In his own words
The writings of Walter Max
Sisulu
(including speeches delivered by Cyril Ramaphosa, Toivo
ya Toivo and Noor Nieftagodien at the celebration of his
centenary celebrations in May 2012)
THE CENTURIONS OF STRUGGLE SERIES
Contents
FOREWORD foreword
01
If Walter Max Sisulu was alive today, he would be a hundred years of age.
The Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, in association with the Gauteng ANC, is
LETTER FROM WM SISULU TO PRIME MINISTER DF
honoured to publish a booklet commemorating the remarkably humble life of
MALAN ON BEHALF OF THE AFRICAN NATIONAL
Walter Sisulu.
CONGRESS
02
Sisulu was no ordinary leader. He was an exceptional and outstanding revolutionary; a
OPENING ADDRESS BY WM SISULU AT THE 7TH
leader of leaders. He served as the Secretary-General of the African National Congress
ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE NATAL INDIAN
in the early 1950s, until he was forced by the racist and increasingly repressive
government to resign from his leadership position in the liberation movement.
CONGRESS 04
STATEMENT BY WM SISULU AFTER BEING ORDERED TO
RESIGN FROM MEMBERSHIP OF THE ANC AND FROM HIS
POSITION AS SECRETARY-GENERAL 07
SOUTH AFRICA’S STRUGGLE FOR DEMOCRACY 09
CONGRESS AND THE AFRICANISTS 13
EXCERPTS OF EVIDENCE LED BY WM SISULU IN THE
RIVONIA TRIAL 19
SPEECH BY WM SISULU AT A RECEPTION OF THE PADMA
VIBHUSHAN AWARD BY THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
23
TRIBUTE BY NELSON MANDELA AT THE FUNERAL
SERVICE OF WALTER SISULU
26
Photographs in this book are courtesy of Jurgen Schadeberg
01
In the end, he, together with Nelson Mandela, Ahmed Kathrada and others, was
imprisoned for life on Robben Island. Even so, his commitment to the African
National Congress and to the liberation of the oppressed people never wavered. We
can count our generation as being among the most fortunate in seeing Walter Sisulu
walk out of prison with such dignity and self-respect.
We have reproduced a sample of his original writings – letters to officialdom;
speeches at conferences and meetings; political opinion pieces in newspapers; and
excerpts of court proceedings.
His language is simple and lucid; not oratorical. His political ideas are profound.
And his words strike a chord in the hearts of the oppressed and always give hope of
a better future.
As we celebrate the centenary of the African National Congress, we can but only
benefit from the ideas of one of its greatest and most endearing leaders, Walter
Sisulu.
CYRIL RAMAPHOSA
Chairperson: Board of Trustees - Ahmed Kathrada Foundation
18 May 2012
Letter from WM Sisulu to Prime Minister DF Malan on
behalf of the African National Congress
11 February 1952
African National Congress
PO Box 9207
Johannesburg
11th February 1952
The Honourable the Prime Minister of the Union of South
Africa,
House of Assembly,
Cape Town.
Sir
communication between the African people and the State. In
any event, the subject of our communication to you was not
a Departmental matter but one of such general importance
and gravity affecting the fundamental principles of the policy
practised by the Union Government, and its effect on the
relations between Black and White, that it was considered
appropriate to bring these matters directly to the notice of
the Prime Minister. The suggestion that we were actuated by
a so-called “recent rift or purge in Congress circles” is without
foundation and entirely beside the point in so far as the
substance of our case is concerned.
In reply to our demand for the abolition of differentiating laws,
it is suggested in your letter that there are “permanent and
not man-made” differences between Africans and Europeans
which justify the maintenance of these laws. The question at
The National Executive of the African National Congress, at a issue is not one of biological differences, but one of citizenship
special conference convened for the purpose, has given careful rights which are granted in full measure to one section of the
consideration to the contents of your letter, and has instructed population, and completely denied to the other by means of
us to address you as follows:
man-made laws artificially imposed, not to preserve the identity
It is noted that exception is taken in your letter to the fact of Europeans as a separate community, but to perpetuate the
that the resolution adopted by the African National Congress systematic exploitation of the African people.
at its 1951 Conference was directed to the Prime Minister The African people yield to no one as far as pride of race is
instead of the Minister of Native Affairs and his Department. concerned, and it is precisely for this reason that they are
The African National Congress has at no time accepted the striving for the attainment of fundamental human rights in
position that the Native Affairs Department is the channel of the land of their birth.
We, the undersigned, have the honour to acknowledge receipt
of your letter of the 29th January 1952.
02
It is observed that your Government rejects out of hand our
claim for direct representation in Parliament and other Councils
of State. This is the kernel of the policy of apartheid which is
condemned not only by the African, Indian and Coloured
people, but also by a large section of White South Africa. It is
precisely because of this policy that South Africa is losing caste in
international circles.
Your letter suggests that the policy of your Government is
motivated by a desire to protect the interests of the African
people in various spheres of life, for example, land rights, and
unspecified privileges not enjoyed by them in other countries.
The Reserve land policy has always been designed to protect
European rather than African land rights, and even within the
so-called Reserves, Africans hold only occupancy privileges at the
discretion of the Government. These Reserves are notoriously
congested and overcrowded, and the so-called rehabilitation
scheme, notwithstanding the protestations of just intentions
with which it is camouflaged, has aggravated the misery of the
people and rendered thousands destitute and homeless, and
has exposed them to vexatious regimentation by the Native
Commissioner’s petty Trust officials. In this connection we note
that even the Native Laws Amendment Bill, which is now before
Parliament, in spite of all its harsh and draconian provisions has
been described as a “protective” measure. There can be no doubt
that, like similar measures passed hitherto, this Bill is intended to
protect and advance the interests of Europeans and not those of
Africans. It is those discriminatory laws that are preventing the
African people from developing their ambitions and capacities,
and along lines satisfactory to themselves.
03
As far as the Bantu Authorities Act is concerned, it is clear that
this Act is part of the policy to which we are opposed, namely,
that “the Government is not prepared to grant the Africans
political equality”, and is not, as you suggest, “designed to give
the Africans the opportunity of enlightened administration of
their own affairs”. Nothing contained in the Bantu Authorities
Act can be a substitute for direct representation in the Councils
of State.
With reference to the campaign of mass action which the African
National Congress intends to launch, we would point out that
as a defenceless and voteless people, we have explored other
channels without success. The African people are left with no
alternative but to embark upon the campaign referred to above.
We desire to state emphatically that it is our intention to conduct
this campaign in a peaceful manner, and that any disturbances, if
they should occur, will not be of our making.
In reiterating our claim for direct representation, we desire to
place on record our firm determination to redouble our efforts for
the attainment of full citizenship rights. In conclusion we regret
that the Prime Minister has seen fit to reject our genuine offer
of co-operation on the basis of full equality, and express the hope
that in the interest of all concerned the Government may yet
reconsider its attitude.
(Signed) Dr JS Moroka
President-General
WM Sisulu
Secretary-General
Opening Address by WM Sisulu at the 7th Annual
Conference of the Natal Indian Congress
5 February 1954, Durban
P
ermit me first to bring to this very important conference
of the Natal Indian Congress the warmest and friendliest
greetings of the African National Congress and the
National Action Committee.
I gladly accepted the invitation to open the conference, because
I regarded it as a great honour to me, coming as it did at a time
when I had just returned from a very interesting educational and
inspiring trip overseas. I shall not be expected to deal with my
experiences abroad. Suffice it to say that all the countries I visited
enthusiastically welcomed me and took a very great interest in
the almost unbelievable racial situation in South Africa.
I took advantage of this trip to put our point of view across. I did
this in Israel, I did it in England, in Rumania, in Poland, in the
USSR and China. Unfortunately circumstances did not permit
me to go to India, though the facilities were available to me. My
presence was demanded at home. I must mention in passing, that
on the three national celebrations that I attended on 23 August
in Rumania, 1 October in China and 7 November in the USSR, I
was also convinced that peace was necessary for the construction
of their respective countries. I was also impressed by the Youth
Festival which is promoting the friendliest relations between the
youth of different countries. The International Union of Students’
Congress dealt with the student problems bringing them to the
realities of life in a very impressive manner.
I had much to learn in China. This vast country with a very large
population had just emerged from a semi-colonial status to a
great power. There were many educative problems which were
very much identical to ours, the difference being that they were
solving them.
I was particularly happy to notice the growing relations between
India and China and the manner in which the national and local
papers were commending Pandit Nehru and his government for
the great role that they were playing in promoting world peace.
These two great nations were not only a plea to peace in Asia, as
leading Asiatic countries, but they are a plea to world peace, and
to us they are a guide as people who had recently overthrown the
shackles of imperialism.
The people of Asia have taken a very great interest in the struggle
carried on by the peoples of Africa. They are naturally opposed to
the policies of imperialism.
They also believe that in the brotherhood of mankind they are
keenly interested in peace. That is why Pandit Nehru vigorously
opposes the racial policies of South Africa. That is why he
opposes oppression in other parts of Africa. No other interest
which prompts him to do this other than the fact that he has had
to suffer terms of imprisonment under the yoke of imperialism.
04
All people who have suffered oppression and exploitation cannot
but be opposed to the continuation of such a system. They
also know too well the usual stunt of oppressors, and the archimperialists’ ridiculous theory that the people are backward,
illiterate and that freedom will be dangerous to Western
civilisation, and that they are ruling these countries in the best
interests of the colonial people.
The so-called guardians of Western civilisation and Christian
principles are themselves guilty of crimes for destroying humanity,
using most barbarous methods. These are the people who are
now conducting war against the peoples of Vietnam, Malaya and
Kenya. Being aware of the fact that our fate is bound together
with these colonial people and mankind as a whole, we therefore
take profound interest in the present session of the four great
powers, hoping that the foreign ministers of Great Britain, USSR
and France will use their influence in convincing the Secretary of
State of the USA to see wisdom, by not only agreeing to a Big
Five Meeting, but also actually bringing about conditions for the
admittance of China to the United Nations in the interests of
world peace.
by Courts of Law. They are going to amend the Group Areas
Act; they will continue with the removal of the Coloured voters
from the Common Roll. They are preparing to introduce a law
prohibiting people from travelling abroad without their approval.
Four of the above have been incorporated in our plan of action,
the Defiance Campaign was based on them and our unity was
forged to fight for their repeal. We shall not only oppose every
amendment on it, but we shall fight until they, and others, are
removed from the Statute Book.
The people who believe that these oppressive laws are designed
against the Trade Unions and for the non-European only, will
realise it only too late that they are also in fact designed against
the financial houses to give control to the Nationalists. The
Jewish Board of Deputies will then begin to see the danger
of their opportunistic tendencies, when they praise Malan’s
administration.
The South African Indian Organisation and the United Party
will not escape it, but they shall have to answer to the people for
their treacherous role.
I assume that the two former Secretaries will be guided by the
broad will of their people in their respective countries.
Many things which are now taking place were predicted by us
long ago.
Your conference also meets at a time when the second session
of the 11th Parliament of the Union of South Africa assembles
as usual, not to deal with the national economy of the country,
nor to consider the welfare of the people of South Africa, but to
consider legislation, to impose more hardship and to intensify
their notorious policies of apartheid. This time they will go further
than tightening up the oppressive machinery against the nonEuropeans. They are introducing a Bill which will place the Trade
Union Movement in the hands of the fascist Nationalists. They
are amending the Suppression of Communism Act to give power
to the Minister of Justice to do what he likes without interference
The ANC in the face of this situation, has called upon the nation
for an historic people’s convention, which has been welcomed by
the national organisations of Indians, Coloureds and Europeans.
05
The people in Natal will be once more in this year expected
to take up their usual militancy and be proud of their past in
the struggle they have conducted in the beginning of the 20th
century, when men like King Solomon Cardini Zulu refused to
turn against his people and suffered imprisonment, people like
Bambata and others, who firmly stood for the rights of their
people. It is in Natal during the same period that the well-known
Mahatma Gandhi led the masses of persecuted Indians and forced
the authorities to abandon their stand.
In conclusion, we believe in the brotherhood of mankind. We
believe in peace and freedom. To this end it is our duty to use all
our methods to bring about an end to the hostilities in Kenya.
The militant Natal people must be rallied in their millions and We shall oppose vigorously the plans of the Kenya settlers and
workers must be mobilised - the women must be mobilised, the the Union Government to send South African troops to crush the
intellectuals must be mobilised, the business people who are in defenceless people in Kenya.
full agreement with our struggle must be mobilised against the
oppressor.
Having chosen the right course to freedom, we are quite confident
and certain that no power in the world can permanently resist
Chief Luthuli, in opening the Conference of the Natal Indian the march of freedom forces.
Congress last year, said, “Let us march together to freedom.”
He further said that this formidable alliance is not a marriage I now take pleasure in declaring this Conference open, and
of convenience, but a political alliance based on a common and wishing you a very successful deliberation.
genuine regard for true democracy.
Mayibuye, Afrika.
Sisulu with his comrades during the Defiance Campaign
06
Statement by WM Sisulu after being ordered to resign from
Membership of the ANC and from his position as SecretaryGeneral
20 August 1954
I
have been ordered by the Minister of Justice, Mr CR Swart
to resign from the African National Congress and from my
position as Secretary-General. I was elected to this position
by you in 1949, since when I have endeavoured to the utmost of
my ability to serve my people and to be worthy of the confidence
you placed in me.
measure has affected even those who feared to participate in a
positive struggle against the Nationalist onslaught. Whilst we
cannot deny the effects of these bans on the national liberation
and workers’ movements, we are nevertheless confident, placing
our faith in the invincible spirit of the broad masses of the people,
that they cannot succeed in their oft-proclaimed intention to
crush the people’s movement. The crippling effect of these bans
Now I am forced to resign from the Congress but I wish to assure on the leading, most energetic and unwavering champions of
you that I shall be entirely at your disposal and will not hesitate freedom in South Africa must not be minimised. The people’s
to answer any call which may be made by the African National leaders have been forbidden to attend any gatherings whatsoever,
Congress. In my message to the members of the African National they have been forced to leave their place of employment, some
Congress and to all oppressed people I wish firstly to remind have been exiled. Almost the entire National Executive of the
you about the statement of the ANC and its allies in 1950 on African National Congress has been removed from office. Some
the Suppression of Communism Act, in which we showed that of the provinces and branches have also been affected, and it is
the primary aim of the Act was to silence all opposition to the clear from what has already taken place that our organisations
tyranny of the Malan Government, especially from the non- are going to be affected in all provinces and all the branches. Yet
European organisations. The truth of this assertion will not be despite all this our movement is growing in strength, gaining
denied today, even by those who did not believe us at the time. new adherents and reaching new levels of effectiveness and
The wisdom of the leaders of the Liberatory Movement was shown determination.
by their swift action when for the first time they called a nationwide political strike and created unity among all democrats as an Let me remind you once more that these bans have affected
answer to what they correctly believed to be a major step in the gallant and beloved leaders of the people with outstanding
establishment of a police state.
records in the liberatory struggle, such as Moses Kotane, JB
Marks, Mandela, Tloome, Njongwe, Mji, Molema, Bopape
The ruthlessness of the Government in the use of this Fascist Matji, Tshume, Matthews, Ngwevela, Mhlaba, Motshabi; the
07
exiled leaders Ngwentshe and Lengisi and many others of the
African National Congress. Also Dr Dadoo, Cachalia, and Nana
Sita of the Indian Congress; Fischer, Williams, Kahn, Bernstein,
Watts, Bunting and Hodgson of the Congress of Democrats;
James Phillips of the Coloured People’s Organisation and Ray
Alexander, Kunene, Reddy, Du Toit, Moumakoe and Weinberg
of the Trade Union Movement. These and all the other banned
leaders still belong to you. They will remain your leaders because
they still believe in our liberation struggle and still find some way
to make their contribution. They have not been rejected by us
but forcibly thrown out by our enemies.
produce even more efficient leadership, even more Illustrious
Sons of the Soil than those I have already mentioned. You are
called upon to recruit our fine youth and women for the struggle
in a manner never before achieved. You are called upon to resist
apartheid - to defeat the Western Areas Removal Scheme, the
Bantu Education Act, the Group Areas Act, the Schoeman antitrade union measures and many others. You are called upon
to make the greatest sacrifice in the preparation of the great
Congress of the People in the building of a united South Africa,
by which means you can crush finally and for all times the
reactionary rulers of the present day.
What should be our answer to this? The only way whereby
the oppressed masses of this country can express their implicit
trust and confidence in their elected leaders and prevent the
effectiveness of these bans is:
This is how you can make easy the tasks of those who still remain;
the tasks of Chief AJ Luthuli, beloved president of the people,
the task of Dr Naicker, Dr Van Der Ross, Beyleveld and Massina,
and all those who work and stand with them. In this you must
be guided by the rich literature our organisations have produced,
especially since the first nation-wide political strike of 1950 up to
the present day of the Congress of the People.
•
to carry out unreservedly the policies of the national
organisations as enunciated from time to time;
•
to carry on more effectively the work they have been
engaged on;
This can only be useful and appreciated when you use it as a guide
in your practical work so that your understanding is clear at all
times. Honesty, selflessness, vigour, initiative, determination and
• to be loyal to the principles and ideals for which the leaders faith are some of the qualities you require. The government has
have pledged themselves;
already been shaken, the time has passed when they could rule the
country as if we, the people, did not exist. Time is against them,
• to prevent opportunism, sabotage and careerism, and
the world is against them! We on the other hand are encouraged
to expose relentlessly the reactionary tendency and by the great spirit of the people of South Africa, by the growth
reactionary leadership; and
of the national liberatory movement, by the unprecedented
• to fight vigorously the penetration of spies and government political consciousness of the people, and by the fact that the
truth is with us. We enjoy the confidence of the entire world in
stooges planted in our organisations.
this noble and just task for which we are pledged to fight until
You are called upon to intensify your campaign in the fight for the dawn of Freedom.
freedom and to build the most powerful organisation and to
08
South Africa’s Struggle for Democracy by WM Sisulu
5 January 1957
T
he fundamental principle in our struggle is equal rights
for all in our country, and that all people who have made
South Africa their home, by birth or adoption, irrespective
of colour or creed, are entitled to these rights. The fight for a
democratic South Africa is assuming greater dimensions. Since
the 1952 Defiance Campaign, the liberatory movement, faced
with extreme difficulties, has not again taken the offensive on
so wide a scale. Yet the movement is gaining momentum in
its general mobilisation of the non-European masses, with the
support of a small, but determined and growing number of
European democrats. The country is in a state of ferment. The
racial segregation and racial conflict on which the Europeans
have based their government is now reaching unprecedented
heights as a result of the numerous repressive apartheid laws of
the Nationalist Government of Mr Strijdom.
the non-Europeans in the Cape to vote on a common roll with the
whites was taken away from the Africans in 1936 and from the
Coloureds in 1956, although the legality of the latter act is still
being tested in the courts. Following Union the exploitation and
the robbery of the Africans was legalised, mainly by the Labour
Regulation Act of 1911 and the Land Act of 1913. The Africans
lost their land and their movements were increasingly restricted.
In dealing with the development of South Africa, it is important
to mention two events which will go down in history as the two
major turning points since the end of the frontier wars.
The second important stage was reached when the Nationalist
Party, inspired by Nazi racialist ideology came into power in
1948, after furiously whipping up racial hysteria among the more
backward section of the electorate, especially in the rural areas.
They impressed upon the electorate that the Afrikaner nation
was fighting for its very existence against Black domination and
Communism, which they alleged were encouraged by what they
called the “liberal” policy of the United Party. They claimed that
they had a solution to the Native Problem - a systematic apartheid
policy, which would prevent the dangers of miscegenation,
integration and equality.
The first was the formation of the Union, when four separately,
ruled provinces were brought under the central government on
31 May, 1910. From the very day Union was established the
Europeans allocated to themselves the exclusive right to govern,
and, except for the non-Europeans in the Cape Province who had
a qualified franchise, to vote. Even this slender qualified right of
In an attempt to implement their policy, the Nationalists
passed numerous oppressive laws. They promoted their chief
propagandist and architect of the apartheid policy, the former
newspaper editor, Dr Verwoerd, to a key position in the Cabinet,
to become, as Minister of Native Affairs, “Ruler of the Black
Colonial Empire”. His appointment as Minister of Native Affairs
South Africa’s Struggle for Democracy by WM Sisulu. Article in Africa South, 5 January 1957, Cape Town.
09
was appropriate, for Dr Verwoerd was, during the war years, an
ardent admirer of the Hitler Nazi regime. His arrogance and the
ruthless manner in which he administers the apartheid policy,
as if he cared nothing for human dignity, shows this up clearly.
Only a man of his type could have spoken the way he did at
Potchefstroom recently, where he is reported to have said:
“The fight which our forefathers fought against an overwhelming
majority of barbarians is still being carried out, but now it is
not against uncivilised people and barbarians, but the shrewdest,
cleverest and most dangerous enemies, both from overseas and
in our country”.
The effect is to imply that open warfare exists and to incite the
Afrikaner people against the African people. What a statement
to be made by a Cabinet Minister!
The European opposition parties have shown themselves
incapable of offering any effective opposition to the Nationalists.
They have confused themselves by waging a battle of words,
unrealistic and meaningless. “What is the meaning of apartheid,
what is the definition of this mysterious word, apartheid?” To
the present day, the United Party does not seem to know exactly
what it wants, what in fact it should tell the country. The
United Party is not ashamed to tell townsmen that apartheid
means oppression, and then to go to the platteland and tell the
Nationalists` supporters that the Government is spending too
much money on the Natives.
The non-Europeans have no time to look at dictionaries, nor to
pretend not to know what apartheid means. They have known
apartheid to mean precisely what Hitler’s racialist policy meant
to the Jews and to the world. For this reason they forewarned the
country of the dangers of apartheid. And now Europeans also in
the country are beginning to see and appreciate the correctness
of these predictions made almost ten years ago.
The non-European political organisations have grown in strength
and in status and have aroused confidence in their ability to save
South Africa from the iron rule of the Nationalist police state.
The bitterest battles which have been fought by these
organisations since their inception have been on the land
question and restriction of movement. Even to the present day,
these are still the burning issues - issues which will inevitably
bring about continued clashes between oppressor and oppressed
until the people have won the rights to own land and to move
freely without passes. Both the Indian Congress and the African
National Congress have fought against the pass system as far
back as the beginning of the present century. The latest phase in
this fight was the Defiance Campaign of 1952 and even to the
present day, a vigorous struggle is being organized around the
pass system, Group Areas and restrictions on the Trade Union
movement. Recently there have been a number of women’s
demonstrations, the biggest of which was the 20,000 strong
march of women to see the Prime Minister on the 9th August,
1956, in protest against the extension of the pass system to
African women. Successful All-In Group Areas Conferences have
been held by the Natal Indian Congress and the Transvaal Indian
Congress. The people seem to be in no mood for retreating.
The fact that the women have now taken such a firm stand in the
fight against the tyranny of the Nationalists must be regarded as
the writing on the wall, the warning to all those who still have
illusions of the permanency of White domination. It is true that
the youth of the country has not yet been organised to take part
10
in the liberatory movement, but any struggle waged against the
passes is bound to bring the African youth into the movement.
to the followers of the Congress movement, this policy is not
only correct in principle, but represents the only real alternative
to apartheid, segregation or White domination. Yet, though
Foremost in the freedom struggle in South Africa is the Congress Congressmen are convinced that the struggle for the Freedom
movement, comprising the African National Congress, the Charter is the only correct policy, they are prepared and anxious to
South African Coloured People’s Organisation, the South African cooperate on specific issues with all who oppose any manifestation
Indian Congress and the South African Congress of Democrats, of oppression and apartheid.
the Federation of South African Women and the South African
Congress of Trade Unions. The Congress movement having The alliance in the struggle against apartheid is broadening.
realised that the majority of the people were very much concerned Congress realises that not all people who are opposed to apartheid
with the future of their country and in particular the solution accept the Freedom Charter. But if for instance, the Liberal Party,
to the racial problem, convened a Congress of the People, to the Labour Party, or the Black Sash Movement do not yet accept
which political, economic and cultural organisations of all races all demands of the Charter, they may nevertheless stand with us
were invited to participate and which was held at Kliptown, on many questions.
Johannesburg on 25 and 26 June, 1955. Among the numerous
organisations invited were the Nationalist Party Government An important step in the direction of broadening the basis of
and the Official Opposition, the United Party, both of which a united front against apartheid was taken at the recent All-In
African Conference at Bloemfontein. This Conference which was
declined.
called to discuss the Tomlinson Report, after full discussion, held
This most historic multi-racial assembly adopted a Freedom in a calm and objective atmosphere, unanimously rejected the
Charter based on the demands of the people throughout the Tomlinson Report and the policy of apartheid. It further called
land. The Freedom Charter is now the policy and programme of for a multi-racial Conference and concluded its three-day session
the Congress Movement. It declares that the Government of the by making the following stirring call to the country:
country shall be based on the will of all people, Black and White,
and that all adults shall be entitled to a universal suffrage, and “This Conference is convinced that the present policy of apartheid
that all national groups shall be equal and racialism shall be constitutes a serious threat to race relations in the country.
Therefore, in the interests of all the people and the future of the
considered a serious State crime.
country, this Conference calls upon all national organisations to
This distinguishes the Congress movement from the Nationalist mobilise all people, irrespective of race, colour or creed, to form a
Party Government policy of apartheid, the United Party policy of united front against apartheid.”
segregation and the Labour and Federal Party policies of qualified
franchise. To many Europeans, this policy is “unrealistic”, yet It is heartening to note that some of the newspapers in the
country welcome the proposal for the calling of a multi-racial
11
Conference to consider an acceptable solution to the country’s
problems. Most of these newspapers have hitherto tacitly or
expressly supported reactionary policies. Their attitude is an
indication that the idea of a united front is gaining ground.
Thus we see two powerful forces crystallising out in the country the one represented by the Congress movement and its allies, and
the other by the Nationalist Party. As far as the Nationalist Party
is concerned, any serious analysis will reveal that it has reached
its high-water mark. There is no possibility of the Nationalists
growing stronger than they are at present. They have played
all their cards, but one - namely, the Republican issue, which
itself appears unlikely to arouse any greater enthusiasm for the
Nationalists than exists today. Already there are signs that the
edge of the Nationalist blitzkrieg is blunted in the face of the
determined and growing resistance of the people.
On the other hand, the liberatory movement does not only
Relaxing at home with Mama Albertina Sisulu
derive strength from the knowledge that the colonial peoples
everywhere are achieving their independence, and that a larger
part of the world is hostile to racialism and White domination,
but even more than that, they derive strength from the fact that
their forces are growing, the resentment against oppression is
becoming greater every day and in particular, the Europeans of
the country are gradually beginning to see that South Africa has
no choice but to follow the road to a multi-racial society free
from sectional domination and on the basis of the Charter of
Human Rights.
The coming year will be decisive in the struggle against the
Nationalists. Even the United Party will have to make up its
mind. It will be faced with the question of joining with the
Nationalists completely and sharing the fate which will face all
racialists, or joining with the larger family of the democratic
forces against apartheid.
12
Congress and the Africanists
1 September 1959
I
n recent months much has been published in the South
African press about the “Africanists” and their attempt to
capture the leadership of the African National Congress. The
struggle reached a climax at the Transvaal Provincial Conference
of the ANC held under the auspices of the National Executive
on 1 and 2 November, 1958. The Africanists attempted to
“pack” the conference, but most of their supporters failed to
qualify as delegates. They then tried to break up the conference
by force, and, when this attempt was defeated, they withdrew,
announcing that they were leaving Congress and intended
forming a new organisation.
The whole affair has been much exaggerated in the newspapers,
especially in the so-called `Bantu’ press. Newspapers tend to
thrive on sensations, and some of them were obviously motivated
by malice towards Congress and a desire to emphasise and add
to its difficulties. In reality, the Africanists were never able to
muster much support or gain much influence in the ANC. Their
departure has greatly pleased the great majority of Congressmen,
who regarded them as a noisy and disruptive clique, and who
consider all the talk of a “major split” in Congress as absurd.
It is unlikely that the Africanists will make much progress or
maintain much cohesion among themselves now that they have
left Congress. They appear to have little or nothing in the way
of a constructive policy or original programme to offer to the
public. They have had a lot to say, it is true, but so far it has been
exclusively destructive and critical of Congress leadership. All
the leaders have shown themselves to be quarrelsome, unruly
and ambitious; one doubts whether they will ever achieve
agreement on aims and leadership.
Yet it would be wrong for any student of politics in this country
to ignore the significance of this development. Even though the
Africanists have not evolved any definite programme and policy,
the general trend of their ideas is manifest: it lies in a crude
appeal to African racialism as a reply to White arrogance and
oppression. The principal target of their attacks is the broad
humanism of the African National Congress, which claims
equality but not domination for the African people, and regards
South Africa as being big enough and rich enough to sustain all
its people, of whatever origin, in friendship and peace.
This broad outlook of Congress finds its clearest expression in the
opening sentence of the Freedom Charter, which declares that
“South Africa belongs to all who live in it, Black and White”. It
is precisely this formulation which is most strongly attacked by
the Africanists. In their letter of secession from the ANC they
declare that “the Kliptown Charter” is “in irreconcilable conflict”
with the 1949 Congress “Programme of Action”, “seeing that it
“Congress and the Africanists” - Article by WM Sisulu, 1 September 1959, Cape Town
13
(the Freedom Charter) claims that the land no longer belongs objectives:
to the African people but is auctioned for sale to all who belong
1. To unite all the various tribes in South Africa;
to this country”. Leaving aside the inflated polemical language
of this statement (characteristic of all “Africanist” writings), the
2. To educate public opinion on the aspirations of the black
intention is clear: it is a denial that any section of the population
other than the descendants of indigenous Africans have any
man of South Africa;
rights in the country whatsoever.
3. To advocate on behalf of the African masses equal rights
There are several other issues used by the Africanists in their
and justice;
attacks on ANC leadership and policy. They bitterly denounce
the Congress Alliance - the working partnership which has
4. To be the mouthpiece of the African people and their
developed between the ANC and the Indian Congress, the (White)
chiefs;
Congress of Democrats, the Coloured People’s Organisation and
the Congress of Trade Unions. They say that the alliance “waters
5. To represent the people in government and municipal
down African nationalism”, and charge that it is dominated by
affairs; and
the Whites of the Congress of Democrats and the Indians of the
South African Indian Congress. They say that the Whites in the
6. To represent them in the Union Parliament, and generally,
alliance are not sincere and cannot be relied upon in the struggle
to end White supremacy. They say that the ANC leadership is
to do all such things as are necessary for the progress and
Communistic and out of step with the nationalist movement in
welfare of the African people.
the rest of the continent, which has no alliance with other racial
groups. They say that the Congress leadership has abandoned Within the framework of these broad general objectives, Congress
traditional Congress policy “as it was formulated in 1912”, and has continued steadily, up to the present day. It has consistently
that they, the Africanists, are “launching out as custodians” of demanded “equal rights and justice”. It has never advocated the
that policy (Letter of Secession, November, 1958).
replacement of exclusive rights for Whites, as established by the
Union’s Constitution, following the precedent of the two Boer
In the first place, it should be stated as emphatically as possible Republics, with exclusive rights for Africans as now proposed by
that the Africanists` principal charge - that Congress has the “Africanists”. In putting forward this conception, it is they
departed from its traditional purpose and policy - is untrue and who are departing from the original objectives and purposes of
unfounded.
the founders of Congress; it is the present Congress leaders who
The constituent Conference of 1912, at which the African are the true continuers and custodians of those purposes and
National Congress was established, set forth the following traditions.
14
An important policy statement, known as the “Bill of Rights”,
was drawn up in 1943 by a committee composed of leading
Africans from various parts of the Union. It was issued by the
ANC at the time, in a pamphlet entitled “African Claims”, as a
formal statement of Congress policy. It declared, inter alia:
“We, the African people in the Union of South Africa, urgently
demand the granting of full citizenship in South Africa. We
demand abolition of discrimination based on race, and the
extension to all adults regardless of race of the right to vote
and be elected to Parliament, Provincial Councils and other
representative institutions. We demand the right to an equal
share in all the material resources of the country. We demand a
fair redistribution of the land as a prerequisite for a just settlement
of the land problem.”
various documents cited above, and to the many other statements
of Congress policy and principle down the years. Beginning with
the statement that South Africa belongs to the people who live
in it, but that our people have been robbed of their birthright to
land, peace and liberty by an unjust form of government, it goes
on to claim that every man and woman shall have the right to
vote and to stand as candidate for election to all bodies which
make laws, and that the rights of all people shall be the same,
regardless of race, colour or sex. The Charter goes on to demand
equality in every sphere of life, in its ten famous chapters, which
are identical in spirit and closely parallel in content to the eleven
points of the “Bill of Rights”, as published in “African Claims”,
and specifically endorsed in the 1949 “Programme of Action”.
The above, of course, is no more than a brief sketch of the
Finally, I may cite the Programme of Action of 1949, which the evolution of Congress policy down the years. Nevertheless, it
Africanists continually declare to be inconsistent with the Freedom is sufficient to demonstrate amply that, while ANC policy has
Charter, and which they claim as “their own” programme. “In naturally evolved down the years, in changing circumstances
1949 we got the African people to accept the nation-building at home and abroad, becoming more detailed and clearer in
programme of that year”, declares the Africanists` letter of formulation, it has retained throughout a fundamental continuity
resignation of last November. Actually the 1949 Programme of and consistency which is striking and remarkable. Tested against
Action was a regular Congress document, adopted at a national the facts, the Africanists` accusation that Congress has departed
conference on the initiative of the Congress leadership and issued from its traditional programme cannot be sustained.
over the signature of the present writer. Only one or two of the Nor is it true that the African National Congress has ever pursued
Africanists had any hand in it.
a line of exclusive “Black chauvinism” and hostility to other racial
The 1949 “Programme” was really a plan of work, dealing groups, as now advocated by the Africanists. From its early days,
mainly with proposed methods of struggle, such as strikes, civil Congress has rejected the whole ideology of “master races” and
disobedience and boycotts, but it opened with a short political “servant races” as expressed in the Constitution and structure
preamble. This preamble consists primarily of an endorsement of the Union. It has repudiated the idea of “driving the White
of the “Bill of Rights,” cited above, and emphasised the demands man into the sea” as futile and reactionary, and accepted the
for the immediate abolition of all discriminatory laws and the fact that the various racial groups in South Africa have come to
stay. It has consistently sought the co-operation of other political
participation of Africans in all Councils of State.
groups and other races, of religious, liberal and leftist groups and
The Freedom Charter of 1955 is in a direct line of succession to the organisations, in its struggle for freedom and equality. Indeed
15
there was a time when the Congress leadership, contrasting the
relatively enlightened policy of the “liberal Cape” with the blatant
“inequality in Church and State” of the northern republics,
placed too heavy a reliance upon the goodwill of White leaders,
and tended to react to such early manifestations of “apartheid”
as with the 1913 Land Act by sending futile deputations and
appeals to Whitehall.
a formal resolution, “the practice of racial discrimination and
segregation in all its aspects, all over the world.”
The fact that, due to differences of historical development and
present conditions, African liberationist movements in many
other parts of the continent have not found allies in their
struggle among other population groups, unreservedly accepting
equality, self-government, independence and democracy as their
In the disillusioning years that followed, the African people and programme, is unfortunately misunderstood or distorted by the
Congress have learned to put their trust not in aid from others, but Africanists to imply that they oppose such alliances on principle.
in their own strength and organisation. Nevertheless Congress Nothing could be further from the truth. Africa and its peoples
has at all times welcomed and taken the initiative in achieving have suffered too much in the past from racialism and the “master
co-operation with other organisations representing different race” ideology to adopt any such dangerous doctrines. Nothing
population-groups, provided always that such cooperation was has brought greater credit to the ANC in the eyes of Africa and
on a basis of equality and disinterested adherence to mutual aims. the world than its steadfast refusal to respond to the vicious
It is this consistent Congress policy of unity and anti-racialism persecution of` the Nationalists and their predecessors in the
which has borne fruit in the present-day Congress alliance, which Union Government by a blind and irrational “anti-Whiteism”.
is continually broadening its scope and winning the support and It has shown the African people to be larger-minded than, and
allegiance of increasing numbers of South Africans, and which morally superior to, their oppressors; it strikingly refutes the
has won the ANC world-wide admiration and respect. This ridiculous claims of “White South Africa” about alleged African
policy enjoys the support of the overwhelming majority of the “immaturity” and “unreadiness for self-government”.
Congress membership, who recognise it as being in the best
traditions of the organisation. Every attempt by the Africanists The isolation and repudiation of the Africanists became more
to reverse the policy of alliance and replace it with one of narrow complete with their open sabotage of the Congress cause after
sectionalism and exclusiveness has been crushingly rejected by the National Workers` Conference of March, 1958. The ANC
and the other Congresses had decided to demonstrate during
the membership in provincial and national conferences.
election week against the undemocratic travesty of a “General
Thus, the so-called “African nationalism” of the Africanists Election” which debarred the majority from any participation.
turns out to be a mere inverted racialism, foreign to the spirit All the forces of oppression were mobilised against the proposed
and traditions of the African people, and more in line with the demonstration. The Prime Minister threatened retaliation “with
Afrikaner Nationalist Party than with the progressive liberationist the full might of the State”. The United Party called upon the
nationalism of Congress. This type of racial exclusiveness has Government to take firm action against Congress. The police
been condemned the world over, and not least by the progressive force, the Native Affairs Department, and the army were called
African national movements of this continent. The recent All- into action against the proposed general strike. Newspapers,
African Peoples` Conference at Accra roundly condemned, in ranging from the Nationalist and United Party dailies down to
16
the so-called `Bantu’ press, preached continually and vociferously
against Congress. Employers of labour and Verwoerd’s “loyal
chiefs” added their threats and warnings.
When the Africanist leaders Madzunya and Leballo joined in this
all-out campaign against the people, they were hailed in the daily
papers as “the most responsible and powerful Native leaders”.
Overnight they had become heroes to the upholders of White
supremacy. And overnight they forfeited whatever small respect
or confidence they might still have enjoyed within the ranks of
Congress.
support inside or outside Congress. The “sensation” petered out.
The national conference of Congress in December proved to be
a remarkable demonstration of the confidence of the people in
the present leadership, the Freedom Charter, and the Congress
alliance.
For, however much free publicity the Africanists may receive
in the anti-Congress press, they are not likely to succeed in
building any stable organisation or win much support for it,
still less offering any serious challenge to the leadership of the
people by the African National Congress. Many of them are not
really serious, they handle “politics” like professional browsers,
Congress is a broad and tolerant organisation, firmly wedded to as though the South African struggle will be resolved in a study.
democratic principle and refusing to impose any single ideology They use Africanism as a sort of escape from the discipline, the
upon its members. But, at the same time, the ANC is not merely hard slogging day-to-day work, and the possible personal dangers
a debating society, and cannot tolerate open sabotage of its which face the ordinary Congress member. Pride or conscience
struggle. The National Executive promptly expelled Madzunya will not allow them to withdraw from politics altogether, so they
and Leballo for their treacherous activities, and it is notable that think the best thing is to play safe, become sofa critics of Congress,
this action was warmly applauded by branches throughout the and use revolutionary language occasionally at Conference, safe
country. It was the end of the Africanists` noisy career in Congress. in the knowledge that the Government will not take any action
True, ignoring his expulsion, Mr Madzunya announced himself as against them.
a “candidate” for the position of President of the Transvaal at the
November conference in Orlando. And true to form, his clique, Yet, these truths should not blind us to the fact that there are
attended by a number of armed supporters, came to Orlando men and women amongst them who genuinely believe that the
hoping to repeat its tactic of smashing the conference. But this salvation of our people lies in a fanatical African racialism and
time the Congress membership was ready for him, and in no denunciation of everything that is not African. And such a policy
mood to tolerate any further mischief. When they saw they were is not without its potential mass-appeal.
outnumbered, the Africanists suddenly withdrew, and, as we
It would be unrealistic to pretend that a policy of extreme
have, seen, announced their “secession”. It was a damp squib.
nationalism must, in the nature of things, always be unpopular.
For a few days some newspapers tried to build up the “major The people are quick to detect the insincerity of the mere
split” in Congress as a sensation. It soon became apparent, demagogue, and they have confidence in the courage and
however, that the departure of this faction had strengthened the wisdom of their tried and trusted leaders. But in a country
organisation, not weakened it, and that they commanded no like South Africa, where the Whites dominate everything, and
17
where ruthless laws are ruthlessly administered and enforced,
the natural tendency is one of growing hostility towards
Europeans. In fact most Africans come into political activity
because of their indignation against Whites, and it is only
through their education in Congress and their experience of the
genuine comradeship in the struggle of such organisations as the
Congress of Democrats that they rise to the broad, non-racial
humanism of our Congress movement.
The Africanists have thus far failed, but their mere appearance is
an urgent warning to all democratic South Africans. The Africans
have set a wonderful example of political wisdom and maturity
to the rest of the country, but they are not perfect, any more
than any other community of men and women sorely beset. In
certain circumstances, an emotional mass-appeal to destructive
and exclusive nationalism can be a dynamic and irresistible force
in history. We have seen in our own country how - decade after
decade - the Afrikaner people have followed yet more extreme
With a State policy of increasingly barbaric repression of the and reactionary leaders. It would be foolish to imagine that a
African people; with the deliberate destruction of every form wave of Black chauvinism, provoked by the savagery of the
of normal human contact between people from different Nationalist Party (and perhaps secretly encouraged and financed
population-groups; and with the systematic banning and by it too), may not some day sweep through our country. And if
isolation of the convinced and fervent anti-racialists among the it does, the agony will know no colour bar at all.
Africans from political activity, there is no knowing what the
future will hold.
Meeting outside the courtroom during the Defiance Campaign trial
18
Excerpts of Evidence led by WM Sisulu in the Rivonia Trial
1 March 1964
W
alter Sisulu was the main defence witness in the The Defiance Campaign was brought about as the result of this
Rivonia Trial and in the course of leading evidence Programme of Action. It adopted a programme where it would
he spoke with authority about ANC policy.
use civil disobedience, strikes, boycotts ... From 1912 to 1961 the
Since its inception, the ANC adopted a democratic policy. That African National Congress pursued a policy of non-violence. This
is, it advocated that there was room in South Africa for all racial applied even during the period I have described as the period
groups which existed. It advocated that it should participate in which was to break the laws. They still followed a policy of nonthe Government councils of this country. This policy was clearly violence ... There was a positive preaching of non-violence.
stated in a document drawn up during the war years in 1943.
The document was called “African Claims”. The drawing up of
this document was inspired by the Atlantic Charter which was
proclaimed then, which inspired many nations of the world
that all peoples, irrespective of their colour, will have a future
and a stake in their respective countries. The committee that
drafted the document was the cream of the African leadership,
leading intellectuals, leading businessmen, conservatives and
communists, all united by their desire to achieve freedom for
themselves and for all the people who have made South Africa
their home...
The Freedom Charter was adopted in 1955 at the Congress of
the People. The Congress of the People was initiated by the
African National Congress. The demands which formed the
basis of Freedom Charter were collected from various parts of
South Africa, and more than 3,000 delegates of Africans and
other racial groups attended that conference which adopted the
Freedom Charter...
The Freedom Charter is far from being a socialist document. It
is a document which does visualise a socialisation of mines and
other monopoly industries. The reason for this is that the mere
attainment of political rights without adjusting the economic
position of the country will still leave the Africans in a poor state
where there are ‘haves and haves not’; it is necessary to make
such adjustments as visualised by the Freedom Charter...
The fact (is) that successive governments refused to hear the just
plea of the African people... In 1949, a Programme of Action
was adopted, which described the methods which the African
National Congress would now use. It abandons the question of Advocate Bram Fischer, leading Sisulu`s evidence, asked: “Now,
mere deputations and decided to break the laws of the country. Mr Sisulu, as a background to what eventually made the ANC
19
agree to permit sabotage what happened to all those efforts
which had been put forward in 1945?”
Dr Percy Yutar, Sisulu had an opportunity to expound on ANC
attitudes to other races.
Sisulu: “Well, I’d like to mention that both in policy, programme
and practice, the ANC adopted the most reasonable and sober
attitude for the unity and harmony of its citizens ... but the
Europeans of this country, through their political representatives,
were not prepared to accept the line we have chosen to a peaceful
settlement of all problems by negotiations. Instead they chose
to make South Africa an armed camp ... With the banning of
meetings, banning of organisations and suppressing of all legal
methods, it was not possible for Africans to accept this situation.
No self-respecting African would accept this situation...
YUTAR: ... that is your solution of the problems of this country
- the concept of black and white co-operation?
“The Africans in South Africa are among the best informed
about events, particularly in their own country. By 1960, they
were aware that in Africa, one country after another was getting
freedom and that the ANC, although it was one of the oldest
organisations, was not coming anywhere near (its) cherished
ideals. It did not surprise some of us that the people should
become impatient ... I was myself convinced that civil war would
eventually become inevitable unless the Government changed its
policy ... I felt that in the interest of my own people it would be
better that we should bring about a state of affairs whereby such
violence would be controlled.”
SISULU: Yes, that is correct.
That was the background to the founding of the sabotage
organisation, Umkhonto we Sizwe. Since it was felt that
the ANC could not afford both Mandela and Sisulu in this
organisation, Sisulu himself had remained in the political field.
When, in April 1963, he was placed under 24-hour house arrest,
it was decided that he should go underground, and continue to
organise. In the course of cross-examination by the prosecutor,
SISULU: Oh yes. We have absolutely no doubt that as a feasible
proposition it is the only answer - no other. The question of what
Africa says or anybody else is not the real issue. The question is
what do we feel in this country?
YUTAR: And yet the rest of Africa - I am putting it a bit too
high, but many States of Africa are the countries to whom you
have appealed for assistance, military and financial?
YUTAR: And they are the countries that are supporting you
militarily and financially?
SISULU: In spite of our policies...
YUTAR: And they are the countries who are against this concept
of partnership between black and white?
SISULU: Yes.
YUTAR: And notwithstanding that, you still say that can be the
position in this country?
SISULU: Of course. I am saying that the position is decided by
the people of South Africa, not the people outside ... It merely
emphasises the difficulties, and the problems of our organisation,
of our policy, and yet we are prepared to stand by it. We educate
other people in this country and abroad, that the only solution in
South Africa is living together of black and white, and no other
...
20
YUTAR: Sisulu, perhaps it is pertinent at this stage just to ask
you this - if eventually the non-Europeans got control of the
country, what would be the position if the responsible leadership
made a few more mistakes and dropped a few more bombs in
houses of the whites?
that they are oppressed ...
SISULU: Oh yes.
Towards the end of Dr. Yutar`s cross-examination, Sisulu’s anger
surfaced. The prosecutor made the remark, “The police don’t
arrest indiscriminately”.
In re-examination, Advocate Fischer took Sisulu through the
record of harassment he had undergone: convicted in 1952 in
the Defiance Campaign; convicted a second time for continuing
to organise and thus risking ten years in jail; banned from
SISULU: Well, on the question of responsibility insofar as this gatherings and again arrested in 1954 for attending a gathering;
line is concerned, it is not a question of colour. Europeans have from 1956 to 1961 one of the accused in the Treason Trial; in
done worse things in this country, they have bombed each other. 1960 detained during the post-Sharpeville emergency; 1961,
YUTAR: I am talking about the responsible leadership that you twice convicted; 1962, arrested six times, once on the occasion
have referred to that made mistakes - what if they cut away some of his mother`s death when people had come to sympathise yet
police arrested him for breaking his ban; placed under house
more railway lines?
arrest; and in 1963 captured at Rivonia and held under the
SISULU: I said that the question of being irresponsible is not a 90-day detention law, during which time he was interrogated
question of colour. The leadership of the ANC has demonstrated by members of the Special Branch several times and offered his
for the last fifty years that they are most responsible.
freedom if he would give information confidentially about his
comrades.
YUTAR: Most responsible?
YUTAR: And notwithstanding it, you gave your benign blessing
to the creation of Umkhonto and allowed them carte blanche to
commit acts of sabotage?
SISULU: Very much against our feeling. We have tried, by all
means, not to get into this situation ...
SISULU: They arrest many people indiscriminately. For no
offence people have been arrested.
YUTAR: Would you like to make a political speech?
THE COURT: And you also have a duty to persuade the people
that they are oppressed, is that so?
SISULU: I’m not making a political speech, I’m replying to your
question.
SISULU: If it’s so, I don`t know if it’s merely a question of
persuading the people. It would be a strange thing that the
Africans in South Africa are the only people who do not know
YUTAR: How do you know they arrest people innocently?
21
SISULU: I know.
YUTAR: How do you know?
SISULU: They arrested my wife, they arrested my son.... They
arrest other people.
YUTAR: Yes, without any evidence whatsoever?
SISULU: What evidence?
YUTAR: I don`t know, I`m asking . . .
SISULU: I have been persecuted by the police, Special Branch.
If there is a man who has been persecuted it’s myself. In 1962, I
was arrested six times. I know the position in this country.
YUTAR: You do?
SISULU: I wish you were in the position of an African. I wish you
were an African to know the position in this country!
A meeting at Freedom Square in Fordsburg
22
Speech by Walter Sisulu at a Reception at the Presentation of
the Award of Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India
15 July 1998
Master of Ceremonies;
Your Excellency, High Commissioner of India to South Africa;
Excellencies, Members of the Diplomatic Corps;
Distinguished Guests;
Comrades and Friends.
these masses and leaders!
It is my honour and privilege to stand here today to receive this
award. I stand here before you not as Walter Sisulu the individual.
I stand here as Walter Sisulu, your humble servant.
The arrival in South Africa of Indian indentured labourers in the
nineteenth century heralded the beginning of a long association
between our two sister peoples which has produced giants of
struggle of the calibre of Mahatma Gandhi and Drs Naicker and
Dadoo.
Tempered in the crucible of common struggles against British
colonial tyranny, relations between India and South Africa go
back a long way.
I stand here today on behalf of Oliver Tambo, Chris Hani, Joe
Slovo, Helen Joseph, Yusuf Dadoo and countless South Africans unsung heroes and heroines - who have sacrificed life and limb for Forced to eke out a living under the most appalling conditions,
and denied the most basic human rights, the Indian population
the common good, for the freedom that we are enjoying today.
of Natal soon began organising themselves into a resistance
I stand here on behalf of millions of South African men, women movement which culminated in the formation of the Natal
and children whose dream for a better life is the cause of our very Indian Congress led by Gandhi.
being, the reason why we toil, be it in government, civil society,
or indeed, the private sector. I therefore dedicate this award to all Gandhi’s philosophy of Satyagraha inspired many African leaders
[The Padma Vibhushan is a national award of India for exceptional and distinguished service in various fields of endeavour. Walter Sisulu was
given the award for his struggle against apartheid. He was the fourth person who is not a citizen of India to be bestowed this award. The High
Commissioner of India, Mr LC Jain, presented the award to Mr. Sisulu at a reception in Johannesburg.]
23
of the time and contributed immensely to the crystallisation of
the ideology of the South African National Liberation Movement
led by the ANC.
equitable world order.
Needless to say, as our Indian brothers and sisters can testify, this
new struggle is much harder than the one we fought before.
Without any measure of exaggeration one can say that the
defiance of unjust laws campaign of 1952 was inspired to a It is therefore imperative that those of us who have been charged
with the heavy responsibilities of being the midwife of the
considerable measure by the philosophy of Satyagraha.
transformation should remain focused, loyal and dedicated to the
Upon his return to India, the Mahatma initiated the Indian cause to which Gandhi, Nehru, Tambo and Dadoo so selflessly
Liberation Movement drawing much on his experience in South gave of themselves.
Africa.
We owe it to these finest sons of India and South Africa to leave
In subsequent years, Indian South Africans like Dr Naicker, no stone unturned in strengthening the good political, social,
Ismail Meer, Dr Yusuf Dadoo and many others were to play an economic, cultural and scientific relations which exist between
important role in the South African Liberation Movement.
our two countries.
Shortly after her own emancipation from British colonial rule,
India was amongst the first and very few countries at the time
to openly declare at the United Nations her abhorrence at the
system of racist colonial rule in South Africa and her support
for the legitimate struggle of the people of our land for their
freedom.
A new millennium beckons.
Today, four years after the historic victory of the ANC in the April
1994 elections, our two countries and peoples stand shoulder to
shoulder in the struggle for a better life for the peoples of the
world.
Half the battle shall have been won if indeed our efforts as leaders
of our countries, parties and communities can at least inspire
hope in our people for a better life.
We share a common perspective on the demand for a just and
What does this new era hold in store for the poor in Alexandra,
Mumbai, Mowbray, Johannesburg and Calcutta?
Will the new millennium bring hope instead of despair to the
“wretched of the earth”?
The battle shall have been won if by 2099 our great-great
24
grandchildren shall be able to enjoy the benefits of a good
education and decent housing.
The battle shall have been won if by the turn of the next century
poverty, squalor, degradation and disease shall remain but a
distant and fading memory.
We have it in our power to make the twenty-first century the
Afro-Asian century.
It is not beyond us to make the new millennium, the millennium
of accelerated development, social justice and economic
emancipation for all our people.
In conclusion, Master of Ceremonies, I would like to take this
opportunity to express my most sincere gratitude to the President
and Government of India for bestowing the Padma Vibhushan
award on me.
I am humbled by this honour and feel somewhat uneasy about
21
Speaking with Mama Albertina in Robben Island
joining the exclusive club of outstanding personalities like King
Wangchuk of Bhutan, Dr Chandrasekhar of the USA and Ms
Mirabehn of Britain who have been similarly decorated in the
past.
May I also seize this chance to salute India and her sons and
daughters on the occasion of her 50th birthday!
Your sterling achievements in science, technology and many
other critical areas of human endeavour in the past fifty years
leave your enemies and the jealous green with envy and inspire
confidence and pride in your friends, such as we are.
Last but not least, I would like to thank all of you for finding
time to come and share this moment of glory with my family
and I.
Long live friendship between the peoples of India and South
Africa!
Taking a walk on Robben Island
Tribute by Nelson Mandela at the Funeral Service of Walter
Sisulu
17 May 2003
I
n the last few years we have walked this road with greater
frequency, marching in the procession to bid farewell to the
veterans of our movement, paying our last respects to the
fallen spears of the nation from a generation now reaching the
end of a long and heroic struggle.
Those of us from that generation, who are singled out to stay the
longest, have to bare the pain of seeing our comrades go.
We shared tears over them because we have walked such a long
road together: sharing trials and tribulations; danger, anguish
and fear; and also precious moments of joy, gladness and laughter.
Their going must leave an emptiness with those of us who stay
be hind.
Our sadness over them is tempered by the comforting knowledge
that the separation will now not be interminably long. And
more importantly, by the sure knowledge that their lives were
not wasted and spent fruitlessly. They fought a noble battle and
lived their lives in pursuit of a better life for all who follow. The
democracy in which we bury them and honour them, is the sweet
fruit of their lives of struggle and sacrifice.
Today we stand at the grave of one of the greatest amongst that
generation of great freedom fighters.
We take leave of a man of whom I have already said in these sad
days since his death, that from the moment when we first met he
has been my friend, my brother, my keeper, my comrade.
Our paths first crossed in 1941. During all of these years since, our
lives have been intertwined. We shared the joy of living, and the
pain. Together we shared ideas, forged common commitments.
We walked side by side through the valley of death, nursing each
other’s bruises, holding each other up when our steps faltered.
And together we were privileged to savour the taste of freedom.
We shall not weep for Xhamela. He would not expect us to or
approve of us doing so. We do, though, deeply mourn his death.
A part of us is gone with his passing.
We have so often made this point while Xhamela was still alive
and since his passing away, but it needs repeating well into the
future. He neither sought nor wielded his authority by virtue of
office. He was ever ready to draw others into leadership. And he
never asked of others what he was not prepared to do himself.
Rivalry between organisations was to be expected in prison.
Many among us prisoners were perceived to be leaders of one or
other organisation. But all prisoners saw Xhamela as the leader
of all of us, irrespective of the organisation one belonged to - a
26
leader of the entire people.
And if our nation has to take an example for its own future
together, where better than to look to the family that Walter and
Albertina nurtured, held together and led? That family speaks
to us of how quality and greatness are borne out of suffering and
adversity.
His greatness as a leader derived from his humility and his
ingrained belief in and respect for collective leadership. He knew
and taught us that wisdom comes from sharing insights and
listening to and learning from each other. He was always the
unifier, never a divider. Where others of us would speak a hasty We console Albertina and the children by paying tribute to what
word or act in anger, he was the patient one, seeking to heal and they have come to represent in our national life.
bring together.
The spear of the nation has fallen, as the militant youth of our
And how can we speak about this great unifier of people without country once sang during funerals. Let us pick up the spear, now
recognising and honouring that great unity in his own life: that to build a country after the example that Walter Sisulu has set
of Walter and Albertina as a marital couple, a unity of such deep for us.
friendship and mutual respect, a personal and political partnership
that transcended and survived all hardships, separations and Hamba Kahle, Xhamela. Qhawe la ma Qhawe.
persecution.
Defiance Campaign trialists pose for a picture
27
Speeches delivered on walter
sisulu’s centenary celebrations
28
Walter Sisulu: A Leader for the 21st century
Cyril Ramaphosa
18 May 2012
I
standard, mainly via correspondence courses. Even at that young
age, Walter Sisulu was a fighter. Everywhere he went, he was
spontaneously organising fellow-workers and instigating strikes
for which he would get fired. But he was not simply a firebrand.
It is significant that he should have been born in the same year as In fact some of his outstanding characteristics, even at that time,
the African National Congress, a movement that he was to play were his sharp intellectual curiosity, his measured judgements
such a central role in shaping. Over more than 50 years of selfless and keenly observant mind. He was always learning, observing,
service, Tata Walter Sisulu was to have a profound influence analysing….These the are attributes that would serve him and
not only on the liberation movement, but on the course of the his organisation to great benefit in the years that were to come.
struggle for democracy, justice and freedom in South Africa.
In 1938 he established his own estate agency, not an inconsiderable
Walter Sisulu joined the ANC in 1940. He was recruited by achievement for a black young man who had come from the rural
trade unionist Alfred Mbele. He paid two shillings and sixpence areas of the Eastern Cape. This feat amazed and impressed Madiba
membership fee, was given a card, and became a member of the enormously when he first visited him at his offices. Walter Sisulu
influential Orlando Branch. Shortly thereafter, he was made was also active in local politics. He joined the Civic Association,
treasurer of the branch and from 1942 onwards he attended and dates the start of his active politics from that time onwards.
virtually all the Annual ANC Conferences. He was one of the He met Gaur Radebe, a communist and together with Herbert
founding members of the ANC Youth League. It is remarkable Mdingi, they launched the Transvaal Civic Association. But
that just 9 years after joining the ANC he would rise to the post Walter Sisulu was also active in choirs and other cultural and
of national Secretary General of the ANC. He stepped down mutual aid organisations.
from his last official position in the organisation, as ANC Deputy
President, in 1994. In the intervening years, he had been one of By the time Walter Sisulu joined the ANC in 1940, he had known
the most active, prominent and influential leaders in this country. many years of being a worker, an organiser, a community activist,
and a small businessman. His wealth of human experience, his
By the time Walter Sisulu joined the organisation, he had already uncanny strategic ability and his measured reasoning would soon
experienced nearly 10 years of the harsh life of a young migrant be put to its greatest test.
worker from the Eastern Cape as a miner, domestic worker and a
factory employee. His formal schooling had stopped at Std Four, The character of the ANC started to change from being a
and as he went from job to job he studied for his senior school movement whose major activity was its annual conference into a
t is a great honour and deeply humbling to be asked to reflect
on the life and work of Isithwalandwe Walter Sisulu on this
day, the 100th anniversary of his birth.
more tightly functioning and centralised organisation.
However the politics of the ANC was still very much in a
conservative mould, most especially with regards to its prevailing
tactics of deputations, petitions and delegations. Already at the
1942 conference, Lancelot Gama had pointed out the increasing
militancy at educational institutions and called for a structure to
galvanise and direct this new movement of young people. In the
1943 ANC Conference, Dr Xuma made a call for the formation
of the Youth League and Conference gave the go-ahead. Walter
Sisulu and a group of young activists, including, Anton Lembede,
AP Mda, Oliver Tambo, Jordan Ngubane, Willie Nkomo and
Nelson Mandela threw themselves into the work of setting
up the Youth League. Dr Xuma was not happy with the way
the decision was being implemented, reasoning that it was the
executive of the ANC that should set up the Youth League. But
he finally reluctantly agreed conditionally on certain stipulations
being met such as ANC Youth League members should be
members of the ANC and that the Youth League would have
to act within the policies and activities of the mother body. The
Youth League was subsequently launched in 1944 with Lembede
as President, Tambo as Secretary and Sisulu as Treasurer.
other, the Youth League. These two were not quite in agreement, but
were able to accommodate each other. Those most hostile to the Youth
League were the conservative element within the ANC. ……I want
at this stage to deal with the outstanding contribution of a man like
Moses Kotane. He was unfortunately not a sectarian man. He was
not a type of man who beat his breast and shouted slogans. That
he was not. He would analyse the situation and look at every issue
on the basis of merit. Because of this, many of us admired Moses
Kotane.” (P52)
Walter Sisulu too was influenced by other people and events that
were unfolding in our country at the time. The campaigns of
James Sofasonke Mpanza, the 1946 Mineworkers strike and the
1946 Indian passive resistance campaign were to make a major
impression on him. The mass character of these campaigns served
to illustrate what the ANC should become if it was to overthrow
white colonial rule.
By the time the Nationalist Party came to power in 1948, the
ANCYL has already developed a programme of action that called
for more militant political work. The ANCYL lobbied hard for
this programme to be adopted by the ANC at its 1949 conference.
Its proposals were adopted by the conference and Walter Sisulu
was also elected as its Secretary General.
There were all kinds of tendencies vying for ascendency
within the Youth League, with communists, nationalists and
ultra-nationalists all trying to influence the direction of the As Walter Sisulu is thrown into the thick of the struggle, one
organisation. It is interesting to hear from Walter Sisulu himself hears him reflecting on the roles he assumed and the values that
he admired: a unifier, tolerance, seeking to keep the bigger
how he managed the situation:
picture in mind, a distaste for doctrinaire flamboyance and
an admiration for measured calm. But above all, an absolute
“…I had a central approach. I didn’t want a sectarian approach.
determination to get the job done.
I wanted a broader, unifying approach. And that was my
function…………..You have therefore, a situation in which there
Walter Sisulu became the first full time Secretary General of the
was, on the one hand, the Communists who were militant and on the
ANC and was promised the princely sum of 5 pounds per month.
That this was rarely paid did not stop the NEC from discussing
an increase to 10pounds at some point later! Mama Albertina
was in reality subsidising the ANC through ensuring that Walter
Sisulu had travel money and she was to provide for the family
and household.
As Walter Sisulu commented, his election to the position of
Secretary General “meant a completely new situation for me. I knew
that there was no money to finance the movement. But I was obliged. Once
I had accepted, once I was elected I knew that it’s the end of my business
or anything else. I had to be full time. I couldn’t draft a Programme of
Action and call upon the people to support it without leading it. …..I
had confidence in my wife, that I would have her support fully as indeed
it showed. She supported me fully.” (P.65)
a style of work that was developed that ensured that there was
maximum consultation on every key decision during the 1950s
and early 1960s. To illustrate, when the decisions were taken
to embark on the defiance campaign, planning started a year
before. Tata Sisulu visited almost every part of the country to
explain the campaign to ANC structures. He would also spend
time working to build or revive branches in parts of the country
that needed it. In a sense he was both the national organiser and
SG of the ANC.
Under his tenure as SG the ANC grew in membership from a
few thousand members to over 100 000. This was the outcome
of the 1952 Defiance Campaign. The campaign, while not
achieving the abolition of any of the targeted laws, broke the fear
of imprisonment among the leaders and activists of the ANC
and gave birth to a rising militancy. The example of over 8000
Indeed his lifelong romance with his wife Albertina Sisulu became people going to jail through active defiance of Apartheid laws
the stuff of legends. Seldom have a struggle couple shown such gave inspiration to millions of oppressed South Africans that
enduring love and understanding. Without her support, her freedom could be won, if fought for.
political wisdom and strength of character, Walter Sisulu would
never have been able to achieve what he did. And she in turn in Walter Sisulu was one the first to break away from the narrow
later years, whilst he was in prison, became a leading source of nationalism that dominated certain quarters of thinking of
the ANCYL and sections of the ANC as well. His interaction
inspiration to all those fighting for freedom.
with members of the Communist party and Indian Congresses
Walter Sisulu threw himself into preparing for the Defiance strengthened his belief that effective opposition to Apartheid
Campaign, which meant persuading people that not only were required maximum unity of oppressed people as well as support
they going to protest, as in the passive resistance campaigns, from democratic whites. He took the initiative to start the
but that they were also going to deliberately court going to establishment of the Congress of Democrats and later the Coloured
jail. Thinking of the challenges that Walter Sisuslu faced in Peoples Congress. The gradual and patient cementing together
building the ANC at this time into a mass movement one must of a Congress Alliance was one of the crowning achievements of
never forget that that this was an era in which there were no the Congress movement, and cde Walter was undoubtedly one
computers, cellphones, Facebook and twitter and all the other its far-sighted and skillful architects.
modern tools for organising today. Yet it seems that there was
Walter Sisulu and the other leaders worried about what to do
to follow up from the success of the Defiance Campaign. This
was a question that was on the minds of Walter and others
in the period from 1953. The suggestion of a Congress of the
People to draw up a vision for a future South Africa provided the
perfect platform to continue mobilisation and to also develop an
alternative vision for South Africa.
Walter and the rest of the leadership, once again traversed the
country drumming up support for the idea of the Congress Of the
People. He did this even though he was forced to resign from his
post as SG due to a banning order imposed in July 1954. (Unlike
in later banning orders, he was not confined to the magisterial
district of Johannesburg). The content of the Freedom Charter
was as important as the process of its development. The campaign
brought together activists across the organisational and racial
spectrum in doing mass work. This style of work, which defined
the character of the ANC, was given life in this campaign under
Walter Sisulu’s guidance. In time to come the Freedom Charter
became the founding document of the ANC, precipitating breakaways by Africanists within the ANC and serving as the guiding
document for successive decades of struggle. Other famous
battles such as resistance to the removals, as in Sophiatown, the
Potato Boycott and the famous march of women on the Union
Buildings were evidence that popular resistance was growing in
response to an ever more repressive state.
But as difficult and hard as those years were, the worst was yet to
come. In 1956 came the arrests for the Treason Trial, which lasted
for four years, and during which members of the ANC structures
continued to operate, even under these difficult circumstances.
The trial became an anti-government focus and militancy in the
country, such as the famous bus boycotts continued unabated.
All the while, the leadership of the ANC contrived every means
possible to meet and to give leadership in increasingly difficult
times. And then the infamous massacre at Sharpeville took place
on 21st March 1960 and this changed everything.
“It opened up a new chapter because the question of non-violence was
reassessed…….Ultimately it led to the formation of Umkhonto We
Sizwe……. It led to Nelson going underground. It led Nelson to
make a call demanding discussions on a new constitution at the AllIn Conference…….A strike was finally called, a three day strike. By
this time Nelson had taken the lead underground. He became the leader.
As a result of all the activities, the Government banned the ANC and
the PAC, on the 8th April 1960. Oliver left the country just before this
to build the organisation outside the country. The government declared
the State of Emergency and we were detained and spent the time of the
emergency in jail. The total number of detainees at that stage was 250.”
(P126)
The next year Walter Sisulu faced prosecution twice and in 1962
he was arrested 6 times and placed under house arrest. Pending
an appeal, Walter forfeited his bail and went underground,
speaking on Radio Freedom on June 26th 1963 assuring people
that Umkhonto We Sizwe had decided to fight on an “eye for an
eye and tooth for tooth basis.” On 11 July 1963, Walter Sisulu
was arrested at Rivonia and one year later he, together with the
other Rivonia trialists, were sentenced to life imprisonment in
the famous Rivonia trial.
Although Walter’s political involvement spanned the latter part
of the last century, he was very much a leader for the 21st century.
Though we may be tempted to describe him as an outstanding
leader of a bygone era – one of a generation of freedom fighters
who have now, sadly, left the field of battle – we would be
mistaken.
Though time has robbed us of his person, his values, his
capabilities and his qualities of leadership are as relevant now
as they have ever been. Nearly 10 years after we mourned his
passing, the spirit of Walter Sisulu remains with us. His life serves
as an inspiration. His wisdom still guides us as we grapple with
the challenge of building a better life for our people.
movement. That is why he spent every waking moment tirelessly
working to build the African National Congress.
Building an organisation is not glamorous work. It requires
painstaking effort that offers neither prestige nor personal
advancement. It does not earn applause, nor headlines, nor public
adulation. Yet it is perhaps the most significant contribution that
an individual can make to the advancement of the struggle for
freedom.
The meaning and essence of Walter Sisulu has not lost its
significance. If anything, it has increased in importance as we What was true in the early 1950s is equally true today. It is only
through a strong ANC that we will be able to mobilise the people
struggle to confront a new reality.
to pursue the achievement of a better life for all.
When we gather on an occasion such as this to pay tribute
to one of the giants of our struggle, we remember a life lived We cannot simply view our strength in electoral terms. The
in the service of our people and celebrate a contribution that measure of our strength lies in the vibrancy of our branches and
profoundly shaped our history, our country, our organisation and the extent to which they are rooted in their communities. It lies
in the frankness of our political debate and in the depth of our
quite honestly many of us.
internal democracy.That perspective is no less relevant today. We
But we should not be sentimental about the past. We should not need to continuously debate, openly and honestly, the conditions
let the great achievements of previous generations overwhelm our under which we engage in struggle and the strategies and tactics
engagement with the present and our obligation to the future.
we need to pursue to advance that struggle.
As we celebrate the centenary of the African National Congress,
we seek to understand the value of this history in the present,
and its meaning for the future.
As we pay tribute to Isitwalandwe Walter Sisulu, we look to his
example as a guide to how we should act today, and how we
should prepare for tomorrow.
This is a cardinal lesson to which Walter Sisulu held throughout
his life. He understood that progressive change could not
be achieved without a strong, cohesive and active liberation
One of the chief weaknesses that we need to confront is the lack
of vibrant political debate within the structures of the movement.
We can be encouraged by the discussions currently taking place
around the discussion documents on ANC policy, strategy and
tactics, and organisational renewal. The challenge is to maintain
that level of engagement beyond the policy conference in June
and the national conference in December. Political debate needs
to be restored as a central feature of the life of our movement.
Tata Sisulu had a profound impact on everyone with whom
he worked. Many of us here today looked to him for advice,
encouragement and inspiration. Throughout his life – while
holding political office, while imprisoned on Robben Island, and
even in retirement – he remained a counsellor and a teacher.
Patient, humble and kind, he would gladly assist anyone who
asked. He was both influential and unobtrusive; persuasive, but
open to persuasion. He was steadfast in principle, but pragmatic
in tactics.
As we pay tribute to the qualities that Tata Sisulu embodied
as a great leader, we must resist the temptation to assign these
attributes to a bygone generation. For these are precisely the
qualities that we need to cultivate in the leaders of today.
The challenges of the present call for leaders who are selfless,
humble and patient. They call for leaders who are courageous
enough to ask the difficult questions, and who have the
conviction to stand by their principles. They call for leaders that
are prepared to confront injustice and respect the rights and basic
dignity of all.
The world we inhabit is becoming increasingly more complex.
We are confronted by rapid change. The prospect of greater
uncertainty is the only thing of which we seem to be certain.
In these circumstances, we need cadres like Walter Sisulu. We
need cadres with the patience, diligence and insight to thoroughly
analyse what these changes mean. We need cadres who are able
to translate such understanding into strategy, and translate
strategy into action.
Nelson Mandela had this to say about Walter Sisulu:
“His greatness as a leader derived from his humility and his
ingrained belief in and respect for collective leadership. He knew and
taught us that wisdom comes from sharing insights and listening to
and learning from each other. He was always the unifier, never a
divider, where others of us would speak a hasty word or act in anger,
he was the patient one, seeking to heal and bring together.”
As the ANC enters its second century, it must confront the
challenges of state power. It must confront the corrosive effects of
patronage, corruption and the potential for the abuse of power.
At many levels of the organisation, the contest for political office
is little more than a competition for access to resources.
As the movement grapples with these challenges, it has an
unprecedented opportunity to improve the lives of all South
Africans and to deliver a comprehensively democratic South
Africa free of sexism and racism. In the few years since the
advent of democracy, we have already achieved much in growing
the economy, meeting the needs of the poor, and building a
non-racial society. We need now to consolidate and deepen
those achievements. We need to accelerate our efforts to create
sustainable employment and eradicate poverty.
To achieve this we need leaders who have the qualities and
capabilities suited to a complex and often uncertain age. We
need leaders who are both thoughtful and courageous. We need
leaders who are selfless, humble and compassionate. We need
leaders who can unify, organise and mobilise.
We need leaders like Isithwalandwe Walter Sisulu.
Walter Sisulu: Inspires activism
Noor Nieftagodien
18 May 2012
I
t is a daunting, if not impossible, task adequately to do justice in
the allocated time to the legacy of an individual who has loomed so
large on our political landscape for as long as the late cde Walter Sisulu
has done. Cyril Ramaphosa, Ahmed Kathrada and Elinor Sisulu, have
eloquently and with passion provided incredible insights of Walter
Sisulu – the political activists, leader, prisoner and family man - based
on their various interactions with him as life-long
comrades and family.
I recall very distinctly when Elinor launched her outstanding biography
of Albertina and Walter Sisulu, the spontaneous praises lavished on
them, and one speaker after the other recalling Walter’s critical role
in the liberation struggle. Although historians are rightly reluctant to
attach the label of ‘great man’ on any individual, the universal esteem
in which Walter Sisulu is held does, nevertheless, place him among the
leading figures of the past century.
Over the past few months I have, along with many others, reflected on
the history of the ANC as it celebrates its centenary. It is unfathomable
to separate the political legacy of Walter Sisulu from any narrative of
the ANC. However, in reflecting on the contributions by the panel, I
would like to step back slightly from him as a party man, and say a
few things about his legacy as an activist. In so doing, I would like to
draw preliminary lessons from his legacy for our contemporary political
situation. For some time now there has been an intense debate the
character of leadership, during which the Sisulu generation and Chris
Hani have often been invoked as iconic examples of good leaders. I
don’t dispute the salience of that debate, but think the idea of activism
requires similar scrutiny and critical debate.
There are few places in the contemporary world untouched by
uncertainty, contestation and protests. Think of Greece, Latin America,
the occupy movements in the USA, the Arab Spring, and then also
consider the protests in Ekurhuleni, Thembalihle and Khayelitsha. One
may argue that a new breed of activism is being shaped in a context of
intense political fluctuation and deepening crisis, locally and globally.
In this process new ideas, programmes and policies are
being forged that might profoundly affect how we think about the
world and the values to which we adhere.
All analogies are intrinsically problematic. Nonetheless, I would like to
suggest South Africa experienced something akin to the aforementioned
moments of political intensity and contestation, albeit in varying
degrees, in the late 1920s, the 1940s and 1950s, and then from the
early 1970s to the early 1990s. New ideas, programmes, organisations,
movements and activists were spawned then.
Here I want to focus on the middle period, when Walter Sisulu played
a prominent role in the emergence of a new, critical politics.
It is worth recalling the significance of the 1940s and 1950s: it was a
period of massive radicalisation. Globally, the anti-colonial movement
was gaining momentum, mass movements rocked western power
and in South Africa the rapidly expanding black urban working
class embarked on unprecedented struggles, including major strikes,
squatter movements, struggles for housing, for democracy, against
high bus fares and so forth. These protest movements profoundly
affected Walter Sisuluand his peers, and led directly to the formation
of the ANCYL. Mandela recalls that the Alexandra bus boycott, in
which thousands of black urban residents marched against high bus
fares, was the moment when he was transformed from a spectator into
a committed activist.
What kind of activism did Walter Sisulu embrace during these exciting
and tumultuous times in our history?
racial unity and to call on both sides to step away from the conflict. At
the same time, his analysis of the events placed responsibility on the
state for fanning the flames of racial division.
One should remember that racial suspicion and enmity ran quite
deep, not only among the ‘masses’, but also within the anti-apartheid
movements, including the emerging Congress Alliance. There was
nothing inevitable about the forging of a ‘non-racial’ alliance. Even
when it was established as a foundational principle, the idea was
contested throughout the 1950s and 1960s. What Walter’s intervention
demonstrated, was the crucial importance of active struggle against
racism, that is, of anti-racism, in the forging of non-racialism.
Building mass movements
Non-racialism is an ideal firmly embedded in our constitution but, like
other principles, it was an idea fought for over a long period. It is
all too common in contemporary South Africa for people to pay lipservice to the ideal of non-racialism, while simultaneously being firmly
ensconced in racial or ethnic chauvinistic laagers. What lessons can we
learn from this period, which witnessed outbreaks of racial violence, as
in Natal.
It is often overlooked or forgotten in the production of teleological
narratives of the ANC’s history that until the early 1950s the ANC was
quite weak and conservative. Often the organisation’s transformation is
explained simply in terms of the change in leadership and the adoption
of the Programme of Action in 1949. These were absolutely critical,
but in themselves do not fully explain the transformation of the ANC
into a mass movement. I have already mentioned the
radicalisation of the urban working class as a vital contributing factor.
Another, is the herculean efforts made by activists to build the ANC
at grassroots level and to connect to the aforementioned movements.
Walter Sisuluwas again pivotal in this process, especially in his capacity
as Secretary-General from 1949 to 1954.
When the violence broke in Durban, Walter Sisuluwas among the first
of the ANC leaders to intervene and, although others demurred on the
issue, he accompanied local Indian and African leaders by going around
the area where the violence flared up both as a demonstration of non-
Ruth First suggests that Sisulu’s accession to the position of SecretaryGeneral of the ANC was a turning point in the history of the ANC:
“This the period when Walter Sisulu, night and day, became the centre
of the organisational drive of the ANC. And this is the start of a new
Non-racialism and anti-racism
history in the life of the ANC. And from this time on, largely under the
leadership of Sisulu, though not exclusively, we have an ANC in direct
and continuing contact with the masses, leading political strikes and
mass disobedience campaigns.” [E. Sisulu, p.120]
He, and others, criss-crossed the country (at a time of technological
backwardness, compared to what is at our disposal today), to meet
people who often had only heard of the ANC but never actually
encountered it. What was at stake in building a mass movement? It
was an attempt, which no doubt experienced difficulties and had flaws,
to build a national movement for the emancipation of the poor black
majority. To some that basic idea might seem quaint and anachronistic,
but I think holds a salutary lesson for the challenges facing us today. It
is a lesson that activists from the 1970s and 1980s, in the trade unions
especially, but also in the civics, student and youth organisations
took very seriously. A similar activism dedicated to building mass
organisations is surely in dire need today.
Finally, I want to comment on Walter Sisuluthe historian. In a recent
paper, Crain Soudien, cites an interview with Neville Alexander who
recalls that when political education was organised on Robben Island,
the political prisoners turned to Walter Sisuluto educate them about
the history of the ANC. He was of course one of he most knowledgeable
on this topic.
It is remarkable, by the way, how the most successful struggles for
emancipation were hyper-conscious of and learnt the lessons from
history. It is equally incredible how our collective / public memory has
been vitiated and attenuated over the past couple of decades, making it
easier for history to be at the service of the powerful, and manipulated
by those who aspire to ascend to positions of power.
An activist without history is only half-formed. A movement without
memory is unlikely to succeed.
I would suggest that we can draw inspiration from Walter Sisulu’s
life, not only as an important historical figure in a past struggle, but,
importantly, also in the process of forging new emancipatory activism,
based on sound principles, a commitment to building organisations for
the liberation of all rather than for the benefit of a few, and, of course
to learn from history.
Walter Sisulu: A comrade, fellow prisoner and a teacher
Andimba Toivo ya Toivo
19 May 2012
I
am deeply honoured to have been invited to speak at a people’s
celebration of the centenary of one of my heroes – Walter Sisulu,
Wally, Chopo or Xhamela, as I knew him. I shall refer to him by
these names, but remember, this is the same person.
Let me start in those turbulent years of the 1950s. This was a period of
upsurge of anti-colonial movements world-wide, of the foundation of
the Non-Aligned Movement and of the resurgence of militant struggle
against apartheid oppression in South Africa and against apartheid
colonialism in Namibia (then South West Africa).
In 1951, I made my way from the north of Namibia to South Africa
through the contract labour system – working in the mines – but my
objective was to go to Cape Town to further my education by attending
night school while working. I succeeded in getting to Cape Town and
finding employment. I also succeeded in furthering my education, but
this came in the form of a higher political education.
In Cape Town, I was exposed to the African National Congress, the
South African Indian Congress, the Coloured Peoples’ Organisation,
the Congress of Democrats and the Liberal Party. I became a member
of the ANC and was involved in the activities of the progressive
youth. During this period, I learned of Xhamela through the pages of
Advance and New Age. I looked up to him as one of the top leaders of
our movement. I did not imagine then that I would come to know him
personally and to share daily life with him on Robben Island for more
than a decade.
Although I did not meet Wally personally during those years in Cape
Town, I have learned recently that he may have known something
about me. While in Cape Town, I was introduced to by Jairetundu
Kozonguizi - a fellow Namibian whom I was assisting to pursue the
study of law – to Comrade Ray Alexander and her husband, Professor
Jack Simons. I soon attended political education classes that Comrade
Jack conducted for a group of Namibian workers. I became a close
friend, almost a godson, of the Simons and their children. My wife has
informed me that in the more recent years, before her death, Comrade
Ray told her that in the 1950s, she had travelled to Johannesburg to
consult Chopo as to whether she should recruit into the South African
Communist Party. According to the story, Comrade Wally advised
against it, placing emphasis rather on the priority for oppressed and
colonised peoples of the different African countries and territories,
including South West Africa, to develop or strengthen their own
organisations to conduct their national struggles for independence
.(This) advice confirmed the wisdom of our efforts in Cape Town to
organise Namibian workers, culminating first in the founding of the
Ovamboland People’s Congress, which later became the Ovamboland
People’s Organisation and then SWAPO.
I was expelled from Cape Town in 1958 because of my political
activities to northern Namibian, where I continued my organising
activities. This led me to South Africa again in 1966, where 36 fellow
Namibians and I were charged and tried under the Terrorism Act –
which was enacted only 1967 and applied to us retrospectively – as
a result of SWAPO’s launch of the armed liberation struggle against
apartheid South Africa. I am pleased to state here that our saviour
from the gallows – Advocate George Bizos – was there with his team
in our defence. I was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment and was
sent to Robben Island. I was eventually separated from my fellow
Namibians and spent a year in solitary confinement. I was then put
in the B section with Comrades Nelson Mandela, Xhamela, and other
prominent ANC comrades, as well as comrades from other political
parties and movements. Over the years, we were joined by young
militants fresh from the frontlines of the struggle.
From my study of history, I have observed that the struggle against
oppression has produced men and women who, despite their humble
backgrounds, rose to greatness through the force of their character, their
integrity, their willingness to study and learn, to listen to and consider
the opinions of others, and most of all, their unwavering commitment
to improve the lives of other people. Some of the greatest leaders were
those who were blessed with humility. Such was Comrade Chopo. I will
not discuss his great achievements as an organiser, mobilise, strategist
and leader, which are better described by the South African comrades.
But I can testify to the greatness of Chopo as I knew him.
On Robben Island, Chopo was one of the beloved prisoners in our
section. He was a simple, honest and humble man. Chopo was secure
with himself and did not require flattery or homage as a leader. He was
never aloof from his fellow prisoners, but wa always willing to give of
himself. He was a fatherly figure whose personal warmth, integrity and
wisdom drawn from vast experience attracted people to him. He spent
much of his time advising and sharing ideas with the endless stream
of young people who came to him – either t discuss family problems,
personal problems or political issues.
Xhamela had a quality that brought people together . He treated
everyone equally and with great respect. Although deeply loyal to
the ANC, he promoted unity among prisoners of different political
organisaitons. This reflected Chopo’s confidence in his people and
his conviction that their unity in action would not only bring an end
to apartheid rule, but would form the basis for replacing apartheid
with a non-racial and democratic order that put the well-being of the
masses of people ahead of the interests of a wealthy few. Because his
extraordinary personal qualities were inseparable from his vision, he
was able to exert great moral authority.
He was also a mentor and the closest advisor to Madiba, who was the
acknowledged leaders of all of us. I had learned that Xhamela had
originally brought Madiba into the ANC, had helped him complete his
legal training and had nurtured his leadership potential. I understand
that Walter helped many others as well. I share with you the words of
Madiba: “(Sisulu) stands head and shoulders above all of us in South
Africa.” “You will ask what is (the) reason for his elevated status among
us. Very simple, it is humility. It is simplicity. Because he pushed all of
us forward and remained quietly in the background.”
The qualities and values that Comrade Walter Sisulu possessed are
needed now more than ever in our leaders of today, if we are to achieve
the revolutionary vision for which he and so many of us have devoted
our lives. This is a vision of building democratic and just nations that
harness the vast potential of their peoples and their natural resources
for the benefit of all and for the mutual benefit of the humankind.
However, the attainment of this vision is threatened by the selfaggrandizement and corrupt pursuit of easy wealth by small, but wellconnected minorities in many of our countries under the dishonest
guise of development and empowerment. This is a cruel perversion
of the goals of our struggle, for it lacks moral content and ignores
the shared values that enabled us to attain political power. It sends a
message to our youth that a bright future is within the grasp only of a
privileged few. We should reject such a limited, defeatist and inhumane view.
Throughout his long and extraordinary life, Walter Sisulu projected
hope and determination that a better life is within the grasp of a
united people who are committed to building a just society. He and his
comrades set a clear direction that cries out to be followed. We need
leaders in all walks of life in the mould of Chopo – who are honest,
humble and selfless, who work single-mindedly to eradicate human
suffering and to defeat poverty, who respect divergent opinions, who
are driven by shared values and morality, and who work for the unity
of their peoples, of the peoples of Africa and of our planet in their quest
for a better life and a better world. These leaders, by their example,
can educate and guide the youth. They can convince them that a better
world is possible and can inspire them not to work only for their own
interests, but also in the interests of achieving a noble collective vision.
I thank you for honouring and celebrating the 100th centenary of
Walter Sisulu. I encourage the youth and their elders to learn from his
example and to follow the indelible footsteps that he left for us.
In pictures
The Party Man
In pictures
The Prisoner
25
In pictures
The Family Man
26
Published by the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation
PO Box 10621, Lenasia 1820
Telephone: (011) 854-0082
email: [email protected]
© May 2012