The heat rises Long Walk Original Manuscript (Image #315)

repercussions. But there was a minority of stubborn and short sighted traders who thought of nothing else but their profits and who persisted in their defiance in spite of the friendly warnings not to risk a confrontation with the organisation. When all persuasion failed the boycott was applied. One of these shopkeepers ran a grocery and butchery and on the first day of the boycott he called in the police who arrested a picket. Notwithstanding the police intervention the boycott continued in full force and was so complete that on a Friday, the day when the workers are paid, he sold only 6 pence worth of goods. He gave up and fell in line. Another defiant trader ran a grocery shop, butchery and eating house and the whole complex had become a popular social centre where the youth whiled away the time. The launching of the boycott immediately made a once crowded place look like a haunted place, shunned by everybody. The shopkeeper never had a chance. The organisation was the real force in the area and commanded solid support from the community. A strong force and carefully selected pickets, using unconventional methods and keeping away customers to avoid arrest patrolled the area throughout the day. Few traders will persist a course of action if by so doing he drives away his customers to his rivals and his daily takings disappear. This is exactly what happened to this man. On the third day he broke down and wept. His resistance had collapsed. There were several other defiant business men but when they saw their takings plunging down they also yielded. On the Reef and with the exception of a few areas like Sophiatown at the height of the anti removal campaign, Alex Township and Brakpan, the ANC never reached the high level of organisation that