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198 Pages·2004·32.97 MB·English

BLACK R E V I E W
1973
THE BLACK COMMUNITY PROGRAMMES
The goals of the Black Community Programmes are:
to help the black community become aware of its own identity;
to help the black community to create a sense of its own power:
to enable the black community to organise itself. to analyse its own needs and
problems and to mobilise its resources to meet its needs: and
to develop black leadership capable of guiding the developmem of the black
community.
The Black Community Programmes seek:
to co-ordinate the work of and co-operate in a meaningful way wilh black groups.
organisations and institutions:
to enable them to create a consciousness of idemity as communities:
to develop a sufficient number of individuals conscious of this identity and belonging;
to acquire and use resources needed to achieve the goals of unity. self-determination.
collective work responsibility. purpose and creativity.
The Black Community Programmes is a co-ordinating and enabling agency. It does not
seek to establish projecls on its own. but rather co-operates with. encourages and helps
persons and groups. organisations and institutions working in the areas of Education.
Welfare. Church. Culture. Art and Sport in the black community.
The B.C.P. achieves this by providing relevant information. publishing relevant literature
and when invited. by assisting organisations. individuals and groups in the areas of leader
ship training. skills training and programme planning.
The Black Community Programmes has its head office in Durban and a Programme
office in Johannesburg.
Inquiries should be addressed to:
The Direclor
Black Community Programmes
86 Beatrice Street Phone: 67558
Durban.
B L A C K R E V I E W
1973
EDITOR
MAFIKA PASCAL GWALA
PUBLISHED BY
BLACK COMMUNITY PROGRAMMES
DURBAN 1974
ISBN 086975 037 2
Printed by Zeni.h Printers (Pty.) Ltd ..
Diakonia House. 80 Jorissen Street.
Braamrontcin. Johannesburg.
CONTENTS
IntrodlAction
Acknowledgements
Self-Help
,
2 Welfare
3 Health "
•
Banluscans "
,
South Afric.n Indian Council JJ
,
Coloured Rcprnenlllivc Council 39
7 Education for Blacks
(PrilNlry Ind Secondary) 51
•
Educal~n for 8lacks
(Tc-achcT Training. Votationaland Technical) "
9 Youth and Student Orpniplions 62
,.
Black Political Organisations 69
" Political Trials and Detentions 78
12 Banninp 92
,
..
13 Aru and Entertainment
" Spo" '"
" Black Workers '21
"
Black Community Programmn 164
" Black ConKiousneu '69
" Namibia '"
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
goes to Directors
SPECIAl. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT the Board of of Black
Community Programmes from whom we have derived considerable
assistance and encouragement.
A further word ofthanks goes to the Research Staff of Black Community
Programmes whose tireless efforts in the collecting and collating of
material helped in the bringing out of this book.
Not to be forgollen are other persons who had a hand towards the
compiling of this review.
The co-operation of the staff of Ravan Press also deserves special thanks
for their valuable work.
Editor.
INTRODUCTION
THIS IS the second Black Rev;f'I!', The first. Black Review /971. came Oul
early last year.
The original intention of publishing a BIOt'1e Rev;ew was to lay as open as
can be possible what the Black Community has achieved or failed to
achieve. and what directions taken by the Blacks in this country have been
outstanding in matters that affect their situation as Blacks; also their
common or varied aspirations. What Black Rf'vif'W has suc~eded in
revealing, therefore. a:ntres on how far the Black Community has b«n
able to realise: some of its goals.
As the years go on. and events sometimes moving too fast for possible
assessment of their causes. a record of the nature of Block Review becomes
all the more nettSsary.
Black R('\,i('lI' has betn uSdt by public libraries. educational and research
institutions, students of race relations. and individuals interested in Black
Community Development.
Another thing of worthy note is that this year's Black R('\'it>"' is being
published by Black Community Programmes Publications. which in future
is to take over the whole area of publication run by the Black Community
Programmes, Last year's editor was restricted by the Government and this
made il difficult for him participate in the compiling of this review. His
10
much·needed assistance could not in this way be made available.
However. we hope this edition docs meet the high standards set by the
Black Rel';l'U' of 1972.
Marika Pascal Gwala. April 1974.
Director.
OCP Puhlications.
Chapter One
SELF-HELP
THE BLACK COMMUNITY is in a critical situation because of historical.
economic. cultural and political conditions. Many groups have sprung up
through the years in an effort by blacks to alleviate their position. Some of
these groups have been initiated and patronised by white individuals and
institutes. However. blacks have also initiated their own self-help projects
within their community. particularly in the awakening reality of Black
Consciousness.
1972 saw the springing l.!P of associations such as Black Community
Programmes. which played an important role in bringing together youth.
religious. educational and cultural groups. This led to th¥reation of
several associations which stood for the positive develop nt of self
reliance in the black community.
The Association of Self-Help (ASH)
In June 1972 a training workshop was organised by the Community of S1.
Stephen (COSS). which consists of members of S1. Stephen's Church. at
Merewent. Durban. The workshop was sponsored by the Black
Community Programmes. It was agreed that conscientisation as a means of
heightening the awareness of the black community included re-orientation
and self-help as essentials of the affirmation of blackness.
Self-help was described as a means of making people 'develop a pride in
themselves and their potential-to show the relationship of their environ
ment to themselves', so as to increase self-rdiance and interdependency.
In June 1973 the Association for Self-Help (ASH) was set up as a resull
of the workshop.
2 Self-Help
Its aims and objects are:
to inculcate the principle of self-reliance;
to encourage the community to work co-operatively to satisfy their
wants and needs.
ASH works in the communities to the south of Durban, with initial
projects in the Merebank-Wentworth area. The following policy is
extracted from ASH's Progress Report of December 1973:
The Association for Self-Help believes that the problems prevailing in
the black community, e.g. poverty, illiteracy, crime etc., militate against the
true humanity of black people; that these social disorders are responsible
for the dearth of a dynamic cultural expression in the black community;
that these social conditions inculcated in the black community breed an
attitude of complacency. suspicion and fear which work against the
establishment of communal harmony; that the lack ofcommunal harmony
in the black community frustrates joint efforts to express and fulfil basic
needs and aspirations; in order to fulfil these basic needs and aspirations.
we therefore commit ourselves to inculcating, fostering,. organising.
directing and extending in the black community the principle of self-help.
and to uniting the constitutents of the black community in their efforts and
desire to be self-reliant.
ASH is a private, non-political and non-profit agency.
Before embarking on any projects, the ASH field workers conducted an
economic survey of the sub-economic housing area of Merebank (the Old
Marine Drive valley). which they had chosen as their starting point. They
found that 60% of the families interviewed received a monthly income of
below R6O; the majority of these families consisted of 8 members or more;
the income of the other 40% did not exceed R 110 per month; in 800k of the
families expenditure was twice the income; those families living in the
transit camp (Minitown) revealed feelings of intense dissatisfaction with
living conditions; 35% of the adults interviewed were illiterate; of a total of
150 children of school age, only 88 were going to school.
The findings led ASH to establish a communal buying scheme in the
area.
Essential foods (rice, oil, sugar, etc.) are bought in bulk, and then
distributed. Families have been able to save a fair amount of their meagre
income. The scheme is also helping in closing the gap that existed between
families and is teaching them the importance of acting as a communal unit.
A by-product of this scheme has been the communal reserve fund, where
families have agreed to put whatever contribution they can afford into a.
'communal bank box'. and the money is used to assist any local family in
desperate need. on condition that the money is reimbursed at some stage. In