*Luli Callinicos, Oliver Tambo, Beyond the Engeli Mountains, 2004
From Pages 188-191 *
*Formation of the Congress of Democrats
*/initiated by O R Tambo /
When the disappointment in Dr Moroka caused the younger kingmakers to
look for an alternative, it was Tambo who motivated most strongly for
the man who had proved himself to be ethical, courageous and able to
grasp the political essentials. In December 1952, Luthuli was voted in
as president of the ANC. He was to remain so until his death. And until
the end of the decade; the two men, both Christians and noncommunists,
both lovers of eloquent language and the power of the word, were to
spend increasing time working together as elected officers of the ANC.
One of Luthuli's characteristics took Tambo by surprise. He discovered
that Luthuli set great store on the opinions of the somewhat abrasive
and impatient communist, Moses Kotane. Tambo recalled that he himself
had been interested in Kotane as far back as 1945 or 1946 - they
supported the same soccer team! - at one of the annual conferences in
Bloemfontein. Now, through Luthuli, his acquaintance with Kotane was
renewed. Years later, Tambo admitted that Kotane played a significant
role in changing his ideas about the desirability of communist
involvement in the ANC.
'It is significant,' noted Tambo, 'that Chief Luthuli, who was not a
member of the Party, and not near to being a member, on difficult
questions on which he wanted advice by-passed his officials and
secretaries and sent for Moses as he discerned this loyalty in him. He
knew Moses was 100 per cent a member of the Communist Party - in fact,
its General Secretary - but he also knew him to be 100 per cent ANC, and
this gave Luthuli great confidence in him.'
Despite the good impression Moses Kotane left on Chief Luthuli, several
years were to pass before Tambo was persuaded to work in the political
arena with communists, and it was only after Luthuli was elected
president that Tambo refined his attitude.
'For myself I am not a Communist,' explained Luthuli. 'The Congress
stand is this: our primary concern is liberation, and we are not going
to be sidetracked by ideological clashes and witch-hunts. Nobody in
Congress may use the organisations to further any aims but those of
Congress... [We] are cooperating in a defined area, in the cause of
liberation. '
This strategic shift by the ANC signified a widening in its conception
of the movement. It was soon to lead to a further development; a small
perhaps, but consequential step of drawing white democrats into the
fold. During the Defiance Campaign, there were whites who wanted to
volunteer but belonged to none of the organisations that had planned the
Campaign. Eventually, the ANC was persuaded on the value of white
participation in sending a message to South Africa and internationally
on the universal abhorrence of apartheid.
The Campaign had been going a good few months when Patrick Duncan, son
of the former Governor-General, and others were permitted to defy. These
included several communists, such as trade unionist Betty du Toit,
Frieda Levson and Percy Cohen, as well as other young radicals such as
Albie Sachs, Hymie Rochman and Mary Butcher (Turok). Their motive was to
indicate to the public that apartheid not only affected black people but
all of entire society. Perhaps the message was too subtle, or more
likely it aroused resentment among the mainstream white South African
population, but the press played down their participation - except for
liberal journalist Patrick Duncan.
Shortly after the Campaign was called off, sympathetic white South
Africans again raised the question of support. A few had provided
material support Rica Hodgson, in particular, was a skilled fundraiser
for the Campaign -- but besides their access to resources and networks,
the principle of multiracial alliances needed to be taken to its logical
conclusion. In 1953, the ANC thus called a meeting of about 200 white
activists, most of whom were either affiliated to the progressive
veteran anti-apartheid soldiers from the Second World War who had formed
the Springbok Legion or were liberals dissatisfied "vith the opposition
United Party's acquiescence to the evolving programme of apartheid.
Others were radicals who had, for the most part, been members of the now
dissolved CPSA. The meeting was held one evening in Darragh Hall,
adjoining St Mary's Cathedral in the Johannesburg city centre. Oliver
Tambo, Bram Fischer and Walter Sisulu were on the platform, with Fischer
in the chair.
Although the original transcript does not seem to have survived, Tambo's
speech was memorable. Sisulu was struck by his argument, which' for him
was a dazzling unfolding towards the conclusion: 'Oliver, in his
artistic way of speaking, created a tremendous impression - not only to
me but to the people who were there.
'Tambo's address was delivered with great eloquence and charm. He
explained the aims of the Defiance Campaign, and the way the African,
Indian and coloured communities had responded to it. But where did white
South Africans stand - especially those liberal and democratic white
South Africans who opposed apartheid? If they remained silent and
uninvolved while a struggle was under way to end unjust laws, those
engaged in the struggle might well interpret their silence as collusion
with racism and injustice. Their antagonism to the state could turn into
anger against the white community as a whole. The Congresses opposed all
racism, including black racism against whites. But they could not fight
it alone. The time had come for those who sincerely shared the Congress
aim of ending apartheid to take up their share of the burden.'
The audience was clearly moved by the speech. One of the first to speak
from the floor, Bernstein remembered, was from 'the liberal group', and
suggested ways in which whites could lobby in their suburbs for
amenities for blacks, for example parks where domestic workers could
relax. After more input, Bernstein stood up. 'A park for nannies is a
dismal and insulting response', he declared. 'We have been challenged to
make a principled stand against apartheid and the status quo.' He went
on to propose (as agreed beforehand by his group) that a
Congress-aligned organisation be formed, so the chairperson, Bram
Fischer, put the proposal to the vote. Less than half approved. The
liberal camp had been offended and annoyed that Bernstein, a known
communist, had taken the initiative - a clear indication to them that
the communists had their own agenda. Soon after the meeting, those who
had voted for Rusty's proposal got together and officially formed the
Congress of Democrats (COD). Bram Fischer was elected chairperson,
although it was not long before he was banned and forbidden to belong to
any organisations except those pertaining to his profession. He was thus
replaced by the trade unionist Piet Beyleveld - perhaps significantly,
another Afrikaner.
The Congress of Democrats, a tiny organisation with never more than 200
members countrywide, was forever afterwards to be stereotyped a
'communist front'. In an article in the left-wing New Age newspaper,
Oliver Tambo explained: 'In the absence of an organised body of European
opinion openly and publicly proclaiming its opposition to the
Government's racialist policies and supporting the Non-European cause,
the political conflict was developing a dangerously Black versus White
complexion. Such a situation no doubt suited the present Government, but
it did not suit the ANC nor the movement for liberation, and had to be
avoided.'
For his part, the young quantity surveyor Ben Turok commented on the
distinctive political identity associated with the Congress of
Democrats. Official apartheid was cultivating increasing bigotry in
mainstream white culture, even among those who might vote for the
opposition United Party. Those whites who joined the COD, therefore,
were in effect making a clear break, with their communities and even
their families, be they English- or Afrikaans-speaking, or drawn from
more vulnerable immigrant communities.
'I was a rebel against my class, my race and my religion,' said Turok,
'and I didn't give a damn. '
These whites were clearly not accountable to their community, and felt
free to make as much noise as they dared. Their antics startled even the
ANC itself - 'You were a wild young man, weren't you?' smiled Walter
Sisulu at Turok when they met again after 30 years.
The black leadership, on the other hand, had from experience a 'better
sense of race relations, and how to overcome them', observed Turok. The
tiny white group, therefore, fell back on themselves, forming their own
community, organising their own social events, fundraising, multiracial
parties and picnics and Christmas and New Year's Eve events for the
comrades. And increasingly, in the nine years of its existence, young
radical newcomers brought in energetic backup to support the ANC
campaigns, attempting to inform and sensitise the .whites about the
rationale of the Congress movement, demonstrating unreserved support for
the non-racial values of democracy and freedom. It was this end that
Oliver Tambo had in mind when he was mandated to initiate the organisation.
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