This was a powerful way for black South Africans to protest against Apartheid. It began in Soweto and other townships in 1984, and by mid-1987 had spread to about 55 townships countrywide. The tenants of sub-standard houses that belonged to the government refused to pay their rent, with three demands: that all township councilors (seen as government stooges) should resign and the councils be dissolved, that the state of emergency be lifted and that all political detainees be released. The state tried to deal with the boycott in a number a ways, ranging from offering home-ownership to sending in police with their heads covered in balaclavas to evict or serve notice on residents late at night.
