Durban Moment

Period in the early 1970s in South Africa

The Durban Moment refers to the period in the early and mid-1970s when the South African city of Durban became the centre of a new vibrancy in the struggle against apartheid. Coined by academic Tony Morphet, the term describes the convergence of various intellectual and activist movements in Durban that significantly influenced the anti-apartheid struggle.[1] The two central figures in this moment were Steve Biko and Richard Turner - the former was closely associated with the Black Consciousness Movement and the latter with the trade union movement.[2] The two were in a reading group together. Both were influenced by the new left and had links to radical Christian circles.[3]

## Background and History

[edit]

Tony Morphet coined the term the “Durban moment” in his Rick Turner Memorial lecture to the University of Natal in Durban on September 27th, 1990. He described four simultaneous intellectual projects occurring between 1970 and 1974, citing Rick Turner’s radical political philosophical teachings and organizing; the activism of then student and intellectual Steve Biko; the challenge to revisionist Afrikaner history by sociologist Dunbar Moodie; and the critiques of English literature by Mike Kirkwood.[1]

1973 Strikes

The “moment” often refers to the 1973 worker strikes in Durban, the first worker unrest in South Africa in over a decade since the Sharpeville massacre in 1960. Approximately 100,000 workers went on strike in Durban in 1973. These protests bloomed into a trade union movement, and with the help of the Black Consciousness Movement, refocused the anti-apartheid struggle from exiles to within the domestic borders of South Africa.[4]

Activist Organizing

The Durban Moment signaled a departure from earlier banned anti-apartheid movements in its non-racial, non-hierarchical, and explicitly socialist intellectual strains.[4] Mahmood Mamdani stated that “radical white students joined non-white migrant workers in a mobilisation that gave birth to South Africa’s non-racial unions; and African, Indian, and Coloured students, inspired by the Black Consciousness Movement, were reborn as black.”[5] University of Natal at Durban Students played a large role in the Durban moment, forming the Student Wages Commission (SWC) in 1971 to advocate for better labor conditions and wages for workers. They advocated to the government Wages Board on the behalf of black workers who were prohibited from unionizing and encouraged black workers to attend the Board meetings by the hundreds. The General Factory Workers’ Benefit Fund grew from this work, becoming a support fund, organizing environment, and precedent to unions. The combined efforts of Durban’s young worker and student population created a revival of activist mobilization in the 1970s.[4]

Aftermath

Turner and Biko were sent to house arrest and to a homeland respectively in 1973.[6] In 1974 strikes continued to amass to the government’s alarm, leading the state to ban four of the white intellectuals in the movement (David Hemson, Halton Cheadle, David Davis, and Jeannette Cunningham-Brown).[6] The union membership continued to grow until 1975, when it declined due to halting progress to achieve workers’ rights and the targeting of twenty-two union leaders by the state in November 1976.[6] Biko and Turner were murdered in 1977 and 1978 respectively.[7]

## Legacy

[edit]

The Durban Moment is a significant period in the history of the anti-apartheid struggle within South Africa. It represented not only a geographic shift, highlighting activists in Natal and Durban, specifically, but also a shift in tactics and attitudes. Influenced by socialism, radical Christianity, and various new left ideologies, intellectual leaders forged a new opposition to the apartheid regime. By linking Black Consciousness to labor activism, the Durban Moment forged a new and powerful coalition. The Durban Moment is also cited as a precursor to the creation of the Federation of South African Trade Unions and the Congress of South African Trade Unions in 1979 and 1985, respectively. The organization of students, laborers, and ordinary citizens across racial lines presented a significant threat to the apartheid regime’s norms and laws, while simultaneously influencing subsequent trade union tactics and the eventual triumph of the broader anti-apartheid movement.

## See also

[edit]

* 1973 Durban strikes

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Morphet T (1990) Brushing history against the grain: Oppositional discourse in South Africa. Theoria 76: 89-99.
2. ^ van Holdt, Karl (2011). "The Johannesburg Moment: Open Address at the Mail & Guardian Literary Festival". Books Live. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
3. ^ Macqueen, Ian (2011). Re-imagining South Africa: Black Consciousness, radical Christianity and the New Left, 1967–1977 (PhD Thesis). University of Sussex.
4. ^ a b c ""Exodus without a map": What happened to the Durban moment? by Edward Webster | South African History Online". www.sahistory.org.za. Retrieved 15 February 2025.
5. ^ Mamdani, M. 2021. Neither Settler nor Native: the Making and unmaking of Permanent Minorities. Johannesburg: Wits University Press.
6. ^ a b c Keniston, Billy (2017). "The Weight of Absence: Rick Turner and the End of the Durban Moment". Theoria: A Journal of Social and Political Theory. 64 (151): 20–28\. ISSN 0040-5817.
7. ^ ROAPE (6 March 2023). "Southern Africa's workers movement on fire – the South African & Namibian strikes". ROAPE. Retrieved 15 February 2025.

## External links

[edit]

* Fluxman, Tony; Vale, Peter (2004). "Re-reading Rick Turner in the New South Africa" (PDF). International Relations. 18 (2): 173–189\. doi:10.1177/0047117804042671. S2CID 144755693.
* Macqueen, Ian (2010). "Black Consciousness in Dialogue: Richard Turner, Steve Biko and the 'Durban Moment', 1970–1974". Journal of Asian and African Studies. University of KwaZulu-Natal History Department. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.880.1033. doi:10.1177/0021909613493609. S2CID 146298315.
* Lambert, Rob (2010). "Eddie Webster, the Durban moment and new labour internationalism" (PDF). Transformation. 72: 26–47\. doi:10.1353/trn.0.0066. S2CID 154567031.
* Rick Turner, SA History Online

* v
* t
* e

Political history of South Africa

Defunct polities|

* Kingdom of Mapungubwe (c. 1075–c. 1220)
* Dutch Cape Colony (1652–1806)
* Mthethwa Paramountcy (c. 1780–1817)
* Ndwandwe Kingdom (c. 1780–1819)
* Cape Colony (1795–1910)
* Zulu Kingdom (1816–1897)
* Natalia Republic (1839–1843)
* Natal Colony (1843–1910)
* Orange Free State (1854–1902)
* South African Republic (1856–1902)
* Griqualand East (1861–1879)
* Griqualand West (1870–1873)
* Goshen (1882–1883)
* Stellaland (1882–1885)
* Nieuwe Republiek (1884–1888)
* Upingtonia (1885–1887)
* Klein Vrystaat (1886–1891)
* Orange River Colony (1902–1910)
* Transvaal Colony (1902–1910)
* Union of South Africa (1910–1961)
* Transkei (1976–1994)
* Bophuthatswana (1977–1994)
* Venda (1979–1994)
* Ciskei (1981–1994)

Events|

| Pre-colonial|

* Bantu migrations
* Battle of Salt River

|

1652–1815|

* Dutch settlement
* French Huguenot settlement
* Khoikhoi–Dutch Wars
* Xhosa Wars
* Battle of Muizenberg
* Battle of Blaauwberg
* Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814

1815–1910|

* Mfecane
* 1820 Settlers
* Great Trek
* Boer Republics
* Transvaal Civil War
* Mineral Revolution
* Witwatersrand Gold Rush
* South African Wars
* South Africa Act 1909 (National Convention)

1910–1948|

* South West Africa campaign
* Maritz rebellion
* Rand Rebellion
* Great Depression
* 1946 African Mine Workers' Union strike
* Bantustans

Apartheid|

* 1948 general election
* Apartheid legislation
* Pass laws
* Internal resistance
* Coloured-vote constitutional crisis
* Defiance Campaign
* Congress of the People
* Freedom Charter
* Women's March 1956
* 1957 Alexandra bus boycott
* Sharpeville massacre
* 1960 republic referendum
* International isolation
* UN Resolution 1761
* UNSC Resolution 591
* Academic boycott
* Disinvestment
* Constructive engagement
* Tar Baby Option
* Sporting boycott
* Olympics
* Rugby union
* Rivonia Trial
* Durban Moment
* Border War
* Israeli alliance
* Israel–South Africa Agreement
* Mafeje affair
* Soweto Uprising
* Weapons of mass destruction
* Project Coast
* Church Street bombing
* 1983 constitutional referendum
* Vaal uprising
* Langa massacre
* Rubicon speech
* Operation Vula
* Dakar Conference
* Transkei coup d'état
* Ciskei coup d'état
* Venda coup d'état
* Third Force
* CODESA
* Storming of the Kempton Park World Trade Centre
* Bisho massacre
* 1992 apartheid referendum
* Saint James Church massacre
* Bophuthatswana crisis
* Shell House massacre

Post-
apartheid|

* 1994 general election
* Government of National Unity
* Reconstruction and Development Programme
* Truth and Reconciliation Commission
* Arms Deal
* Floor crossing
* Soweto bombings
* African Renaissance
* Travelgate
* Xenophobia
* Attack on Kennedy Road
* Blikkiesdorp
* Marikana massacre
* 2012 Western Cape farm workers' strike
* Nkandlagate
* Racism
* 2014 platinum strike
* #RhodesMustFall protests
* #FeesMustFall student protests
* Tshwane riots
* 2019 service delivery protests
* 2019 Johannesburg riots
* COVID-19 pandemic
* 2020 Phala Phala Robbery
* 2021 unrest
* Lady R incident

Political culture|

* African nationalism
* Afrikaner Calvinism
* Afrikaner nationalism
* Anarchism
* Azania
* Baasskap
* Boerehaat
* Black Consciousness Movement
* Cape Independence
* Day of the Vow
* Greater South Africa
* Honorary whites
* Rooi gevaar
* Slavery
* Swart gevaar
* Uitlander
* Volkstaat

Defunct
organisations|

| Civic and political
organisations|

* Afrikaner Bond
* Afrikaner Broederbond
* Afrikaner Party
* AITUP
* APO
* AVF
* BPC
* Black Sash
* Boerestaat Party
* CDA
* CNIP
* CTEG
* COD
* Congress Alliance
* COSG
* CP
* DLF
* Dominion Party
* DP (1973–1977)
* DP (1989–2000)
* DPP
* DSM
* ECC
* FA
* FD
* Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners
* GNP
* Het Volk
* HNP (Herenigde)
* HNP (Herstigte)
* IDASA
* ID
* IP
* ISL
* Jeugkrag
* Johannesburg Reform Committee
* Labour Party (1910–1958)
* Labour Party (1969–1994)
* Liberal Party (1953–1968)
* NA
* NCP
* Natal Indian Congress
* NLP
* NNP
* NP
* NPP
* NRP
* NUSAS
* Occupy
* Orangia Unie
* Oranjewerkers
* Orde Boerevolk
* PAVN
* PFP
* Progressive Party (Cape Colony)
* Progressive Party
* PRP
* Radio Freedom
* Reform Party
* SABP
* SADECO
* SAIC
* SASO
* SAYCO
* SAYRCO
* South African Party (Cape Colony)
* South African Party (1911–1934)
* South African Party (1977–1980)
* TNIP
* Torch Commando
* UFP
* United Party
* Unionist Party
* National Party of Venda
* Volksparty
* Workers Party
* WOSA

|

Trade unions and
social movements|

* APF
* BCM
* BLATU
* CNETU
* CTSWU
* FCWU
* FNETU
* FOSATU
* ICU
* IWW
* MUSA
* NEUM
* NURHS
* PAWE
* SAAPAWU
* SACTU
* SAIF
* SARHU
* SATUC
* Die Spoorbund
* UDF
* Umkosi Wezintaba

Paramilitary and
terrorist organisations|

* APLA
* ARM
* AWB
* BBB
* Boeremag
* Greyshirts
* MK
* Ossewabrandwag
* Orde van die Dood
* PAGAD
* SANF

Histories of
political parties|

* African National Congress
* Democratic Alliance
* Pan Africanist Congress of Azania

Category

This South African history-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

|

* v
* t
* e

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[c.]: circa