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.
Note
- 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.
Common Mistake
- 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.
Case study
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.
- The Youth League pushed the ANC toward militant activism with its Programme of Action (1949), successfully ousting conservative leaders like Alfred Xuma and adopting a new strategy involving strikes, boycotts, and civil disobedience.
- The ANC, now under James Moroka, launched a mass civil Defiance Campaign in 1952, targeting apartheid laws.
- Although thousands participated, the government responded harshly, and Moroka was replaced by Chief Albert Luthuli after compromising the campaign.
Note
- James Moroka was an important figure in the history of the (ANC).
- James Moroka was elected as President of the ANC with the support of the newly formed ANC Youth League.
- His leadership marked a shift toward more militant and mass-based activism, including the launch of the Defiance Campaign in 1952.
- During the Defiance Campaign, Moroka was arrested along with other leaders.
- In court, he distanced himself from the ANC's political position, which disillusioned many activists.
- He pleaded for mitigation and publicly distanced himself from the ANC’s radical stance, expressing loyalty to the state — this was seen by many in the movement as a betrayal of the struggle and led to his removal as ANC president.
- He was subsequently replaced by Albert Luthuli as president, and Moroka returned to private medical practice.
Rise of the ANC
- Under Luthuli, the ANC worked to broaden its base, aligning with trade unions, squatters’ groups, and women’s organizations. The ANC Women's League, led by Lilian Ngoyi, played a vital role in grassroots activism.
- In 1955, The ANC joined with groups like the South African Indian Congress (SAIC) and Coloured People's Organization to form the Congress Alliance, resulting in the Freedom Charter, a bold vision for a democratic, non-racial South Africa.
- During the Treason Trial (1956-1961), 156 leaders, including Mandela and Luthuli, were tried for allegedly plotting to overthrow the state. Though they were eventually acquitted, the trial weakened the movement’s leadership during a critical time.
- Even though the ANC was able to form ties with other groups and present popular leaders, they failed to offer a viable alternative to Bantu Education and were unable to stop the forced evictions from Sophiatown despite symbolic resistance.
- These events exposed limits in the ANC’s grassroots support, especially among the poor.
- A rift within the ANC led Robert Sobukwe and others to break away and form the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) in 1959, opposing the ANC’s multiracial vision and alliance with communists.
- After the Sharpeville massacre and the banning of the ANC, the movement turned to armed resistance, forming Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK).
- The Rivonia Trial (1963-64) led to the imprisonment of top leaders like Mandela, temporarily silencing the ANC’s internal resistance.
An assessment of the ANC
- Successes: The ANC became the main representative of Black South Africans, forged broad alliances, and gained international moral credibility, especially through its commitment to non-violence and its role in drafting the Freedom Charter.
- Failures: It failed to dismantle apartheid in this period, struggled to engage the poorest Black South Africans, suffered from internal divisions, and the move to armed struggle alienated potential allies while inviting harsher repression.
Exam technique
- Organize the successes and failures in two columns, and add evidence/examples for each point.
- Which column seems stronger? Was the ANC overall failed or successful?
Historiography
- Was the ANC a success or a failure?
- The idea of success/failure is of course measured against your aim (eg: was the aim of the ANC to take down apartheid completely?
- Or were they looking for a gradual relaxation of policies through international support and awareness?), but another way of looking at it is through the lenses of historiographical perspectives.
- Study the following views and see which could be used to support your evaluation of success/failure of the ANC.
- In these two perspectives, the ANC had very limited successes as a civil rights group:
- Perspective 1: Nigel Worden in The Making of Modern South Africa (1994):
- He critiques the ANC’s early decades (1912–1940s) as elitist, overly moderate, and ineffective in addressing the needs of the broader Black population.
- He argues that the ANC "failed to connect with the mass base" and was "politically marginal" before the 1950s.
- Perspective 1: Baruch Hirson (marxist historian) in Year of Fire, Year of Ash (1979)
- He argues that the ANC was out of touch with working-class activism and reluctant to support more militant action during the 1940s and early 1950s.
- He criticizes its collaboration with liberal whites and hesitation to endorse armed resistance until much later.
- Perspective 2: Tom Lodge in Black Politics in South Africa since 1945 (1983)
- He emphasizes the ANC’s ability to transform into a mass-based resistance movement, particularly after the formation of the ANC Youth League and through both the Defiance Campaign (1952) and Freedom Charter (1955).
- He sees this as a turning point that legitimized the ANC as the primary voice of resistance.
- Perspective 2: Raymond Suttner and Jeremy Cronin in 50 Years of the Freedom Charter (2006)
- Both former anti-apartheid activists, argue that the ANC’s commitment to non-racial democracy, mobilization strategies, and international advocacy were instrumental in delegitimizing apartheid.
- They view the ANC as a symbol of unity and endurance under repression.
- Perspective 1: Nigel Worden in The Making of Modern South Africa (1994):
