African bus boycott lasting ten weeks is initiated in Johannesburg and Pretoria.

When the Public Utility Transport Corporation (PUTCO) increased the bus fare in 1957, it was met with resistance from the public. More than 80 percent of the Black population lived below the poverty line meaning that commuters would be unable to afford the increased fare. On 7 January 1957 the Alexandra People’s Transport Committee (APTAC) was formed to spear head a bus boycott. The boycott, which originated in Alexandra, quickly spread to other areas like Sophiatown, Germiston and Edenvale and Pretoria townships such as Attridgeville and Lady Selbourne. After months of walking to work and constant harassment by police, the commuters and the company finally reached a compromise on 1 April of that year. The commuters could then purchase tickets with the old price on condition that the government did a study on the need for a wage increase and that a permanent solution is reached regarding bus fare prices. By June the government had doubled the levy on employers for subsidization of African transport, meaning the old price was retained.