: ••9
UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND
HISTORY WORKSHOP 1984
W
:LASS, COMMUNITY AND CONFLICT;
LOCAL PERSPECTIVES
31 JANUARY - 4 FEBRUARY, 19 84
AUTHOR: HELEN DE JAGER
TITLE; MUSIC AND CHANGE IN BLACK URBAN CULTURE
DURING THE FIRST HALF OF THE 1960s.
UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND
HISTORY WORKSHOP 1984
CLASS, COMMUNITY CONFLICT:
LOCAL PERSPECTIVES
31 JANUARY - 4 FEBRUARY, 1984
AUTHOR: HELEN DK JAGliU
TITLE: MUSIC AND CHANGE IN li.l.ACK UKUAM CUI.TUKK
DURING THE FIRST HALF OF THE I'JdOs.
In South Africa the social and political processes begunin the decac'; of the fifties had profound demographicsignificance oti the lives of the majority of black people,and highlighted the issue of cultural change.
It is in the bleak decade of the sixties, particularly theearly years, that the conjuncture of both the directionsand the forces of the 1950's, assumed the forms thatwould recur in subsequent years. The sixties signalled anew period of physical and material control that pro-duced new responses.
An essential point, however, is that South African urbanblacks were moving from parochial to more internationalinfluences. I., the sphere of political influence, Africannationalism was demonstrating its successes in the grantingof independence in much of Africa. Leaders and ideo-logues such as Kwame Nkrumah, Julius Nyerere and JomoKenyatta were perceived ( particularly by the younggeneration) as leaders of promise and stature. In theirdiffering ways they proposed an African future of hopeand communality. Their failures and the emptiness ofmuch of their rhetoric had not yet become evident. (1).
For the generation growing up in the sixties, the mediawas the major transmitter of new cultural forces and ideas.The 'pop' music boom had just begun and radio's andgramophones had become common commodities. It wasin the early sixties — the period with which this paperdeals — that South Africa lost most of its indigenoustalent and the foundations were laid for a new urbanculture that bred the '76 generation.
1960 saw the official death of the Ahc, and its 48 yearexistence as the major black political organisation. Like-wise the PAC, which had been formed only two yearspreviously, was banned. Since 1960 the continual spawn-ing and demise of political, semi-political and cultural
groupings, has been due to physical and organisationalisolation, a lack of funds, police surveillance, the constantremoval of and imprisonment of leaders and the fear ofharassment and spies. The fact that most of the of the'60's and '70's were not closely linked, in a day to daysense, with older and more established political organ-isations, also contributed to disunity.
Another significant change was in the quality of educ-ation of political leaders. Much of the 'Old Gaurd' hadbeen educated at relatively liberal mission institutions, asyet untouched by the guiding principles of Bantu Edu-cation. The new generation of potential leaders was thefirst to experience the effects of Buvitu education, and itis not -1 all fortuitous that two of the most importantSouth African movements in the years between 1960 and1976, namely SASO and BPC, emerged out of an academiccontext.
The lack of real leadership and resistance in the 1960'sis nevertheless not that difficult to understand in retro-spect. While one could suggest that an increase in wagesand a growing internal economy implied less hardshipand therefore a more passive population, the argument isweak and ahistorical. The roots of disunity and dis-organisation lay not only in the previously mentionedfactors, but also in the history of black political organ-isations in the years preceeding I960, when the ANCfailed repeatedly to consolidate political gains and support,"For social revolutionaries within the Congress alliancenothing succeeded like failure: the oppresive characterof the State had to be revealed, time and time again. Fromthis perspective, the heroes were the vanquished, not thevictorious.'' ( 2) Some of this failure lay in the changingdemographic composition during the '40's and '50's andthe issues over which resistance could be organised.
The legal infrastructure which came into existence inthe i950's exerted a control over the black population,that despite resistance, the ANC was not capable ofeffectively countering. Yet another force which high-}it|liled tiro ineffectiveness of the ANC was the AfricanisteleiiKHii HI Congress, which gained ground throughoutIIM: !%0':; iiml "'waa led by young militants eager to seeConcjuuBf; embark upon a more adventurous course."(3)
Tlic political vacuum created as a result of the clamp-down folio wing Khatpeville was not easily filled. TheconliniKilion, and indeed acceleration of the issues overwhich HO much resistance was expressed in the 1950's,namely removals, Bantu education and passes, resultedin a period of sporadic resistance such as at Cato Manor,but little that was sustained or effectively organised. Thefailure of so many paths of resistance appears to haveobliged a period of reflection and adaptation.
The change in the economy also otters some under-standing as to the lack of political organisation and thechanges that have occured since 1960. The '60's werea period of growth. Although South Africa left theCommonwealth in 1961, the currency remained linked tothe sterling area and one of the advantages for non-resident investors was that of not being locked into theSouth African economy. The public sector also investedheavily in the economy, with the consequence that de-spite the dampening effect of Sharpeville, recovery wasrealtively rapid and strong. A clear indication of thiscan be seen in the GDP figures which between the years1963 to 1970 rose at an annual average rate of 6 .^4)
The area of the economy most favoured for develop-ment in the 1960's was that of labour intensive industry.In 1960 the Government's policy of Decentralisationcame into action. This programme was intended to resolvethe question of black political participation and to avertthe cost of industrialisation, described by the ViljoenCommission as being that of "immorality and subversion."(5)
The control of the black workforce and its forced re-moval from established urban centres was a major em-phasis of the '60's. Employment on the mines decreased,while industry and commerce revealed a new growth inemployment figures. The number of unskilled workersdropped and as one market survey put it, "with furtherrestrictions in controlling migrant labour force this up-ward trend (i.e. towards greater numbers of skilled wor-kers) will continue into the future" (6)
The so-called 'migrants' were often urban residents whohad been moved out. The government set about creating'villages' and towns for blacks at a distance from urbanareas, such as Garankuwa 22 klm fqijm Pretoria. Many ofthese 'villages" boasted no facilities normal to a largecommunity, and without any exaggeration could bedescribed as dormitory towns. Other townships weredesigned to cater for the new'border industries'.
The conscious reversal of the process of black migrationto the cities, and its implications for those affected, aresuggested by the sheer volume of people moved. "Overa million labour tenants and farm squatters and 400,000city dwellers were resettled in Bantustans, the populationof which increased by 70c/cin the 1960's. In addition327,000 people were brought directly under the controlof the Bantustan authorities as a result of townshipsbeing incorporated within the boundaries of the reservesneighbouring the\r'(7)
In the urban areas the changing demographic patternwas evidenced in an altered proportion of the sexes aswell as of age groups. A comparative census chart ( seeappendix a) reveals this more clearly.
This change in the distribution of the sexes suggeststhat contrary to the governments intention of main-taining a migrant labour force, an urban workforce wasbeing created and was reproducing itself. Family
5structures changed as the exigencies of employment plusmeeting the demands and requirements of the boardsthat decided on rights of residence, resulted in manychanges in the 'traditional' family structure. Marriages ofconvenience, which earned people the right to live in theuily iinii in »!in caso of men, escape single hostels, occured.The bioakdown in 1.1 u; extended family system plus thenow Ki.iiiflanis of urb;in existence led to numerous in-s'tiiiices ol' family break-up. One feature of the urban areasUial reinforced this dmivje was die greater number ofurban bred people with no family history in any ruralregion, (see chart:, appendix b.)
The pattern of the sixties was one in which the govern-ment pursued its blueprint for "accomodating a pluralsociety', the blueprint had a symet ry divested, at onelevel, of human response, but such massive incursionsinto people's lives cannot and do not occur in a vacuum.While the reasons outlined previously, suggest some of thecauses for the relative passivity of the black population,it does not signify acceptance of these changes. Thatthe new patterns created a far stronger distinction be-tween rural and urban is clear, and it is with the urbanpopulation that this study is mainly concerned, particular-ly with the effects of the environment on the generationthat was growing up in the 1%0's.. For the black population the 1960's were a time of
upheaval with any economic benefits §b'ing offset by alack of stability and direction. It was also a period ofsharp contrasts within the African continent. The 'windsof change' were evident everywhere. Todd Matshikizasumming up the irony in the contrast in his column'With the Lif Off wrote of the new beerhalls nearDubs location and Nancefield cemetery; "Talking ofgoing away, I've got friends who spend every weekend
6in ''Ghana". They steal out there from Friday afternoon .. they say . . that the joint is ticking with self-government.They've even got a new creed:
I believe in the freedom of the people,
the victorious end of our struggle,and the flourish of Ghana forever. "(8)
The contrasts were evident not .only at the level ofpolitics above and below the Zambezi but also in a moredirect way in the loss of community that came with thedestruction of the communities that had existed in the1950's, and the loss of which had caused so much resist-ance in that decade. As Casey Motsisi wrote, "Sophia-town must have been the busiest and brightest antheapever when the Government spade turned it over, and nowall the King and Queen ants have gone to other heaps."(9)In the destroyed township of Eersterus about 12 milesfrom Pretoria, ac-hebeen, aptly named 'Marshall Square'had replaced a previous one known as 'Meet Mekaar',a writer describing it wrote "Despite the drab crumblingsurroundings, the dirt and squalor, there is a gaiety -they come to enjoy themselves, forget themselves, forgetthe world and its worries while sipping at a brimmingskaal . . . yet despite the gaiety, the singing and dancing. . . many rot here."(10)
Other unsttling factors were the continuation of viol-ence, poverty and high levels of unemployment. Althoughthe gangs of the '50's came to be glamorised as part ofthe lost past, violence continued. The main differencewas that with the destruction of such areas as WesternAreas, the white metropolis which had "offered thegangsters the best terrain for survival and prosperity''(11)was no longer so readily accesible. Gangsters had alwayspreyed on the people in the townships, but as the sixtiesprogressed the romance of the old gangs such as theAmericans lay in the fact that they had been more like
7township Robin Hoods, whereas the new gangs, bycontrast merely underlined the ghetto nature of thenew townships. In the '50's the gangs had terrorisedthe dance halls and clubs of Johannesburg. PeterReynolds Makhube, who had been a doorman atvirhiiilly every major club and dance hall recalled howin out* ni(|lil. .ilonc he had collected 21'revolvers from!:;;olsi':: <il tin; Bantu Mori's Social Centre. He consider-(K.I Ilia! ;;tai>iliru| at the door in the early sixties wasby control an "easy business"(12) The 1950's sawIho demise o!" the big organised gangs, but violencepon;i:;!.t!<:l into the next decade in the form of smallergroups and pairs of thugs.
The transmutation of life in the 50's became thesubject for theatre. A play that captured the braggart,swahbuckling township hero was 'King Kong'. Thisplay more than any other in the history of blacktheatre in South Africa portrayed and delineatedan epoch. When 'King Kong' left to tour abroadits departure ushered in a new period in local blackcultural life. The play itself recorded the life ofEzekiei Dhlamini, a boxer of considerable pugnacity,who was brutalised by his environment and whoeventually committed suicide at Leeuwkop Prison.The play itself did not make any strong politicalstatement, but it did bring before a multi-racialaudience some of the hardships, violence and frust-ration of African township life.''(13) The producersattempts to make its appeal more internationl beforeit went on tour abroad in 1961 resulted in a bowd-lerised version that "looked and sounded more likea London Cockney variety show, than an Africanjazz opera based on the life of stormy Pimville'swildest man''.(14) Nevertheless, despite its failure
8many of the stars who went on tour with it used it asa one way ticket to the greater promise of Englandand America. Hazel Futa, Patience Gwcabe, GwigwiMrewbi, Peggy Phango, Mumsie Mthombeni and theManhattan Brothers were all performers, who liketheir urban counterparts, were reaching beyond theparochial limitations of South Africa and its extensiverestrictions on their lives.
The changing composition and demands of urbancultural life were to a more sophisticated internation-al and urban status. The glamorous gangsters of the'50's had been admired for their relatively succesfulimitation of American gangsters as portrayed infilm, as well as, for want of a better term, their'street sense'. As the distinction between rural andurban became more pronounced, so too did thedrive for urban sophistication and 'street sense'express itself.
The young urban people demanded a lifestyle and .entertainment that went'upwards' fiorm the level'King Kong' had attained. Their influences were ba'TckAmerican and their style was modelled on the imagestransmitted via the media. The jazz generation whodanced the 'phatha phatha'(touch touch) and thetwist, were the descendants of Martha of MarabiDance. A play which bore witness to this new
-..'ion and described both its love of jazz and dancingwas 'Manana the Jazz Prophet'. This play writtenand directed by Gibson Kente in 1962, was extreme-ly popular in Soweto. The cast included Letta Mbuli,Bridget 'Snowy Gwabini, Stanley Dibetso, plus themale quartet the Saints, who had been part of the
9cart of King Kong. The play, which was relatively light-hearted, dealt with the the young urban generation and themisunderstanding between them and their parents. Thetheme in itself was neither new nor parochial. Only itsidriliori to ;i :;p(H:ifie place and time made it so. In essenceil (IOJII will) .in issue that in the early '60's was inter-Miilioiiiil. i'Vont 11 i.e 'I'ukio Joes in Ghana to the Teds andllock(!i!i in linf|liiitc'l, the sharing of the new popularmusic was A oorninon strand As Sledman-Jones describedit, "this iiitc.ii.sa, multidimensional cultural explosionimams that each now generation travels through a differ-ent mental universe en route to adulthood; and the gapbetween its cultural shell and that of its predecessors isconstantly widening. "(15)
In the early sixties the current of change in the town-ships was a curious mixture of instability, less parochialthinking and to a degree, hedonism. New standards wereevolving. The townships were much bigger that the oldones. Living conditions had altered and there was a greaterdistance from white urban centres. With so much in-stability a resort to both conspicuous consumption andentertainment was no t , and is not incomprehensible.
Establishing a new urban identity and being moreremoved form traditional cultural transmitters, newones emerged. The children of the '5O.s who had gather-ed around corner bicycle shops and nobly imitated theirfavourite bands on their home made instruments, werenow accustomed to music offered on radio and thegramophone, and were also in a position to buy them.A live band or musician was not so necessary at a partyor stokvel as a record or the radio would suffice. (16)
As communities were broken down and new town-ships established, traditional places of entertainmentdissapeared. Halls were erected to replace the lost ones(although there were not enough). Communities, how-ever take time to evolve and the new centres took some
10
time to become popular. Activities for example at theOrlando Y M C A consisted of teaching people howto dance, how to eat with a knife and fork and on whichside to walk next to a lady (17) - hardly activities thatgenerate great interest!
Despite the fact that anything rural was too close forcomfort and viewed in a disparaging light (country bump-kins were known as 'Moegoes'(18). The sophisticationthat was sought was of the kind demonstrated by theAmerican blacks and conveyed in American films andmusic.The identification with American blacks was ofgreat importance at that period and influential in mattersof style.
The jazz audiences of the early '60's were clearlydistinguishable in dress and style. Bearing a close resembl-ance to the 'Ivies', the 'Clevers' as they were known,were the trendsetters. 'Clevers' style expressed itself indress — Dobbs hats, Ayers and Smith caps as well asStetsons, turn-up trousers worn with viyella shirts — thosewith a checked pattern were known as Mcgregors.Cardigans were Pringles and Ballantines, while shoeshad to be Florsheims, sometimes called 'black AmericanCadillacs'. The style was an expensive one. Some of the'Clevers' also had the big American cars, but they werefew in number. OccupationalL 'clevers' were an interest-ing group. Many survived on their wits alone. They wereidentified with the American hustlers and city slickers—'clever' chaps who had learnt the art of survival in thecity. Many 'clevers' were in fact small time gangsters,bootleggers, diamond smugglers and dagga dealers. Thestyle of the 'clevers' was however not confined to thecity slickers. In the early '60's it was adopted by skilled
11
workers, journalists and people beginning to work theirwsy into middle-management. Unlike the 'clevers' ofthe '50's those of the '60's tended to have at least aJunior Certificate. The style spread itself across the 17-35ye.ir aye group, and is still evident today amongst that(.jonoiv.il.ion.
The 'eleven/ admired actors like Sydney Poitier, while1110 Tiiin 'Sliiiet with no Name' with Richard Widmarkin it, wat; enormously influential for it epitomised thefjily slicker. Oilier actors who offered role patterns wereFrank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jnr. inQueans IJ.
Hugh Masakela, in a recent interview, summed up thesignificance of style as expressed in clothes in the late'50's early '60's, or the 'good bad old days' as he callsthem, "In those days, a man was known and recognisedby the kind of label that was attached to his clothes.We used to spend hours cleaning our shoes, and then goto cinemas very early, just to show off."(19)
It should be emphasised that although it is arguedthat the urban people of the '60's had virtually no ruralbase, it is not suggested that there was no previous urbanculture, quite the contrary. The difference lay in thefact that previous generations had lived under differentgovernments, with a degree of moderate hope that somesolution to their political future could be achieved throughnegotiation. For those in the '60's those possibilitieswere rapidly dissapearing. Even the tenuous freeholdof places like Sophiatown was gone. Like the life of'Softown' it was destined to become another part of theromance of what was lost. The early '60's was a timewhen the full impact of that change had not been fullyabsorbed. As its message became more clear, the cul-tural life of the townships was increasingly depletedof its own talent and die way was clear for imported
12
products.Prior to the 'brain drain', the growth in stylistic and
cultural change in music was both rapid and longlasting.Jazz music characterised the early '60's, but by jazz ismeant all the new and different contemporary styles.Artists such as Dave Brubeck, John Coltrane, CharlieParker, Johnny Hodges and Oscar Peterson were thebiggest influence and the most popular foreign music-ians. Their importance was however also mixed with theimports of the first rock 'n roll boom, that had begun inthe U.S.A. in 1956 with the rise to fame of Elvis Presley.Unlike their British counterparts, South African blackswere content to and did describe rhythm and bluesmusic under the catchall title of jazz. The seperationand distinction of jazz f£rm other forms of music didnot occur in popular parlance until the generation thatgrew up on jazz were old enough to be displaced by newmusical styles.
The importance of jazz in South Africa is suggestedin the parallel one can draw with the emergence of jazzin the U.S.A. Tony Palmer suggests that the revolutionin music in America which heralded the emergence -ofragtime, jazz, blues etc. was not to be found in the earlydays of slavery. He argues rather that 'popular music . .,began soon after and probably as a result of the day ofJubilee.(1% He argues that as segregation increased inAmerica and black people were increasingly isolatedfrom "white entertainment, worship, transport and life,the black community tumed.A itself, forcing it to relyon its own resources. As Richard Wright described it,"Our blues, jazz, swing and boogie woogie are our spirit-uals of the city pavements, our longing for freedom andopportunity, an expression of our bewilderment anddespair in a world whose meaning eludes us."(20)
13
The parallel while broad and tendentious, does exist.Early expressions ol new black musical forms in SouthAfrica's urban centres such as Marabi, could be seen ina similar context to the above. Early styles continuedas :.\ source of influence in the '60's, but they wereIie.-H'ily overlaid by American jazz influences. The appealol ilii:; music l.iy no! only in its accesibility, but in its1'iimili.iril.y and innovation. While the acceptance of newKlylos from abroad is seen by some as a destruction ofimlifjcnouK culture!, if. is suojtjested here that that accept-;inci: rather lealil'ins to the fact that black society has'ncvi'i' reached a sJnle of disintegration rather the blackman has fashioned himself new institutions, worked outnew norms of existence, in short built up his own socialorganisation, quite seperate from that of whites."(21)
However what was being adapted and created differedconsiderably f£rm previous forms of expression. Aspreviously mentioned, the increasing urbanisation and theattendant changes, which were in the nature of andorganic as opposed to conjunctural change(22), meanta less localised and different set of responses to existingconditions. The rise and growth of the media had itsresults during this period and the growth in foreign in-fluence (albeit black American) in cultural expressionsbecame more evident.
Coplan notes how "as musical specialisation increased,musicians and their audiences tied their social status totheir distance from indigenous popular music in favour ofthe exact reproduction of imported styles. "(23) He con-tinues his argument suggesting that 'the submergence ofmarabi under newer, more Afro-American oriented stylesapparently resulted more from the continuing modern-isation or internationalisation of the urban African self-image, than from the clearing of Doornfontein, Prospecttownship or Malay Camp."
14
This observation leads to one of the most subtle invers-ions and ironies in the history of black music in its longand complex journey from Africa to the New World andback. The musical form that permits such a focus isthat of bebop and its contemporary form of jazz, knownas 'free jazz'. As M. Miller describes it "the developmentof jazz from the turn of the century up to around 1940can be described as a process in which Afro-Americanmodes of musical expression were increasingly alignedwith the standards of entertainment music derived fromEuropean middle-class light music. With swing, jazz andentertainment music had become virtually identical.From then on this trend was reversed — jazz was onceagain, in an increasing measure 'blackened' - mainly bytaking over elements of the blues."(24) Bebop althoughinitially confined to a small audience, both in the U.S.A.as well as in South Africa; became highly influential inthe 1960's. The irony lay in the fact that as SouthAfrican blacks were increasingly seeking direction inblack American music, the latter music driven on bythe growing consciousness of its own African roots andintensified by the struggle for civil rights in America,was returning to a more african sound.
At the same time there is the process described byCharles Kriel which concerns the appropriation andcommercialisation by white musicians of black musicwhich "has stimulated the Negro community and itsmusical spokesmen to generate a new music it cancall its own."(25)
In South Africa where there was an extremely limit-ed outlet for local music, the lessons of bebop and freejazz made sense as people were obliged to retract intotheir own references and directions. Their experience
15paralleled the need descibed by Leroi Jones of youngnegroes to 'erect a meta-culture as isolated as their grand-parents, but issuing from the evolved sensibility of amodern urban black American who had by now achieveda fluency with the socio-cultural symbols of Western111 in king. "(26)
'rhi! loiwoivi of: bo bop and free jazz were best expressedhy L'tirh; Ivlcgretjor's band the 'Blue Notes' who oftenl><; i formed in I he "(roe jazz' style and were also one ofI he most popular bands of the time. It is worthwhileexamining the fortunes of the Blue Notes for theirhistory demonstrates that of the early '60's quite aptly.The group which won both the 1962 and 1963 ColdCastle Jazz Festivals, was composed of Mongezi Fezaon trumpets, Johnny Dyani on bass, Louis Moholo ondrums and Dudu Pukwane on saxophone. The grouphad started its career playing as the resident band at aCape Town club called the Vortex. In the words of DuduPukwane, the group used to be able to play as a mixedgroup in the Cape "'because the Cape was the last placethese guys (i'e. the Nationalist Party) were hitting. Backaround 1960 they didn't have much influence. So Chriswas white, the rest of us were black, and it didn't matter.But when we gotjon the road it was different. Thingsgot heavy . . One time Chris had to put make up on hisface to make him dark. After that Chris said 'this is itfor me here'.
The effect of the Government's increasingly raci-Jlyseperate legislation created the equivalent of the braindrain, both in the field of music and writing.(28)- Inmusic even though a lack of venues has been quoted asa reason for the departure of many musicians , there werein fact quite a few venues that survived into the earlyyears of the decade. The variety they offered serves as
16an even stronger contrast to the dearth of them in the later'60's. The emphasis was on jazz clubs, such as the ClubEverest in Fordsburg. The United States InformationService held jazz sessions every Wednesday, while atDorkay house there were fortnightly jam sessions. JazzAppreciation Societies also existed while local blacknewspapers featured record clubs offering a wide varietyof music. The early sixties also witnessed music festivalssponsored by commerce. The Cold Castle festivals whichflourished briefly in the early '60's were a form of musicalentertainment that preceeded the epoch making festivalsof a similar kind abroad. They were, however not re-vived locally until the 1970's.
Sponsorship such as the Cold Castle Festival was theexception. White organisations sponsored classical musicat the expense of township jazz.. The latter was notnecessarily hostile to classical music and the traditionof Western music. The critical difference here lies inthose who saw classical music as something that couldbe melded with what existed, and those who aspiredtowards the acceptance of Western culture and all itstrappings at the expense of their own. There were manypeople who, like the early missionary converts, saw thevital aspects of urban life as sinful and degrading andtownship jazz was part of that moral turpitude.
The classical music favoured tended to be of a relig-ious rather than secular nature, as the annual perform-ances of the African Musical Society ( sponsored bythe MOTH organisation) revealed. This society regular-ly gave renditions of Handels Messiah, as did massedAfrican choirs under the direction of the AfricanMusic and Drama Association. The SABC also sponsoredclassical music in the townships and in August 1963gave its first symphony concert at Mofola Hall.
17
Another widespread activity and emphasis was theformation of choirs of schoolchildren who regularlypeiformed in a complex network of competitions. Thelatter choirs were however not confined to renditionsof Western choral music, instead they often performedsoiitj-.; tlini. won: of a syncretic nature as well as traditional.
Will* IJH; liniiiij number of young children in the town-ship::, c'ljiniiuuiiiiiis Tried to organise forms of recreationt!i..il would UIIIM lor llie/cand prevent them from be-coiiiiiKj '• ir.ol'.'ii's.1 In Dolttonville the residents tried toria.se money to build i\ cinema, while in the traditionof '".itliur I I'm Id lost on's Band, an enterprising Orlandoshopkeeper, D..111 Pooe, organised first a football club -which was not very succesful - and then a type of boy-scouts band which became so popular that he had toorganise a similar one for girls.
The young children of the townships, perhaps morethan any other group, symbolised the urban characterthat was emerging. They were also the first generationto experience Bantu education. Many of them weregrowing up with- little parental supervision which offeredwide possibilities for truancy. They were offered the'tradition' of the town, not the country- Survival andpeer group recognition functioned differently in thecity and ethnic considerations in such a medley ofethnic groups, had only a passing significance.
The children were growing up playing in the streetsof the vast new townships. They were the nucleus ofa new society that did not have Sophiatown or such acommunity as its matrix.
18
Their games and yangs were based on neighbourhoodand street divisions. Games universal to children werecommon ; hide and seek with girls was known as 'blackMa-Mpatile, spinning tops, catapults— skiet-rekker's, andthe b'ula hoop were popular. More ingenious were therfhome made cars and swords made out of wire. The latterwere necessary for the mock battles inspired by theirmovie heroes. The children were enormously influencedby the films of the day such as the Ten Gladiators ('fullof strong people!). Zorro, The Man Alone and Tarzan.
Behaviour, invented games, language and movementwere based on these films. Even clothing was influencedby them, although it was rather hard to always imitateAmerican clothing. One instance was the Navarone cap,which was seen in the film The Guns of Navarone. Thiscap however was not worn by the very young, but ratherby the 15-18 year old group.
The children however had a very distinct and desiredstyle of dressing. No self respecting parent though wouldindulge their children's taste, so money had to be aquiredthrough their own efforts. A favourite method was toact as a golf caddy. The main suppliers of the importantitems of clothing, which consisted of Fueng Kongsneakers, Green line pants ( which were khaki shortswith green lines on the sides) Makhombi-Nhlela (soft-ball hats) and P F sneakers, were Sdogwa and Mrs andMadame in Diagonal street.
Such status symbols were a far cry from rural pre-occupations. Even more so were night time activiteswhich consisted of burning tyres and cardboard boxeson street corners, while benzine sniffing was consideredand excellent pastime.
19
The children admired the toughness and action in thefilms they saw and the hip fast flash lifestyle symbolised:by big American cars with six lights at the back, knownas 'Six-Mabone'. Their educational ambitions were higher
standard six a:; a minimum, while music was a mixtureof local «ind imported jazz and soul. Unlike the children
of ilie lil'i.i«:s ihey did not have corner bicycle shops,inn for I.!Ml iriidlor did large groups exist. Children in the'!>!)'., ftriiuhiiod ihoir favourite local bands, children in1.1 in iii.Kl.ius wJlviossed the birth of the four man poptjioup on radio.
Tluir parent:; sought to imbue them with respectablestandards and Sunday school was an important ritual.Guitars were the devils instrument in many homes, whichincreased their desirability. The ANC and PAC were alsobanned topics. The memories of the '50's and Sharpe-yille were too strong and parents were not unnaturallyfearful in the new dispensation of incurring displeasurein any context. For the children of the sixties their refer-ence points were the city and peer group sharing. Theywere consciously and unconsciously absorbing the in-fluence of the modern media and were aspiring to stand-ards that were urban and non-parochial.
Unlike the 1985).'s when open support for the ANCand PAC has become de riguer, the chifclren of the sixtieswere witness to their parents political self censorship andfear. They were also witness to the problems and diff-iculties of urban living. It is possible that some of thedistance summed up today in the parents acknowledge-ment of their inability to control the 'kids', as the '76generation is often described, lies in the children's naivedisdain and incomprehension of their parents attitudesin the sixties.
