Key groups: the African National Congress (ANC)
- The ANC was the most fundamental anti apartheid group in South Africa,
- This was both because of its history of resistance against oppression, its charismatic leaders and its integrationist and overall peaceful approach to the fight against apartheid, that made them more appealing to non whites in South Africa and abroad.
Timeline of events
- The ANC was founded as the South African Native National Congress (SANNC) in 1912 in Bloemfontein, formed by Black professionals like John Dube, Pixley Seme, and Solomon Plaatje, in response to Black exclusion following the 1910 Union of South Africa.
- The early SANNC pursued moderate, constitutional methods, petitioning the British government for racial equality, believing in British values of justice and liberalism-efforts which failed to yield meaningful results.
- Between 1913 and 1919 delegations of the SANNC protested laws like the 1913 Natives Land Act but were dismissed by British leaders, including Prime Minister Lloyd George, who advised them to negotiate with local authorities-highlighting British unwillingness to intervene.
- Why were the blacks able to organize politically?
- The Union of South Africa increasingly marginalized black South Africans, but in 1910 they were not completely disenfranchised.
- In the Cape Colony, some Black and Coloured men could still vote if they met property and literacy qualifications, under the “Cape Qualified Franchise” system.
- Missionary schools with liberal Christian values had rendered a class of educated black South Africans.
- The leaders of the SANNC had the education, language skills, and networks to organize politically and appeal to British liberal ideals.
- In sources, you will see that the SANNC (and then the ANC) is referred to sometimes as “political party”. Nevertheless, that term is not fully accurate.
- The South African Native National Congress (SANNC) was a political organization. It was not a party in the Western democratic sense, as they couldn’t field candidates or participate in formal elections, since Black South Africans were largely excluded from the political system by that point.
- The 1910 Union of South Africa Act created a whites-only parliament at the national level. Only in the Cape Province could a small number of Black and Coloured men vote but:
- They couldn’t vote as part of a Black party.
- There were no Black candidates allowed for Parliament.
- So, the SANNC worked outside the formal political system, trying to influence it through petitions, speeches, newspapers, and delegations.
- Its focus was on petitioning, lobbying, and diplomacy, not electoral politics.
Early Challenges and Criticisms of the ANC in the 1920s
- The ANC was formally created in 1923, became increasingly inactive and elitist, especially during the economic hardship of the Great Depression, and lost support among the urban Black working class.
- The accusation of being elitist and not catering for the grassroots masses of poor and disenfranchised blacks will be a constant in the criticism that the ANC will receive throughout its history.
- During the 1920s, the ANC was eclipsed by more radical groups like Clements Kadalie's Industrial and Commercial Workers' Union (ICU) in the 1920s, which mobilized the working class.
Clements Kadalie and the ICU
- The ICU, founded by Clements Kadalie in 1919, became the largest Black-led trade union in South Africa in the 1920s, mobilizing tens of thousands of workers, including dockworkers, farm laborers, and domestic servants. This serves as a rare example of mass Black political organization under segregation.
- The ICU organized strikes and protests in cities like Cape Town, Durban, and Port Elizabeth, especially among dockworkers and domestic workers, demanding better wages and working conditions.
- In 1927, ICU members staged a major strike in East London, which drew thousands and led to clashes with police.
- The ICU expanded into rural areas, organizing sharecroppers and tenant farmers in regions like the Eastern Cape and Natal, where it campaigned against evictions and labor exploitation on white-owned farms.
- The ICU's broad base and rural reach made it unique for its time, though its lack of structure, lack of clear political goals and government repression led to its eventual decline.
ANC Revival
- The revival of the ANC happened during World War II. Wartime industrialization and urban migration renewed political energy.
- New trade unions, some aligned with the South African Communist Party (SACP), helped reenergize the ANC and expand its support base.
- A turning point came with the creation of the ANC Youth League in 1944, led by Anton Lembede, Walter Sisulu, Oliver Tambo, and Nelson Mandela.
- They rejected the old guard's cautious tactics in favor of direct mass mobilization and resistance.
