A Change of Mood

The first day of September is traditionally known as Spring Day in South Africa, marking the end of winter and the reawakening of nature. Winter in the Vaal Triangle is harsh, with greatly varying temperatures that occasionally drop below zero degrees at night and reach up to 20 degrees during the day. Blue skies, uninterrupted by clouds, give a sense of infinity while red and brown dust covers the dry grassland vegetation that characterises the majority of the South African Highveld. The mighty summer thunderstorms are still a few weeks away. However, when September arrived in 1984, more than a new season had started: 3 September, referred to as ‘bloody Monday’ by some, heralded the beginning of the most sustained period of popular protest against the apartheid regime. As advocate George Bizos later recalled, it was in the townships of the Vaal Triangle where ‘the liberation revolution began in earnest’.

The nature and timing of uprisings can never be predicted, for the presence of a committed and organised leadership and an ideological programme are not enough. Without the participation of the population and the formation of crowds, there is no uprising. Participation in public protests, particularly within a context in which state repression is probable, requires a change of mood and frame of mind. By the 1980s, the collective memory of the Sharpeville shootings was fading for a new generation of activists, yet response to protests elsewhere left little doubt that the police were unlikely to show much restraint in the event of organised protest action. As will be seen, the escalation of violence surprised many, including local communities and the civic leadership, who had planned a peaceful march and instead witnessed the unfolding of an uprising.

For many outsiders, the Vaal Triangle was an unexpected locus of popular protests. After years of apparent ‘quiescence’ and the Vaal Triangle’s reputation as the country’s showcase of ‘successful social engineering’, what transpired on 3 September 1984 appeared out of the ordinary. A closer look, however, reveals that discontent had been brewing for years and tensions between councillors and residents had reached boiling point. Grievances regarding housing and worsening living conditions, together with deepening dissatisfaction with local authorities, provided fertile ground for mass mobilisation. ‘People knew what they were doing,’ Dorcas Ralitsela remembers. ‘Clearly, that September 3 incident was not a spontaneous reaction.