ABSTRACT
The controls over the movement of African labour which evolved during the course of industrialisation had direct implications for the pattern of African urbanisation and settlement. They profoundly affected the character of urban administration, making it extremely unlikely that government by consent might emerge. The Natives Act of 1923 obliged municipalities to establish a ‘Native Revenue Account’ for the financial provisioning of services. When the prohibition on the sale of liquor to, and its consumption by, Africans was lifted in 1961, the municipalities acquired a monopoly over its sale in the townships. This monopoly was transferred to the Bantu Affairs Administration Boards when they assumed control over the administration of Africans in the urban areas. In order to secure an effective fiscal base, municipalities needed to police closely their controls over beer-brewing. Stallardism has cast a long and sinister shadow over the history of urban African society. The administration of Soweto was grounded on the absolute prohibition established under Stallardism.
