Local elections in Townships

Following government's introduction of Black Township Councils in the late 1980s, which attempted to co-opt Black leaders into the Apartheid system without sharing power, the government introduced elections to give the impression that these were popular and democratic councils. However, many Black people in various townships boycotted these local council elections and the United Democratic Front (UDF) organised anti-elections campaigns across the country. The government coerced people to go out and vote whilst increasing its repressive measures by detaining those who called a boycott of the elections. As a result of these repressive measures, the UDF declared the elections "Gunpoint Elections".