing to increase its public subsidy to the company, PUTCO argued that a price hike was inevitable. On 7 January 1957, it was resolved by the people of Alexandra to launch the boycott and on the same day the Alexandra People’s Transport Action Committee (APTAC) was formed. The boycott would continue until the four penny fare was restored.
), the Women’s League (also members of the ANC), the African Nationalists and the Movement For a Democracy of Content
. Throughout the boycott, the latter two groups maintained the most uncompromising stand, while the former groups showed themselves to be most willing to negotiate for a compromise.
Although each group committed three members to APTAC, as the boycott went on it was the radical groups who gained the upper hand. Dan Mokonyane
of the Movement For a Democracy of Content, in particular, rose from initially acting as Publicity Secretary to the role of Secretary of APTAC.
Although several provisional settlements were discussed, including a complicated system that would reimburse bus passengers their extra penny every day, the boycotters stood firm. With the radical groups implicitly threatening to mobilise a strike (a rainy Monday) the Chamber of Commerce finally agreed to a public subsidy that would return the old fare on a long term basis.
PUTCO
The Public Utility Transport Corporation provides commuter bus services in Gauteng, Limpopo and the western parts of Mpumalanga in South Africa. PUTCO was established in 1945 after the bus strike of 1944...
) by the people of Alexandra
Alexandra, Gauteng
Alexandra or Alex for short, nicknamed Gomora is a township located in Gauteng province, South Africa. It is part of Johannesburg, close to the wealthy suburb of Sandton and is bounded by Wynberg on the west, Marlboro and Kelvin on the north, Kew, Lombardy West and Lombardy East on the south...
in Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
.
It is generally recognised as being one of the few successful political campaigns of the Apartheid era, by noted writers and activists including Anthony Sampson
Anthony Sampson
Anthony Terrell Seward Sampson was a British writer and journalist. He was educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford and served with the Royal Navy from 1944-47. During the 1950s he edited the magazine Drum in Johannesburg, South Africa...
and Chief Albert Luthuli
Ruth First
Ruth First
Ruth First was a white South African anti-apartheid activist and scholar born in Johannesburg, South Africa...
, former wife of South African Communist Party
South African Communist Party
South African Communist Party is a political party in South Africa. It was founded in 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa by the joining together of the International Socialist League and others under the leadership of Willam H...
leader Joe Slovo
Joe Slovo
For Joe Slovo Informal Settlement in Cape Town, see: Joe Slovo .Joe Slovo was a South African politician, long-time leader of the South African Communist Party , and leading member of the African National Congress.-Life:Slovo was born in Obeliai, Lithuania to a Jewish family who emigrated to South...
, said of the Boycott, “not since the days of the Defiance Campaign
Defiance Campaign
The Defiance Campaign against Unjust Laws was presented by the African National Congress at a conference held in Bloemfontein, South Africa in December 1951....
had Africans held so strategic a position.”
‘We Will Not Ride’
The bus boycott of AlexandraAlexandra, Gauteng
Alexandra or Alex for short, nicknamed Gomora is a township located in Gauteng province, South Africa. It is part of Johannesburg, close to the wealthy suburb of Sandton and is bounded by Wynberg on the west, Marlboro and Kelvin on the north, Kew, Lombardy West and Lombardy East on the south...
was launched on 7 January 1957; but it was later joined by boycotters in from Sophiatown and Newclare in Western Areas of Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
. In Pretoria
Pretoria
Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...
(Thswane) it covered the Lady Selborne district, as well as other areas, including Attridgeville, Mamelodi and Ga-Rankua. After two weeks the boycott was joined by the commuters of Moroka-Jabavu in the South Western Areas who came out in sympathy. Many of the latter had moved from Moroka-Jabavu to Alexandra
Alexandra, Gauteng
Alexandra or Alex for short, nicknamed Gomora is a township located in Gauteng province, South Africa. It is part of Johannesburg, close to the wealthy suburb of Sandton and is bounded by Wynberg on the west, Marlboro and Kelvin on the north, Kew, Lombardy West and Lombardy East on the south...
and had had the experiences of its earlier bus boycotts and other struggles.
The bus boycott lasted from January 1957 to June 1957. At its height, 70,000 township residents refused to ride the local buses to and from work. For many people this daily journey to downtown Johannesburg was a twenty mile round trip.
The boycott was named Azikwelwa (We will not ride). Alexandra Township had seen two previous bus boycotts. In August 1943 a nine day boycott succeeded in reducing the fare from 5d to 4d. A second strike began in November 1944 after prices were again raised.
The 1957 protest was mobilised after PUTCO
PUTCO
The Public Utility Transport Corporation provides commuter bus services in Gauteng, Limpopo and the western parts of Mpumalanga in South Africa. PUTCO was established in 1945 after the bus strike of 1944...
again proposed raising its fares from 4d to 5d. With the government refusing to increase its public subsidy to the company, PUTCO argued that a price hike was inevitable. On 7 January 1957, it was resolved by the people of Alexandra to launch the boycott and on the same day the Alexandra People’s Transport Action Committee (APTAC) was formed. The boycott would continue until the four penny fare was restored.
Organisation
APTAC was made up of several local groups: the Standholders Association, the Standholders and Tenants Association, the Vigilants Association, the Tenants Association, the Freedom Charterists (members of the ANCAfrican National Congress
The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...
), the Women’s League (also members of the ANC), the African Nationalists and the Movement For a Democracy of Content
The Movement For a Democracy of Content
The Movement for a Democracy of Content was a revolutionary political organisation active from the late 1940s to the early 1970s in the US, in Germany the last issue of Dinge der Zeit, appeared in August 1997 ....
. Throughout the boycott, the latter two groups maintained the most uncompromising stand, while the former groups showed themselves to be most willing to negotiate for a compromise.
Although each group committed three members to APTAC, as the boycott went on it was the radical groups who gained the upper hand. Dan Mokonyane
Dan Mokonyane
Dan Mokonyane was a South African political revolutionary and writer and legal academic...
of the Movement For a Democracy of Content, in particular, rose from initially acting as Publicity Secretary to the role of Secretary of APTAC.
Victory
The boycott attracted daily attention from the South African press. The Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce, worried about the economic implications of a large part of its workforce walking twenty miles a day, attempted to settle the matter using various intermediaries.Although several provisional settlements were discussed, including a complicated system that would reimburse bus passengers their extra penny every day, the boycotters stood firm. With the radical groups implicitly threatening to mobilise a strike (a rainy Monday) the Chamber of Commerce finally agreed to a public subsidy that would return the old fare on a long term basis.