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eventREF E-0012779Revised

Event record

Local elections in Townships

Date
26 Oct 1988
Updated
30 Sep 2019
Local elections in Townships

Following government's introduction of Black Township Councils in the late 1980s, which attempted to co-opt Black leaders into the Apartheid system without sharing power, the government introduced elections to give the impression that these were popular and democratic councils. However, many Black people in various townships boycotted these local council elections and the United Democratic Front (UDF) organised anti-elections campaigns across the country. The government coerced people to go out and vote whilst increasing its repressive measures by detaining those who called a boycott of the elections. As a result of these repressive measures, the UDF declared the elections "Gunpoint Elections".

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How we know this

  1. 01Johnson, S. (1988). " Neither fair nor free, says human rights dossier ", Weekly Mail: Vol 4. (42) p 2.
  2. 02Johnson, S. (1988). "The gunpoint mandate" Weekly Mail: Vol 1 (42) pp 1-2.  

Last updated · 30 Sep 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2011, March 16). Local elections in Townships. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012779

South African History Online (2011) 'Local elections in Townships', South African History Online, 16 March. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012779 (Accessed: 8 August 2026).

South African History Online, Local elections in Townships [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012779, (accessed 8 August 2026).

"Local elections in Townships." South African History Online, 16 Mar. 2011, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012779. Accessed 8 Aug. 2026.

South African History Online. "Local elections in Townships." South African History Online. March 16, 2011. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012779.

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