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Beer Hall Boycott

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Women-led protests against South African beer regulations

The Beer Hall Boycott of South Africa was a nationwide, women-led campaign of boycotting and demonstrating against municipal beer halls stretching from roughly the 1920s to the 1960s. The Native Beer Act of 1908 had made it illegal for South African women to brew traditional beer. Police raided homes and destroyed home-brewed liquor so that men would use municipal beerhalls. In response, women attacked the beerhalls and destroyed equipment and buildings.

Alcohol legislation

The Native Beer Act of 1908 made it illegal for South African women to brew traditional beer. Legislation restricted African natives from consuming European-produced alcohol. Educated African men were issued permits, which allowed them to consume European wine, spirits and malt beer. The average uneducated person would consume sorghum beer made by African women. South Africa lost its preferential trade status in the Commonwealth when it became a republic in 1961. This put the export trade of wine and beer under threat and soon there was an increasing demand for the lifting of the prohibition.

Before 1928 African women played an important role in beer-brewing for government structures and beer halls. The sale of sorghum beer in municipalities was an industry worth R3 million in 1961. The Liquor Amendment Act of 1962 lifted authority on Africans as liquor consumers. Africans were prohibited from entering the liquor market, however, they could purchase liquor from 'non-European' entrances of white bottle stores. By the 1950s, police were no longer able to control the sales of 'European' liquor in urban areas. The South African police stated that the lifting of the prohibition would normalise the drinking habits of African people.

Beer Hall Boycott

The boycott of the beer halls was an indication of the growing discontent of people against many oppressive measures before democracy in South Africa.

Beer Hall Riots started in 1929 nationwide. These boycotts and riots were in response to the Native Beer Act of 1908 which resulted in many African women in urban and rural areas losing a source of income. Tradition beer brewers were resistant towards municipal beer halls as they gave authority to councils to sell African beer and the African brewer would no longer be able to make an income. The Natal branch of the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU) campaigned for the closure of municipal beer halls. Between 1950 and 1951, annual municipal profits from beer sales exceeded £175,000; by 1952, those profits exceeded £200,000.

During the 1976 Soweto riots, student mobs attacked beer halls. Almost every beer hall in Soweto was affected. The police killed several Diepkloof rioters as they fled from a beer hall during demonstrations. The beer halls destroyed in 1976 were never rebuilt.

Durban

Discussion of Beer Hall Boycotts started as early as 1926 in Durban. On 17 June 1959 in Cato Manor, KwaZulu Natal, a group of African women staged a demonstration against liquor legislation at the Cato Manor Beer Hall. Other protesters entered a beer hall and destroyed beer and other property. The police dispersed the protesters and maintained surveillance throughout the evening. By 18 June 1959, demonstrations had spread to Dalton Road and Victoria Street in the city of Durban. This area is now part of the Liberation Heritage Route. Men present at these Beer Halls during the demonstrations were attacked and warned against supporting municipal beer halls. Director of the Bantu Administration Department, Mr Bourquin, addressed approximately 2000 women at the Cato Manor Beer Hall. After the women resisted orders from the police to disperse, a police baton charge took place. In a statement in the House of Assembly, the Minister for Justice stated that 25 buildings had been burnt down and 7 damaged, all associated to the Beer Hall riots. Beer Halls were temporarily closed and municipal bus services suspended after numerous attacks on vehicles. In June 1959 over 2000 women marched against men drinking in Beer Halls. The protestors organised a beer boycott which led to wide-scale uprisings all over Natal. During 1959, an estimated 20 000 women in Natal protested and more than 1 000 were convicted in the courts.

Eastern Cape

After the Minister of Native Affairs granted the council the exclusive right to brew and supply beer from 1 July 1938, over 200 African women marched to the City Hall of East London to interview the Mayor. The legislation affected many women who earned a living through brewing beer in shebeens. It is estimated that over 20,000 women from 30 areas participated in various demonstrations, including the Beer Hall Boycotts.

Notable people

Dorothy Nomzansi Nyembe

Main article: Dorothy Nyembe

Dorothy Nomzansi Nyembe was born on 31 December 1931 near Dundee in KwaZulu-Natal. She participated in the establishment of the ANC Women's League in Cato Manor. She was one of the leaders against the removals from Cato Manor in 1956, and also one of the leaders of the beer hall boycotts.

Mary Ngalo

Mary Ngalo was born in Cradock, Eastern Cape. She was arrested during the beer hall boycotts of 1957 and sentenced to one month's imprisonment.

See also

References

  1. C. W. A. Lansdown, South African Liquor Law (Cape Town, 1983), 332–44.
  2. ‘Bigger market for wines and brandies’, Rand Daily Mail, 17 June 1961
  3. ‘They quench their hunger with beer’, Star, 19 July 1961; Rand Daily Mail, 19 October 1961.
  4. * M. J. van den Berg, House of Assembly, Debates (19 June 1961), 8353.
  5. ^ Journal of African History, 40 (1999), pp. 367–388. Printed in the United Kingdom 1999 Cambridge University Press
  6. UG 55/1960, Report of the Commission of Enquiry into the General Distribution and Selling Prices of Intoxicating Liquor (Pretoria, 1960), 8. Chairman: Avril Malan.
  7. Rademeyer, Argus, 1 Feb. 1955.
  8. "Document 44 - "The Revolt of the Women", The Soyan, December 1959 | South African History Online". Sahistory.org.za. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  9. ^ "Africa Perspective" (PDF). abahlali.org. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
  10. "ICU women members, beer halls and boycotts | South African History Online". Sahistory.org.za. 16 August 2012. Archived from the original on 19 August 2017. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  11. Author—Christine Marot (29 August 2013). "Illicit Brewing Beer Halls Soweto Riots And The Rise Of Shebeens – SAB World of Beer". Worldofbeer.co.za. Retrieved 24 September 2017. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. Durban, Amandla (10 November 2016). "The Durban System and the Native Beer Act | Amandla!". Amandladurban.org.za. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  13. "The Role of Women in the Struggle against Apartheid | African National Congress". Anc.org.za. Archived from the original on 15 September 2017. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  14. "The Durban Riots". Nelsonmandela.org. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  15. MINKLEY, G. (1996). 'I SHALL DIE MARRIED TO THE BEER': GENDER, 'FAMILY' AND SPACE IN THE EAST LONDON LOCATIONS, c1923-1952. Kronos, (23), 135-157. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/41056370
  16. B.Bush. Imperialism, Race and Resistance: Africa and Britain, 1919-1945. Routledge, 04 Jan 2002. pg 164.
  17. "Dorothy Nomzansi Nyembe | South African History Online". Sahistory.org.za. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  18. "Dorothy Nomzansi Nyembe - A Titan of Struggle | African National Congress". Anc.org.za. Archived from the original on 19 August 2017. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  19. Supplement (25 August 2016). "60 Iconic Women — The people behind the 1956 Women's March to Pretoria (41-50)". Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  20. Women Marching Into the 21st Century: Wathint' Abafazi, Wathint' Imbokodo. HSRC Press, 2000

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