"1 2 3 4, we dont want your racist laws'
Causes of the 1981 Anti-Springbok tour protest
A key cause of the 1981 Springbok Tour Protests was the increased opposition to the apartheid regime in South Africa, through raised awareness after the Soweto riots in 1976. The Apartheid regime and term ‘apartheid’ in South Africa was introduced in 1948 as a part of Daniel Francois Malan’s election campaign as he led the National Party. However, it has been said that racial segregation had been in force for many decades in South Africa which was introduced by Dutch and British rule. In hindsight, there is something of inevitability in the way the country developed its extreme policies.
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Apartheid is a system of racial segregation enforced by the National Party Government resulting in the majority of Blacks in South Africa being deprived of basic human rights and restricted greatly in all areas of life with a great lack of political rights, whilst whites were living in a time of ‘white supremacy’. Consequences for those non-whites protesting were severe, including in thousands of individuals dying in custody from frequent acts of torture from white suppressors.
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The Soweto uprising, otherwise known as 'June 16' was a result of such terrible acts against non-whites, and became one of the most violent protests yet. It resulted in a confirmed 176 deaths however an estimate of up to 700 deaths. This huge uprising, involving between 10,000 and 20,000 black students, raised a great awareness all over the world, including in New Zealand, towards the way 'Blacks' and 'Whites' were being treated in society. The riot was about an issue with schooling, as all teachers and students were forced to learn in Afrikaans instead of their own native language. This was seen as a direct attempt to cut them off from their culture, leading to over 20,000 students turning up for the march in Soweto Township. Almost immediately police fired rounds or tear gas and then guns into the crowd, mercilessly killing students and minors. Over 360 blacks were killed in this single event.
Through the use of the media content such as the use of photography, television and radio, information on the racist regime and particularly the events in Soweto in South Africa was being spread all around the world, creating an international outrage. In New Zealand and throughout the world, pressure on South Africa and opposition to Apartheid increased. However, directly following the Soweto riot, the All Blacks went on the New Zealand Rugby Union Tour of South Africa with the blessing of new at the time Prime Minister Robert Muldoon. The five Maori players in the squad were given honorary white status; however the impact of New Zealand rugby travelling to South Africa gave out the message that it supported what they were doing. Some New Zealanders disagreed with this, and many labelled it a ‘social injustice’. An honorary white was a term that was used by the apartheid regime of South Africa to grant almost all of the rights and privileges of whites to certain favoured non-white groups. The increased opposition to the apartheid regime in South Africa, including the Soweto Riots, resulted in the 1981 counter-culture that meant many New Zealanders were anti-apartheid and therefore against the 1981 Springbok Tour going forth. Public opinion and public action was at an all-time high at the time of the 1981 Springbok tour. Anti-nuclear protests had already swept the nation in the preceding decade, with many protest groups forming for an array of reasons. Halt All Racist Tours (HART) was formed in 1969 and acted to prevent sporting contact with nations that had racist legislation such as South Africa. HART had already been influential in the 1973 Springbok tour, but really came to the fore just before and during the 1981 tour. |
The increased opposition to the apartheid regime in South Africa, including the Soweto Riots, resulted in the 1981 counter-culture that meant many New Zealanders were anti-apartheid and therefore against the 1981 Springbok Tour going forth.
Public opinion and public action was at an all-time high at the time of the 1981 Springbok tour. Anti-nuclear protests had already swept the nation in the preceding decade, with many protest groups forming for an array of reasons. Halt All Racist Tours (HART) was formed in 1969 and acted to prevent sporting contact with nations that had racist legislation such as South Africa. HART had already been influential in the 1973 Springbok tour, but really came to the fore just before and during the 1981 tour. Prior to the tour they campaigned to have it stopped all together, signing petitions, organising marches and other meetings. Although this part of their protest was unsuccessful in halting the tour all together, it did raise public awareness and generate international awareness of what was taking place in New Zealand. HART along with other groups raised social awareness of the tour and more importantly the oppression black people were facing back in South Africa. The act of mobilising the public for marches and demonstrations make HART and the formation of other groups an important cause of the protests. |
The cancellation of the 1973 Springbok Tour was another cause for the great fury that built up among New Zealanders against the 1981 Springbok Tour and therefore resulted in the 1981 Springbok Tour contested event taking place. In 1968 the United Nations had called for a boycott of all sporting contact with South Africa. This is something that Muldoon's predecessor, Norman Kirk, held true to through the postponement of the 1973 Springbok tour of New Zealand, which he justified through the fear that the tour would 'engender the greatest eruption of violence this country has ever known ‘.Coming up to the 1972 election, the labour opposition leader Norman Kirk, promised not to interfere with the tour. In winning the election, he attempted to persuade the NZRFU to withdraw its invitation to the Springboks, while at the same time trying to negotiate with a number of anti-tour groups and activists. Police at the time told Norman that if the tour were to go ahead, it would ‘engender the greatest eruption of violence this country has ever known.’ The decision to postpone the Springbok Tour was also influenced by the fact that Christchurch was hosting the 1974 Commonwealth Games and a boycott by black African nations of these games was likely should the tour proceed.
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Kirk conceded that he would be ‘failing in his duty’ if he didn't ‘accept the criticism and do what [he] believed to be right and therefore the tour was postponed. This resulted in a loss of popularity, especially from those who strongly believed that 'politics and sport don't mix', This loss of popularity was shown in the 1975 election, mostly as a result of Labour failing to follow through with their initial statement not to interfere with the tour. National Party's new leader Robert Muldoon believed that the cancellation of the tour was 'one issue on which people will change their vote' and therefore he maintained that a National Government would welcome a Springbok team to New Zealand, 'even if there were threats of violence and civil strife’. The effects of this statement were later shown in National's landslide victory.
Prime Minister at the time, Norman Kirk
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Yet another key cause of the 1981 Springbok Tour Protests in 1981 was the Government's lack of ability to follow the conditions of the Gleneagles Agreement. The Gleneagles Agreement accepted that ‘it was the urgent duty of their governments to combat vigorously the evil of apartheid by withholding support for and by discouraging contact or competition with sporting organisations, teams or sportsmen from South Africa or any other country where sports are organised on the basis of race, colour or ethnic origin’. The Gleneagles Agreement, signed by the Commonwealth nations, was aimed at creating a further divide between South Africa and the nations of the Commonwealth. This agreement gave all who signed it the instruction that: "...there were unlikely to be future sporting contacts of any significance between Commonwealth countries or their nationals and South Africa while that country continues to pursue the detestable policy of Apartheid." New Zealand went against the conditions of this agreement by accepting an invitation to tour in South Africa in 1976 on the basis that ‘politics and sport should not mix’ according to Prime Minister Robert Muldoon, at a time when attention was firmly fixed on the republic as a result of the recent Soweto uprising. This decision generated much controversy. Protest groups began to mobilise almost immediately. In hindsight it is easy to say that letting the tour progress was a bad idea. Muldoon clearly had his own ambition of being elected as Prime Minister for another term and ranked this above the morals of the nation, and the way New Zealand was perceived by other supposedly 'racism-free' nations
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Not only was New Zealand accepting the offer to tour in South Africa intolerable to thousands of New Zealanders, it also attracted international condemnation, for New Zealand was seen by other countries to be agreeing with the regime of apartheid resulting in an internationally bad reputation for New Zealand. The Gleneagles Agreement, signed by the Commonwealth nations, was aimed at creating a further divide between South Africa and the nations of the Commonwealth. This agreement gave all who signed it the instruction that: "...there were unlikely to be future sporting contacts of any significance between Commonwealth countries or their nationals and South Africa while that country continues to pursue the detestable policy of Apartheid."
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A result of the 1976 Springbok Tour was the boycott of the Montreal 1976 Summer Olympics. Prior to the boycott of the Olympics, African Nations had demanded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) exclude New Zealand from the games, however the IOC found no justification in banning the country and therefore New Zealand athletes went ahead to compete as planned. 25 African countries then chose to withdrawal from the 1976 Olympics, in protest against New Zealand's sporting links with South Africa. Egypt subsequently withdrew, leaving the final number of absences at 33. The boycott meant that over 300 competitors were no longer taking part in the games, leaving many events cancelled or re-scheduled and resulting in a million Canadian dollars lost in the first two days of the boycott. This further effected New Zealand's international reputation and formed a great desire in the hearts of thousands of New Zealanders to stop the 1981 Springbok Tour when it arose.
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The term 'honorary whites' was used throughout the 1970 Springbok Tour, as a 'compromise' made towards Maori and Pacific Island players to be allowed to play in the NZ Rugby team. The use of this term 'honorary whites' became a final cause of the 1981 Springbok Tour Protests for it further fueled the desire in anti-tour protestors' hearts to gain complete equality (especially for Maori and Pacific Islanders). Despite this meaning Maori were allowed to play, it further angered anti-tour protestors, for they believed the Maori should have been allowed to compete as their own race, not as something they are not. The Maori Women's Welfare League also opposed the tour.
Above is a This Eric Heath cartoon appeared in the Dominion on 2 September 1976, a month after the Montreal Olympics ended. The five Olympic rings have become the high walls of five separate stadiums, labelled 'America', 'Pacific', 'Africa', 'China' and 'Europe'. The cartoon posed the question of whether political disputes would destroy the internationalism of the Games' ideals − a genuine fear at the time, and one that appeared to be confirmed by events in Moscow (1980) and Los Angeles (1984).
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Key Ideas
The 1981 Springbok tour protests had a range of social and political causes of varying significance. The Apartheid regime that was legislation in South Africa was the most overarching cause of protest action, however a range of events also led to increased public outrage and participation in the protests. HART worked tirelessly to create greater public awareness both nationally and internationally, and were influential in mobilizing large groups of people in demonstrations and marches nationwide.
The Soweto uprising ' was a result of such terrible acts against non-whites, and became one of the most violent protests yet. The oppression of the blacks in Africa and this Uprising sparked international awareness and New Zealand's link to the fight against racial inequality not just in New Zealand but around the world, became more apparent. Differing opinions from citizens in cities and rural citizens created a social divide in New Zealand, which is another main reason why the clashes that occurred were so violent. Tensions from both sides had no doubt been built up over a long time-ever since the postponement of the 1973 tour. Despite calls from the United Nations to boycott all sporting contact with South Africa in 1968 and the signing of the Gleneagles Agreement in 1977, Prime Minister Robert Muldoon could not be persuaded to cancel the tour. Also the the boycott of the 1976 Montreal Olympics was a subtle cause of the the 1981 Springbok Tour protests. The term 'honorary whites',further fueled the desire in anti-tour protesters' hearts to gain complete equality (especially for Maori and Pacific Islanders) What ensued was one of the most violent and polarizing protest movements New Zealand had ever seen.
The Soweto uprising ' was a result of such terrible acts against non-whites, and became one of the most violent protests yet. The oppression of the blacks in Africa and this Uprising sparked international awareness and New Zealand's link to the fight against racial inequality not just in New Zealand but around the world, became more apparent. Differing opinions from citizens in cities and rural citizens created a social divide in New Zealand, which is another main reason why the clashes that occurred were so violent. Tensions from both sides had no doubt been built up over a long time-ever since the postponement of the 1973 tour. Despite calls from the United Nations to boycott all sporting contact with South Africa in 1968 and the signing of the Gleneagles Agreement in 1977, Prime Minister Robert Muldoon could not be persuaded to cancel the tour. Also the the boycott of the 1976 Montreal Olympics was a subtle cause of the the 1981 Springbok Tour protests. The term 'honorary whites',further fueled the desire in anti-tour protesters' hearts to gain complete equality (especially for Maori and Pacific Islanders) What ensued was one of the most violent and polarizing protest movements New Zealand had ever seen.