Strike called off

Strike called off
On 18 March the strike was declared over and on 12 April the Martial Law Inquiry Commission was set up. It concluded that the strike leadership "was closely connected with the Communist Party of South Africa . . . and that the real object of the communists was to bring about an armed uprising to establish a system which would lead to the complete abolition of the colour bar . . ." This was not to be. Jan Smuts lost the 1924 election to Barry Hertzog, with the Nationalist Party and the Labour Party combining to give them a majority. Hertzog's government and subsequent governments progressively entrenched the colour bar. After 1948, when the National Party came into power, this became apartheid, with a host of laws clearly demarcating the differences between blacks and whites. According to Shorten, there were 4 692 arrests during the three months of the battle; 853 people were brought to court; 46 were charged with high treason and murder; and 18 were convicted and sentenced to death. Fourteen of these were reprieved and four hangings took place. According to the Inquiry Commission, total deaths over the period were 153, broken down into 43 soldiers, 29 police, 39 strikers and suspected strikers, 18 whites and 24 others. Total wounded were 534. Within two years the affected mines had recovered sufficiently to have doubled and, in some cases, trebled their profits.

On 18 March the strike was declared over and on 12 April the Martial Law Inquiry Commission was set up. It concluded that the strike leadership "was closely connected with the Communist Party of South Africa . . . and that the real object of the communists was to bring about an armed uprising to establish a system which would lead to the complete abolition of the colour bar . . ."

This was not to be. Jan Smuts lost the 1924 election to Barry Hertzog, with the Nationalist Party and the Labour Party combining to give them a majority. Hertzog's government and subsequent governments progressively entrenched the colour bar. After 1948, when the National Party came into power, this became apartheid, with a host of laws clearly demarcating the differences between blacks and whites.

According to Shorten, there were 4 692 arrests during the three months of the battle; 853 people were brought to court; 46 were charged with high treason and murder; and 18 were convicted and sentenced to death. Fourteen of these were reprieved and four hangings took place.

According to the Inquiry Commission, total deaths over the period were 153, broken down into 43 soldiers, 29 police, 39 strikers and suspected strikers, 18 whites and 24 others. Total wounded were 534.

Within two years the affected mines had recovered sufficiently to have doubled and, in some cases, trebled their profits.