The New South Africa and the Socialist Vision: Positions and Perspectives Toward a Post-Apartheid Society 0391039261, 9780391039261

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The New South Africa and the Socialist Vision

THOMAS K. RANUGA

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The George Washington University

Gelman Library Lx

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The New South Africa and the Socialist Vision

REVOLUTIONARY STUDIES Series Editor: PAIJI^ LE BI.ANC

China, Marxism, Democracy Edited by Thomas Barrett Cliina’s Urban Revolutionaries Gregor Benton A Dreamer’s Paradise Lost Paul Buhle Socialism from Below Ilal Draper War and Revolution Hal Draper Max Shachtman and His Left Peter Drucker World Revolution 1917-1936 C. L. R. Janies Marxism in Latin America from 1909 to the Present Edited by Michael Lbwy On Changing the World Michael Lowy The Place ot Marxism in History Ernest Mandel Revolutionary Marxism and Social Reality in the 20th Century Ernest Mandel 1 he Heroic and Creative Meaning of Socialism Jose Carlos Mariategui The New South Africa and the Socialist Vision Thomas K. Ranuga The Left and the h’rench Revolution Morris Slavin C. L. R. James and Revolutionary Marxism Edited by Scott Mc.leme and Paul Le Blanc The Marxists and the Jewish Question Enzo Traversa The USSR 1987-1991 Edited by Marilyn Eogt-Downey The Responsibility of Intellectuals Alan M. Wald Riidoll Hilferding n E. Peter Wagner

The New South Africa and the Socialist Vision Positions and Perspectives toward a Post-Apartheid Society

THOMAS K. RANUGA

Humanities Press New Jersey

First published 1996 by Humanities Press International, Inc. 165 First Avenue, Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey 07716 ©Thomas K. Ranuga, 1996 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ranuga, Thomas K., 1938The new South Africa and the socialist vision : positions and perspectives toward a post-apartheid society / Thomas K. Ranuga. p. cm.—(Revolutionary studies) ISBN 0-391-03926-1 1. Socialism—South Africa. 2. South Africa—Politics and government—1989— 3. Blacks—South Africa—Politics and government. 4. Political parties—South Africa. I. Title. II. Series. HX450.5.A6R36 1995 320.5'32'0968—dc20

95-18539 CIP

A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without written permission. Printed in the United States of America

To Steve Biko and Chris Hani

Contents Preface

ix

Abbreviations

xi

Introduction

1

1 The African National Congress and Marxism 2 The African National Congress and Communist Party of South Africa 3 The Unity Movement and Noncollaboration 4 The Pan Africanist Congress and Pan Africanism 5 The Black Consciousness Movement and Black Consciousness 6 Workers Organisation for Socialist Action and Socialism 7 Conclusion

13 34 66 77 88 111 122

Index

Epilogue

135

Selected Bibliography

143

vii

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Preface

This book is about the power of ideas in the struggle for a new, democratic, and socialist South Africa. The focus of the analysis is on the theoretical or ideological weapons employed by the Black Liberation organizations in the course of the struggle to confront and dismantle the White power structure. The aim of the book is to explore, on the basis of the leading and dominant ideas of the African National Congress, the Pan Africanist Congress, the Unity Movement, the Black Consciousness Movement, and the newly formed Workers Organisation for Socialist Action, the potential for radical transfor¬ mations and therefore the birth of the socialist South Africa envisaged by the Left. The basic message and conclusion of the author is that all elitist and bourgeois views to the contrary notwithstanding. South Africa will not experience durable peace, stability, and prosperity until all vestiges of racial capitalism have been eradicated and replaced by a democratic and progres¬ sive socialist order. In November 1989 when Soviet-type sotial formations were going through a crisis of historic proportions, one of the major Western papers. The Boston Globe, carried an article entitled “In South Africa, Marx Still Inspires.” In essence the report pointed out that the star of revolutionary marxism was on the rise and shining brightly in the eyes of the Black students and workers of South Africa. That may well be the case, especially for the left-wing militants who are still searching for a revolutionary alternative to the ravages of racial capitalism in that country. There is no question about it that the young radicals are capable of militant action that can transform South Africa into a new socialist society. However the organizational backing they will need to realize that objective is quite another matter. Therefore the young militants have to be very clear about the ideological and programmatic track records of the main Black agencies for social change in South Africa. In other words they must take a careful look at the dominant ideas and programs of action of the Black Liberation organizations if they are to be in a better position to channel their energies in a productive direction and form progressive alli¬ ances that can effectively chart the proper course to a socialist society. It is the purpose of this book to help in that collective effort to learn from the past to make sense of current trends and be better prepared for the chal¬ lenging task of transforming South Africa into an egalitarian society. The bulk of the material in this book is culled from a doctoral disserta¬ tion by the same author entitled “Marxism and Black Nationalism in South IX

X

PPEFACE

Africa (Azania): A Comparative and Critical Analysis of the Ideological Conflict and Consensus Between Marxism and Nationalism in the ANC, the PAC and the BCM. 1920-1980.” The main purpose of that academic study was to examine, on the basis of documentary evidence, the nature of the ideo¬ logical relationship between marxism and Black nationalism in the leading Black Liberation organizations in South Africa. The aim of this book, which is largely based on that original work that had to be revised, updated, and situated within the context of present-day South Africa, is to make some contribution to the quest for a true humanity in that country. The successful completion of this work is due to the support and contri¬ butions of many individuals. I am particularly thankful to all the members of my family for their patience and encouragement. Special thanks must go to Dr. Neville Alexander for his careful reading of the first draft and his con¬ structive comments and to Dr. Mogobe Ramose for his rigorous analysis and in-depth critique of the final typescript. Needless to say, I am solely responsible for the contents of this book.

Abbreviations AAC

All African Convention

AMWU

African Mine Workers Union

ANC

African National Congress

AZAPO

Azanian People’s Organization

BAWU

Black Allied Workers’ Union

BCM

Black Consciousness Movement

BCMA

Black Consciousness Movement of Azania

BCP

Black Community Programmes

BPC

Black People’s Convention

CAD

Coloured Affairs Department

CLSA

Communist League of South Africa

COD

Congress of Democrats

CODESA

Convention for a Democratic South Africa

COSATU

Congress of South African Trade Unions

CPC

Coloured People’s Congress

CPSA

Communist Party of South Africa

CYL

Congress Youth League

ECCI

Executive Committee of the Communist International

GNU

Government of National Unity

ICU

Industrial and Commercial Workers’ Union

ISL

International Socialist League

MK

Umkhonto We Sizwe

NACTU

National Council of Trade Unions

NEUM

Non-European Unity Movement

NF

National Forum

NRC

Natives’ Representative Council

NUSAS

National Union of South African Students

PAC

Pan Africanist Congress

RDP

Reconstruction and Development Program

SACP

South African Communist Party

SACTU

South African Congress of Trade Unions XI

Xll

AI3BREV1ATI0NS

SAIC

South African Indian Congress

SASM

South African Students Movement

SASO

South African Students Organization

SOYA

Students of Young Azania

UDF

United Democratic Front

WOSA

Workers Organisation for Socialist Action

WPSA

Workers’ Party of South Africa

ZANU

Zimbabwe African National Union

ZAPU

Zimbabwe African People’s Union

Introduction

Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, and it may be both moral and physical, but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress. — Frederick Douglass, August 4, 1857

The battle cry that was heard all over the world not very long ago was “Down with apartheid!” This is what gave life to the antiapartheid move¬ ment throughout the globe and this became the latest rallying point of the Black liberation organizations in South Africa as they elevated the long struggle for freedom to higher levels of confrontation. The system of legalized rac¬ ism called apartheid, which was appropriately characterized and condemned as a crime against humanity, was simply the culmination of a long history of dispo.ssession, discrimination, and political subjugation. The citadel of White minority power had to be brought down by all means necessary; these in¬ cluded protests, a defiance campaign, labor strikes, sabotage, the armed struggle, sports boycott, cultural isolation, disinvestment, and selective economic sanctions. The antiapartheid bandwagon featured a motley collection of strange ideo¬ logical bedfellows who included Christians, liberals, African nationalists, so¬ cialists, communists, and ideologues of all kinds and colors. Opposition to the apartheid system was the critical glue that held all these disparate ele¬ ments together. They all agreed that apartheid had no place in the commu¬ nity of nations and therefore had to go. It was not a question of whether the system would ever end but rather when the apartheid wall would come crumbling down. Apartheid was bound to fail and change was inevitable. There is no question about it that the legal pillars of the apartheid system will be relegated to the dustbin of history. The process of change has moved into gear. The notorious and obnoxious laws have been removed from the statute books, entities of the liberation movement and other antiapartheid

1

2

INTRODUCTION

organizations have been unbanned, and political prisoners have been re¬ leased. The most famous ex-prisoner and symbol of the national liberation struggle, Nelson Mandela, is working closely with F. W. de Klerk in ongo¬ ing efforts to bring into being a new constitutional dispensation. The two major players in the negotiation process are without question the African National Congress and the National Party government. These, however, are unequal contenders because in power relations the White minority leaders have not been weakened or defeated militarily and are therefore negotiating from a position of relative strength. The African National Congress (ANC) has suspended the armed struggle, put mass action on hold, and shelved its initial opposition to de Klerk’s power-sharing proposal. The organization has openly stated that everything is negotiable, including the cardinal prin¬ ciple of majority rule. In power terms the organization is clearly negotiating from a position of relative weakness. The envisaged new constitution will form the legal basis for a new South Africa. It will be the legal point of reference for major issues, including the political, economic, and social relations of the country, for a long time to come. Therefore it better be correct if South Africa is to avoid a bloody conflict with catastrophic consequences. Change is a relative concept, ranging in its effects from the superficial to the significant, from the meaningless to the meaningful. It can be purely in legalistic terms without any tangible qualitative transformation in the daily lives of the people. It remains to be seen exactly what kind of change lies in store for the new South Africa. If there is fundamental or radical change that the oppressed Black majority so ardently desire and rightfully deserve, then there is reason to hope for a better future. It is an open question whether the current Black leaders who are in the forefront of the negotia¬ tion process are capable of taking a firm stand and press for a highly prin¬ cipled constitution that will form the basis of a truly democratic society. If they fail, they will most likely be denounced and condemned by their consituencies, especially the youth in the townships who have agitated so defiantly and adamantly for a democratic and socialist South Africa. It is politically myopic and naive for anybody to hope that the leaders of the Nationalist Party can agree to any constitutional formula that will tem¬ per with capitalist interests. The ruling class will defend the right to private property to the death. But for the Black majority, the constitutional en¬ trenchment of that right, without due regard to the question of disposses¬ sion, can only mean the perpetuation of institutionalized inequality. And if entities of the liberation movement cannot fight for a radical alternative to the historical injustices and ravages of capitalism and find a formula for clos¬ ing the gap between the haves and have nots, then the new South Africa is destined for a conflict of unprecedented proportions. But do the liberation

Introduction

3

organizations have the ideological groundings or political inclinations to mount a challenge to capitalism or is a major constitutional compromise engineered by Black moderate leaders in the making, specifically with regard to major¬ ity rule and land restitution? In the final analysis, in what way or ways are the liberation organizations open or opposed to marxism as a major theoretical tool in the struggle against political domination and exploitative socioeconomic conditions in South Africa? In trying to find answers to these troubling questions and lest we approach the future with blind faith and groundless hope, let history be our guide and the source of our political wisdom. The ANC, founded in 1912, is the oldest supra-ethnic African organiza¬ tion involved in the struggle for economic and political rights in South Africa. From the moment of its inauguration, the organization was led by Christian leaders, beginning with Reverend John Dube the first presidentgeneral of the ANC, down the years to Albert Lutuli, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, and Oliver Tambo who led the ANC in exile. In the history of the ANC there has only been one near-marxist leader, J. T. Gumede, its president-general from 1927 to 1930. He eventually lost the leadership of the organization because many Congress members were very unhappy about his involvement with the Communist Party of South Africa, which was trying at the time to gain some political influence within the nationalist movement. When he tried to promote hiS marxist ideas within the organi¬ zation, Congress turned against him and initiated a political process that ultimately led to his removal from power. In the Congress presidential elec¬ tions of April 1930, he was finally defeated by the conservative Pixley ka Isaka Seme, one of the founding members of the organization. In his ac¬ ceptance speech, Pixley Seme warned the members of Congress against in¬ filtration attempts by the communists. He made it crystal clear that Congress under his leadership was not going to tolerate the influence of marxist ideas. Thus the ANC was set on a path of ideological confrontation with the leadership of the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA). In the 1920s the CPSA made some attempts to penetrate the ranks of the ANC. The aim of the party was to create a powerful core of African Marxists who would operate within the ANC to promote the idea of the class strug¬ gle in South Africa. It took several years before Africans in and out of Congress began to take some initial interest in the ideas of the CPSA. The CPSA propagated the line of the class struggle with the aim of estab¬ lishing a nonracial class ideology linking the different races in a common struggle against capitalism. South Africa, as a rapidly industrializing country, was compared by the communists to Western Europe or North America. According to the Communist Party, class analysis in South Africa was rel¬ evant and of paramount importance in the struggle for African liberation. Nationalism was generally regarded by the party as a reactionary ideology

4

INTRODUCTION

that had a minimum role to play in a complex and multiracial country like South Africa. The party, however, had to change this line of approach as a result of pressure from Moscow. This was particularly the case from 1928 to the early 1930s when the Executive Committee of the Communist Interna¬ tional (ECCI) insisted that the CPSA promote the idea of an independent Black republic as a step toward the realization of socialism in South Africa. However, since the party had no mass following, this meant that to be in a position to implement the new directive from the International the commu¬ nists had to turn to the ANC, which had the potential to have a mass following. This undertaking proved to be a total failure because, on the one hand, the ANC was hostile to the party, and, on the other, the communists in South Africa were very reluctant to support an ideological shift which made an accommodation for nationalism. By the time of the United Front period in the early 1930s, the idea of an independent Black republic was quietly laid to rest by the CPSA. In 1944, the Congress Youth League (CYL) was formed within the Afri¬ can National Congress. The League, from the moment of its inception, was committed to an assertive and militant type of nationalism. However, the Youth League also had a small group of militants, led by Willie Nkomo, who was inclined to think in marxist terms. The majority of the founding members were, however, highly suspicious of communist influences. These members contrasted the ideology of African nationalism with communism, which they regarded as a dogmatic foreign ideology. In general the League condemned the class analysis approach as a ploy on the part of communists to limit the growth of African nationalism while using the Congress plat¬ form to further the aims of the Communist Party. The advent of the White Nationalist government in 1948 had a signifi¬ cant impact on the Youth League in terms of its relationship with the CPSA. Common opposition to the apartheid regime brought the CYL and the CPSA into a closer relationship of cooperation aimed primarily at the development of mass action to counter government repression. This willingness to coop¬ erate on the basis of mass protests against apartheid led to increased personal contact between members of the Youth League and the Communist Party. This in turn resulted in the moderation of the virulent anticommunist at¬ tacks within the League and to an increase of political discussions concern¬ ing the content of marxist analysis within the Youth League. There was no acceptance of communism within the League. The development of African nationalism was still the goal. The League’s ideology was, however, about to enter a new state of debate in which marxism played some part. /When the CPSA dissolved in 1950 as a result of government pressure, the number of Black communist members within the ranks of the ANC remained small and insignificant. Their impact in ideological terms was simply nonexistent.

Introduction

5

In 1959, the ANC split as a result of the formation of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAG). Essentially, the quarrel between the ANC and the PAC concerned tactics relating to the role of non-African allies in the struggle. The ANC was allied through the Congress Alliance with four other bodies: the South African Indian Congress (SAIC), the Coloured People’s Congress (CPC), the White Congress of Democrats (COD), and the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU). Each of these bodies was significantly influenced by communists. As a result when the Africanists broke away from Congress, they accused the ANC of domination by non-Africans and com¬ munists in the other congresses. The PAC also accused the CPSA of sub¬ jecting the African movement to foreign doctrinal considerations rather than to the national needs of the oppressed African people. The PAC proposed a strictly African nationalist program. The PAC’s ideological position was diametrically opposed to that of the CPSA. The Africanists (later the Pan Africanists) drew their ideology from the philosophy of Antone Lembede whose position was fiercely anticommunist. Lembede had advocated the doctrine of “Africa for the Africans,” which in turn reflected the philosophy of Marcus Garvey. The PAC, returning to the outlook of Lembede, aimed at the complete replacement of White minority rule with African rule. Both the ANC and the PAC agreed that liberation could be achieved only through the numerical strength of the African peo¬ ple, but the problem was how to mobilize the African masses. In the PAC’s view, an ideology based on multiracialism lacked sufficient emotional appeal . to mobilize African support. Only an ideology based on orthodox or traditional African nationalism could be dynamic and powerful enough to inspire Africans to follow a course of revolutionary confrontation. According to the PAC, the most fundam,ental weakness of the African was psychological. To accept the liberation struggle and be committed to its high ideals the Afri¬ can must first abandon the colonized mentality. After all African nationalism and not marxism had been the antidote prescribed by Lembede for the eradi¬ cation of the abject and subservient mentality crippling the masses. The PAC therefore stood solidly for the philosophy of African nationalism as propounded by Antone Lembede. The same philosophy of African nationalism was affirmed and adopted by the Black Con^iousness Movement (BCM) when it came into being ten years after the 'banning of the ANC and the PAC by the Nationalist gov¬ ernment in 1960. After its emergence in the early 1970s, the BCM em¬ barked on a program of raising the political consciousness of Black people on a nationwide basis and adopted the slogan “Black man you are on your own!” Although the BCM dwelt on the psychological aspects of liberation as the first order of business, the founders of the movement recognized the role of African nationalism in the struggle for national liberation. In many

^

INTRODUCTION

6

ways, the BCM philosophy takes its origin and direction from the basic principles of African nationalism as laid down by Anton Lembede.

Ideological Trends he ideological relationship between marxism and African nationalism re¬ mains a lively and challenging subject. In South Africa, Black nationalism has had some contact with the most current of marxist ideas since the early 1920s. However, in spite of the fact that South Africa’s economy is the most industrialized and advanced in the whole continent of Africa and that the successful development of that economy is largely dependent on a large pool of exploited Black labor. Black nationalism in South Africa has not been significantly influenced by revolutionary marxist ideas relating to the overthrow of the ruling class and the replacement of the capitalist system by a socialist order. Instead at least from 1912 to around 1940, we witness the ^volution of a type of nationalism that is reformist and moderate in perspec¬ tive—liberal nationalism that sought equality of opportunity within the frame¬ work of a multiracial nation. During the period in question, there was no clearly articulated demand for majority rule or independence from British and Boer imperialism. It is only after the 1940s leading to the 1950s that dissident and militant elements within the ANC Youth League used lan¬ guage that clearly contained elements of orthodox nationalism. However those individuals within the nationalist movement who rejected moderation and reformism were more nationalist oriented than otherwise. Marxism held no attraction for the majority of Youth League members. If anything, the ideological trend from the ANC Youth League to the PAC and the BCM was more toward militant Black nationalism and less toward marxism. In the case of the ANC, the trend was in the direction of liberal nationalism and reformism and less toward marxism. There were, however, other ideological influences that impinged on African political thought at the time. The main influence was liberalism. From the 1850s Africans in the Cape Province were included in the common voters’ roll on the basis of a qualified but nonracial franchise. The Cape Constitution, which allowed Africans to vote, offered some hope to those educated and successful Africans who saw the liberal ideal enshrined in the ^^ape system as the beacon of light in an otherwise unjust and repressive system. African leaders were hopeful that the British liberal principles of equality before the law, civil rights, freedom of the press, and an independ¬ ent judiciary would be encouraged by the Cape Constitution and extended to the other provinces of Natal, the Transvaal, and the Orange Free State. In Natal where the constitution was in theory nonracial, in practice admin¬ istrative, devices made it practically impossible for Africans to register as

Introduction

7

voters. In the case of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State, the situation was even worse because the constitutions of these so-called Boer republics allowed no rights or equality for Africans in church matters or state affairs. ^3y contrast the Cape system offered better political opportunities to quali¬ fied Africans even though the franchise qualifications were very high and segregation was commonplace. ,^The Cape liberal tradition was strengthened by the role played by White missionaries and Christian educators. From the pulpits and through mission schools, they taught that all human beings were created in the image of God and were born equal. The church and the mission schools played an important role in terms of underlining the universal nature of concepts like peace, justice, equality, and the common brotherhood of all men. Addition¬ ally they also taught patience, perseverance, tolerance, sacrifices, the virtue of poverty, obedience to authority, and, for those who suffer injustice and oppression in this wicked world, the rewards of eternal bliss—beyond the grave! In fact early Christian influences had a lot to do with the tradition of moderation and liberal reformism that the ANC cherished for such a long time. This tradition was also reinforced by visiting Black American church leaders who emphasized the Christian tenets of brotherly love and nonvio¬ lence in the struggle against oppression and racism. The outcome was the Christian-liberal tradition that was ultimately predicated on principles of moral assertions rather than political assertiveness. The Cape liberal constitution was, however, on the way out because, when the four provinces joined to establish the Union of South Africa in 1910, the Cape franchise was not extended to the other three provinces. On the contrary the Cape franchise could be altered by a two-thirds parlia¬ mentary majority of the Senate and the House of Assembly sitting together. It was only a matter of time before the nonracial Cape franchise would be abolished./'TTiis finally took place in the mid 1930s. In addition to the liberal tradition of the Cape and the role of Christiantity, the ideology of liberalism was also propagated and promoted by a group of liberal Whites in other parts of the country. For instance in the aftermath of World War I, a small but very influential group of Christian liberals, mostly professionals, established what was called the Joint Councils of Europeans and Africans with the aim of promoting inter-racial justice and cooperation. However the Joint Councils, unlike the Cape liberals who operated within a constitutional structure, lacked a political base within the system. They simply constituted a small pressure group that sought maximum economic and political concessions for Africans by means of educating the White pub¬ lic and making moral appeals for justice and equity within the system. The Joint Councils, in fact, subscribed to the same basic ideas of Congress relat¬ ing to gradual reforms along peaceful and constitutional lines. Furthermore

INTRODUCTION

8

because they viewed communism as an atheistic and materialistic doctrine, they did everything in their power to undermine communist links with African organizations. Hence in the final analysis, the Christian-liberal aspi¬ rations of the ANC for peaceful and constitutional changes in South Africa were reinforced by the liberal ideas of the Joint Councils. The Christian-liberal tradition of Congress made it ideologically very difficult for the ANC to make tentative moves to the left. It simply became normal for Congress leaders to denounce marxist ideas as “foreign” and “atheistic” while taking the Christian-liberal principles as part of their tradition and way of life. To put it figuratively, it became a normal thing to see the mote in Communist eyes without seeing the beam in Christian-liberal eyes, so that the minimal impact of marxism on African political thought must not only be viewed from the angle of communists who played down the racial as¬ pects of the struggle but from the background of the Christian-liberal tradi¬ tion of African leaders who, to all intents and purposes, took Christian-liberal principles as the norm. From this perspective the role of Christians and Liberals in the ideological obfuscation of African leaders and hence as real ^tumbling blocks to a proper and objective evaluation of marxism consti¬ tutes an important aspect of the evolution of African political thought in South Africa.

-:^The Socioeconomic and Poeitical Settinc The socioeconomic and political context in which the evolution of ideas took place in the South African nationalist movement was marked by a long tradition of racial segregation and economic exploitation. After the 1899— 1902 Anglo-Boer War, which saw the pyrrhic victory of the British over the Boers, Britain embarked on a foreign policy that was designed to win the loyalty of the Afrikaners and to establish a unified South Africa from the four provinces. The legal basis for the establishment of the Union of South African in 1910 was the South Africa Act. This act contained a color bar clause aimed at excluding Blacks from sitting in the new Union parliament. To appease the Boers, the British government refused to veto this color bar clause and exclude it from the South Africa Act. The South Africa Act was followed, soon after the formation of the ANC in 1912, by the Native Land Act of 1913. This land act drastically limited the use of land by Africans to just below 13 percent of the land surface of South Africa. Both the South Africa Act and the 1913 Land Act were vig¬ orously opposed by African leaders, but their efforts ended in total failure as Whites continued to entrench their political and economic power. The system of political domination and economic explotation was ex¬ tended and entrenched by the Hertzog Bills in the 1920s and 1930s. The

Introduction

9

aims of the Bills were to eradicate the Cape African Franchise, to introduce limited parliamentary representation of Africans by White senators, to create a separate voters roll for the colored people, and to amend the 1913 Land Act so as to bring the total land surface allocated to Africans closer to 13 percent. These bills constituted Hertzog’s blueprint for the “solution of the Native problem.” Their major objective was finally realized in 1936 when the Cape Franchise was abolished and the Native Land Act was updated to allow more land to be added to the reserves, thus bringing the total area closer to 13 percent. These segregationist measures laid a solid foundation for the policies of apartheid, which were introduced after the 1948 electoral victory of the Nationalist Party. Under the apartheid system, Africans would be required to “develop along their own lines” in the so-called Homelands which fell within the 13 percent geographical area allocated by the 1913 Land Act. This was the socioeconomic and political setting for the growth of Afri¬ can nationalism which, in the long run, took on militant tones and de¬ manded, not redress and reforms, but total liberation and majority rule.

The National Question The vast literature on the meaning of the “nation” indicates clearly that this concept can be defined from a number of objective factors such as the state, a common economy, a common territory, a common language, a common culture or historical experience, and such subjective factors as a common attitude, feeling, desire, and self-will. The basic concept of nationalism un¬ derlying this analysis can be described simply as the political desire by a selfwilling people to rid itself of internal and/or external domination so as to achieve the objective of self-determination leading ultimately to the creation of a nation-state. In the case of South Africa, the dispossessed and histori¬ cally dominated people are the African majority and hence the rise of Afri¬ can nationalism in that part of the world. The question of the “nation” was not exhaustively dealt with by the old nationalist movement. Whatever the ANC understood by the “nation” when it was founded in 1912 is not quite clear, but looked at from a historical perspective. Congress was from the beginning committed to the achieve¬ ment of interethnic unity as a basis for the defense of African rights within the framework of a pluralistic democracy. Congress existed for the promo¬ tion of African interests and to represent those interests to the government of South Africa. The ANC was, strictly speaking, not a nationalist movement for national liberation and independence, but a movement for the promotion and pro¬ tection of democratic rights for the African people within a multiracial state.

INTRODUCTION

10

The “nation” for Congress was not an “African nation” evolved and based on the democratic principle of “One person, One vote” or majority nde, but a multiracial nation based on the notion of a pluralistic sharing of power or representative government. The ANC was, therefore, not aiming at the establishment of a nation-state based on the government of, by, and for Africans, with all those who owe their allegiance to the African nation-state being considered Africans. There was no question of building an African state like Nigeria, Kenya, or Zimbabwe because the leaders of the ANC considered South Africa a multiracial country that, they insisted, must be treated as an exception.

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