Why did township protests erupt again around Johannesburg in 1984?

In 1984, township protests erupted around Johannesburg primarily in response to the National Party’s introduction of a new constitution. This legislation was deeply exclusionary, as it granted limited franchise rights to Indian and Coloured populations while explicitly excluding the Black majority from the political process.1

This uprising was part of a broader period of intense resistance against the apartheid system, which had long enforced racial segregation and disenfranchisement. The unrest continued throughout the 1980s despite the government's declaration of a state of emergency and the deployment of the South African Defence Force. This sustained militancy, alongside increased economic sanctions and organized trade union activity, eventually pressured the government to enter negotiations, leading to the country's first democratic elections in 1994.12