The Black People's Convention (BPC) was a national coordinating body for the
Black Consciousness movement
The Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) was a grassroots anti-Apartheid activist movement that emerged in South Africa in the mid-1960s out of the political vacuum created by the jailing and banning of the African National Congress and Pan Afri ...
of South Africa. Envisaged as a broad-based counterpart to the
South African Students' Organisation
The South African Students' Organisation (SASO) was a body of black South African university students who resisted apartheid through non-violent political action. The organisation was formed in 1969 under the leadership of Steve Biko and Barney ...
apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
from its establishment in 1972 until it was banned in late 1977.
Formation
The BPC was an outgrowth of the
Black Consciousness movement
The Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) was a grassroots anti-Apartheid activist movement that emerged in South Africa in the mid-1960s out of the political vacuum created by the jailing and banning of the African National Congress and Pan Afri ...
in South Africa, which gained traction in the early 1970s and increasingly became a major alternative source of ideological and organisational support for resistance to the system of
apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
. With the influence of the
South African Students' Organisation
The South African Students' Organisation (SASO) was a body of black South African university students who resisted apartheid through non-violent political action. The organisation was formed in 1969 under the leadership of Steve Biko and Barney ...
(SASO) growing, Black Consciousness leaders called for the formation of a new Black Consciousness political organisation to engage and mobilise broader
civil society
Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere. The shape of this national umbrella body, which became the BPC, was discussed at a series of conferences in 1971. The BPC was launched in July 1972 in Pietermaritzburg. At its first national congress in December 1972, held in
Hammanskraal
Hammanskraal is a functional, trans-provincial region anchored in northern Gauteng Province, South Africa. The region consists of multiple, residential, industrial and commercial areas in a decentralized settlement pattern.
History
The historica ...
The BPC subscribed to a Black Consciousness philosophy, as articulated by Steve Biko. Biko was closely associated with the BPC, although his political activity was seriously circumscribed following his banning in 1973. His brother-in-law, Mxolisi Mvovo, became national vice president of the BPC in 1976.Stubbs, Aelred (2004). "Martyr of hope: A personal memoir". In Biko, Steve, ''I Write What I Like.'' Johannesburg: Picador Africa. p. 203. The BPC collaborated with other Black Consciousness organisations, such as SASO, with whom its membership overlapped significantly. Membership was not open to whites.
According to its constitution, the BPC's principal aim was to foster black political unity and solidarity, towards both psychological and material liberation for blacks in South Africa. The BPC opposed
apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
through
non-violent
Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...
means and through non-participation in the apartheid system. It also advocated for an equitable economic system based on
socialism
Socialism is a left-wing Economic ideology, economic philosophy and Political movement, movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to Private prop ...
and what it called "black communalism". As described in the BPC's "Mafikeng Manifesto", co-written by Biko and debated at a symposium in Mafikeng in 1976, black communalism was a variant of the traditional African economic system, modified for a modern and industrialised economy. It entailed communal ownership, and state custodianship, of all land.Tafira, Kenneth "Steve Biko returns: The persistence of Black Consciousness in Azania (South Africa)" (PDF).
Government crackdown
On 25 September 1974, the day of an illegal pro-
FRELIMO
FRELIMO (; from the Portuguese , ) is a democratic socialist political party in Mozambique. It is the dominant party in Mozambique and has won a majority of the seats in the Assembly of the Republic in every election since the country's firs ...
rally in
Durban
Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...
organised by the BPC and SASO, leaders in the BPC and other Black Consciousness organisations were arrested across the country. In the aftermath, nine BPC and SASO leaders were tried under the Terrorism Act. A second, more serious wave of government repression followed the 1976 Soweto Uprising. On 19 October 1977, sometimes known as "Black Wednesday", 18 organisations, including the BPC and SASO, were banned by the apartheid government. As many as 70 Black Consciousness leaders were arrested on the same day. Among them were Kenny Rachidi and Drake Tshenkeng, the BPC's president and vice president respectively. Biko himself had died in custody a month earlier.
Aftermath
In the years after Black Wednesday, many BPC and Black Consciousness activists became active in the
Azanian People's Organisation
The Azanian People's Organisation (AZAPO) is a South African liberation movement and political party. The organisation's two student wings are the Azanian Students' Movement (AZASM) for high school learners and the other being for university leve ...
(Azapo) and its subsidiary organisations. Azapo was founded in April 1978 in Roodeport as an offshoot of the Soweto Action Council, which had been formed in Chiawelo,
Soweto
Soweto () is a township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western Townships''. Formerly a s ...
, shortly after the 1977 crackdown. Like the BPC, Azapo was closed to whites and strongly opposed participation in the apartheid system – it even inherited the BPC's slogan, "One Azania, one people" – but it was more rigidly Marxist than the BPC. BPC and Black Consciousness activists in exile joined the Black Consciousness Movement of Azania (BCMA), established in London as Azapo's external wing before BCMA and Azapo formally merged in 1994.
In the 1980s and early 1990s, however, the popularity of
Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
-aligned organisations increased and Black Consciousness organisations (though not necessarily Black Consciousness ideologies) declined in influence. When Azapo was itself banned in 1988, many more Black Consciousness-aligned youths left South Africa and joined the
Pan Africanist Congress
The Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (known as the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC)) is a South African national liberation Pan-Africanist movement that is now a political party. It was founded by an Africanist group, led by Robert Sobukwe, that ...
and
African National Congress
The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...
Mosibudi Mangena
Mosibudi Mangena (born 7 August 1947 in Tzaneen, Transvaal) is a South Africa politician, former President of the Azanian People's Organisation (AZAPO). He is also currently the honorary President of AZAPO while Strike Thokoane is the current Pr ...
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Tshenuwani Simon Farisani (born 30 August 1948) is a South African politician, theologian, and Lutheran minister. During apartheid, he was one of the country's most prominent black clergymen and preached anti-apartheid liberation theology from ...
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Nkwenkwe Nkomo
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Malusi Mpumlwana
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Mamphela Ramphele
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Related organisations
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Azanian People's Organisation
The Azanian People's Organisation (AZAPO) is a South African liberation movement and political party. The organisation's two student wings are the Azanian Students' Movement (AZASM) for high school learners and the other being for university leve ...
South African Students' Organisation
The South African Students' Organisation (SASO) was a body of black South African university students who resisted apartheid through non-violent political action. The organisation was formed in 1969 under the leadership of Steve Biko and Barney ...