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eventREF E-0094045Revised

Event record

Several leading members of trade unions affiliated to the UDF are arrested

Date
14 Nov 1984
Updated
30 Sep 2019
Several leading members of trade unions affiliated to the UDF are arrested

In an attempt to prevent further unrest, the apartheid government arrested several leading members of trade unions affiliated to the United Democratic Front (UDF). The move followed nationwide unrest which broke out on 3 September 1984.  The Vaal Civic Association organised a stay away, school boycott and protest marches over rent increases. This led to clashes between police and residents that left thirty people dead. By the end of the year almost 150 people had been killed in political violence. This number increased to 600 by September 1985, a year after the initial outbreak of unrest. The unrest spread across the country and the government declared a State of Emergency.

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How we know this

  1. 01O’Malley P. ‘1984’, from Nelson Mandela Center of Memory and Dialog, [online], available at www.nelsonmandela.org.za (Accessed: 03 October 2012)
  2. 02South African History Online, ‘Township Uprising, 1984-1985’, [online], available at www.sahistory.org.za (Accessed: 03 October 2012)

Last updated · 30 Sep 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2012, November 7). Several leading members of trade unions affiliated to the UDF are arrested. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0094045

South African History Online (2012) 'Several leading members of trade unions affiliated to the UDF are arrested', South African History Online, 7 November. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0094045 (Accessed: 5 September 2026).

South African History Online, Several leading members of trade unions affiliated to the UDF are arrested [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0094045, (accessed 5 September 2026).

"Several leading members of trade unions affiliated to the UDF are arrested." South African History Online, 7 Nov. 2012, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0094045. Accessed 5 Sept. 2026.

South African History Online. "Several leading members of trade unions affiliated to the UDF are arrested." South African History Online. November 7, 2012. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0094045.

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