ABSTRACT
In 1976 large-scale civil unrest occurred in Cape Town. There can be no exact casualty count, but of the 128 people reported killed, at least 108 were shot by the police during the months of August and September. This was the first time that so-called ‘Cape Coloured’ people, who in general terms occupy an intermediate position in the South African racial hierarchy between the ruling whites and the subordinated Black Africans, had rioted on such a large scale. There are many ways of containing potential unrest, such as the parading or the exercise of armed might; or the use of secret police power; or the careful control of education; or of the content of the communications media; or the gradual permitting of access to consumer goods to a selected portion of Black African urban workers in return for political docility.
